₦airaland Forum

Goshen360:
It is not your continuous paying of tithe that healed you, you were healed in Christ 2000 years ago, you just didn't know your rights and inheritance in Christ. So, your mind was trained to believe it your tithe paying that healed you. There are millions of people who still pay tithe and die sick.

New International Version
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.

That word "salvation" in the Greek means, complete wholeness in Christ. Stop believing you did something for God to heal you, God healed you not because of your works but because you're in Christ.

It's called a testimony. You're so steeped in criticising that you don't see the irony of your perspective. So, you're healed because you're in Christ but there are millions in Christ who die sick? Are you aware that many pray and die sick? Does that translate to prayer does not work?

John 1:4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 1:17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.


The good news is the news of grace. Grace came by Jesus Christ

Goshen360:
It is not your continuous paying of tithe that healed you, you were healed in Christ 2000 years ago, you just didn't know your rights and inheritance in Christ. So, your mind was trained to believe it your tithe paying that healed you. There are millions of people who still pay tithe and die sick.

New International Version
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.

That word "salvation" in the Greek means, complete wholeness in Christ. Stop believing you did something for God to heal you, God healed you not because of your works but because you're in Christ.

Doubting Goshes.

BabaGnoni:
More grease to your elbow
but it's no skin off my teeth. I only helped set the record straight by telling a fact that was inaccurately stated.

Gnoni setting records straight? That's strange, verrry strange.

vooks:
The income streams. You know the members are giving and you can see the MoG waxing fatter but you don't know how much they are getting per month. That's super secret. That's the opaque bit

i don't see any MoG waxing fatter so let's not assume wrongly. The people who know know how much anybody is getting per month. That you don't have it in your bedroom don't mean it is hidden to those who need it. How much do you earn or get, and how much does your pastor get. i don't know and i don't really care to know, but for you to be unnecessarily pained about other men's business is unreasonable and unchristian.

WinsomeX:
The real issues you have with the article is that they reveal the outrageous wealth of those who are your idols and example in ministry. It is not about Gnoni or the fact that the site is "largely unknown" (a spurious reason to conclude that a site is wannabe), it is about your pride and ego.

You can believe what you like but there is certainly something obscene about a country that is wholly given to corruption, illiteracy and religion but whose religious leaders take advantage of its people to be wealthy so that they amount to having five of the richest pastors in the world. It is wrong.

You can do me the favor of having the last say, I believe I am done with you for now.

As is your custom, you're too blind to reason and only keen on hypocritical emotionalisms. You couldn't answer questions to explain your criticism and your allegation remains unfounded. Go and look for another article, we are here to put it in perspective. Your hypocrisy on the Gnoni issue follows you as a leopard cannot hide it's spots, like your handle swaps can't hide you.

Yooguyz:
I dunno why I keep having this feeling that the handle behind the moniker mbaemeka is a prominent Pastor in Nigeria.

So?

WinsomeX:
I should ask you.



Unfortunately, you would not answer the questions posed at you earlier. How did you also conclude they are "wannabe" website?

I brought up the issue of hiding their source of wealth when the mediator said that Forbes had certain parameters to measure the source of wealth of some men. My question to him, and to you, is simple; how do you know that the same parameters Forbes used were not used on the pastors themselves by this media. And if they could not be used, is it possible that the pastors are hiding something? If Forbes have access to my resources, like the this online medium could, they can very well measure my source of wealth. So i certainly do not have anything to hide and you have no point in that regard. What I am saying to you and nl is that both of you cannot question the manner of deriving the source of the wealth of these pastors because there are verifiable means of obtaining their source of wealth. And since this publication, non of them has challenged the information provided, like Jonathan did sometimes ago. So?



Keep asking, I am sure someone should be gracious enough to answer you.

You told me " it's a mark of immaturity to convey old grievances at new issues." That is why it was pertinent to ask YOU for the old grievances being conveyed.
Your source is a wannabe website because it is largely unknown. i already asked for what parameters your OP used to determine their findings. i'm of the opinion that it was just guesswork and beer parlor talk. If you have the parameters, you can educate us.
Very simple, if your OP don't have access to pastor's worth like i don't have access to your worth, could it be that you are both hiding something? The shoe is pinching you ba?
So to you, the pastors may be guilty and in agreement with some spurious site since none of them challenged the information? You didn't think this awkwardly when Gnoni your friend did not challenge the allegation levelled on him, instead you opted to asking him nicely IF and WHEN he feels like answering. Hypopopocrite

lastmessenger:
The only problem is the wrong means they employ in getting their money.
You threaten some guys with hell fire, curses and the devourer and out of fear they surrender their cash to you and then you call that prosperity.
If giving is really the deal to make money, then oyedepo and mike Murdock should give out their private jet and expect 100 brand new jets

Giving brings blessings, whatever motive. Giving to be blessed is one motive, everyone don't have the same motive.

vooks:
The most startling bit is not that Pastors are wealthy, but that the source of their wealth is almost entirely from their members' giving and not any value addition activity. I wonder if these pastropreneurs are comfortable with their wealth seeing its dubious sources. You can bet deep down they are ashamed of it else they would gladly be less opaque with their income streams ( salary, honorarium,cumulative monthly prophet's gifts and so forth)

So, the source of their wealth is almost entirely from their members' giving, yet it is opaque and dubious at the same time.

DrummaBoy:
[size=16pt]MY SUBMISSION ON F17: OBTAINING PECUNIARY ADVANTAGE BY DECEPTION[/size]

A few years ago I stumbled on a you-tube video of Benny Hinn explaining the circumstances that led to his wife filing for divorce. The Word of Faith minister had made the video for his "Partners" explaining that the divorce was not as a result of infidelity on his part. (See
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6AvsdjwlN4). His marriage has since been restored. What I could not help but noticing in that video was the earnestness in trying to convince his partners that he didn't commit sexual sin. One could sense the apprehension that if he didn't do that, he would loose their financial support. This is just one of many examples of the WoF doing everything for gain. F13, Merchandising the gospel, has shed great light on the matter of WoF selling the gospel for money. This is just an extension of that discuss, as in this case, deceptive means are employed to get money from people.

One leading means of deception for pecuniary gain is through doctrine. The Word of Faith minister teaches scripture in a deceptive manner to make money. Ranging from tithing, firstfruits, prophet's offering, covenant giving, offerings, project support, minister's welfare support that include organizing birthday bashes for the pastor, etc, the WoF minister will find scriptures that will conveniently hoodwink people to give. There are no short supply of scriptures to be used. What I find intriguing though is that no matter how much is given, it is never enough. They continue to demand; and the people continue to give.

trustman and BabaGnoni will shed greater light on this subject. I will stop here.

I REST MY CASE ON F17, FOR NOW.

This is the thread of the year that is making all kinds of waves. It's easy to see how loaded it is, isn't it?

hahahahaha, even nanny? Remain pickb. School don close, yayyyyy past 1.

WinsomeX:
You must learn to pass your veiws across without unnecessarily attacking one's person. We may have disagreed in other threads but it's a mark of immaturity to convey old grievances at new issues. Asking me if I know how much I am worth is not necessary to this thread.

That said. How did you come to the conclusion that the OP was founded on guess work or media hypes? On what bases do you measure the correctness of the OP? Do you have another source of info that gives a different report?

What old grievances? Can you mention or indicate any old grievance that i conveyed?
i simply put you in a pastor's shoe/scenario. You imply that pastors have something to hide if their worth cannot be determined by some wannabe webpage. In the same vein, Do we conclude that you are hiding something since i do not know what you are worth? Or the same measures you used to judge others don't apply to you and is not necessary?
The source of the OP is just guesswork and media hype. i''ve already asked questions to the validity. If you have answers, you can present them.

BabaGnoni:
What is good for the goose is good for the gander
It helped your sorry pathetic case when you resorted to name calling as in above "Good morn and then Mr. 'Serpent sleeping with eve heretic'"

Eeeeeeeyah, the thing pain you like that? i assumed otherwise. i guess it's okay to ramble on about gods and harvests. Mention something against your team now and we start hearing thread focus bla blah.

Gombs:
Candour is leagues away from them! Light years ahead sef

Just to help you, he's only more sly. Like a well with the dirt settled under. #iknowhim.

Luk 2:13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
Luk 2:14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

The Good News is indeed what more people need to hear. The angels were so happy with it that they sang, praising God, and saying, Glory to God. Why? Because of the good news. The good news was peace on earth, good will toward men. The Prince of peace came down to bring us peace with God. Man was on destruction and collision course, but Jesus Christ came with peace on earth. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him. He had to bring in peace, it was His mission, His calling, his goal, His Life. Jesus said "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: "
This is the good news. He saved us from God's frown.

shdemidemi:
Romans 11: 30-31

I am quite shocked at the points made up there as regards these verses. You have totally cut away from the story and the picture Paul was painting to teach about God's mercy. God is truly merciful, but these verses are intricately linked with the previous verses and shouldn't be isolated to teach something else, especially when a verse to verse approach is what you are employing.

Like i said, this is not exactly a commentary in the sense but a picking out of points perhaps not so obvious at first read. Seems i said that already.

Looking back, i even said similar at the first line of the OP of this thread. "It is not exactly a commentary, verse by verse, neither is it a summary. It is a work pointing out salient points to the contemporary reader and Christian.".

Also here, i said "Like i initially said, the thread(my posts in the thread) are not exactly a commentary, but just a pointing out of salient points from the book. It is not exactly a complete interpretation or explanation of the passages like in commentary style."

i noticed that it was the same YOU that i said that too, what is wrong with you?

shdemidemi:
Mr Image,

What gift was Paul referring to when he said - 'God's gift are without repentance'?

Because, if he is speaking as regards the gospel of Jesus Christ and the gift of righteousness bestowed on all sinners who will believe, it will be out of place to conflate that with Saul, Adam or anyone outside the domain of God's grace through faith.

We can see clearly that the penultimate verse gave us an idea of the period been spoken about- there is a gospel and the gospel people is everyone that is part of the church.

28 As concerning the gospel,

In other words, this gift of God Paul was speaking about is within the confines of the gospel of Jesus Christ predicated upon His death and ascension.

i tried to explain that the gift primarily referred was the gift and promise of salvation.

WinsomeX:
If Forbes and others cannot safely deduce from available informations what our Pastorpreneurs are worth, is it safe to conclude that someone is hiding something?

Take Oyedepo for example, he owns four jets. Why should it be difficult to estimate what he is worth if he is not hiding something? And if he is, why?

My point really is if you claim we cannot safely deduce what these pastors are worth, why is this so? Could it be that they have something to hide? If like Nigerian politicians they may not have made their money from clean verifiable means, could be the reason it's difficult to estimate their worth?

The answer to my questions will show that there is some way of knowing these pastors worth and the OP is correct after all. And if the OP is correct, do we not have a reason to fear and ask questions?

Did Forbes tell you that they cannot safely deduce? Are you blind thus as not to see that your source worked on unfounded guesswork and media hype? Who told you that it is difficult to estimate what anybody is worth? Do you know what you yourself are worth to start with? Do we conclude that you are hiding something since i do not know what you are worth? At least, you claim to be equal to everybody. The OP is not correct after all. The OP believes a bogus and assuming list of the top 10 richest pastors in the world.

Zikkyy:
Image123 is using version of the bible written by his pastor with input from image123 himself. This version contains evidence Jerome & Luke taught tithe.

Image123 said "Jerome or Luke does not write about it doesn't mean it DID NOT happen.". You deludingly read "Jerome & Luke taught tithe." Who is to blame, the devourer?

trustman:
Image123
Others have largely answered you on issues raised in your post so there's no need to repeat what they've said.

Who are the others? i missed it oh, nobody referred to that post. It was addressed primarily to you as a reply to your post. As it is customary of you, you cannot discuss.

Like most, if not all, of us on my side of the divide have made clear, we are not against any Christian deciding how to give. What we are against (and is EVIL) is the lie that the Christian today IS STILL MANDATED to tithe.

You are a liar. You and your cohorts are against tithing. You don't want us to tithe, you see it as a damnable heresy, you threaten us tithers as surely coming to want.

(Like is common with you guys, you just took the word 'evil' from my write up, looked for a passage where it appeared and then use that to talk. Biblical interpretation doesn't work like that)

You are lying again. You are the one picking and choosing my post. Here is my post. It addressed every part of your post, not just some evil line. You said i was really evil, and i simply asked you WHY? What evil have i done? It wasn't a biblical interpretation.

The Christian is FREE to choose how to give. That is the liberty into which Christ has put us. Those who claim tithing is mandated and threaten the Christian with hell are PUTTING A YOKE OF BONDAGE on Christians. That is evil. 
Those who MONITOR the individual believer's giving fall into the same category. That is LEGALISM.

The christian is free to give his tithes. Stop and tell your friends to stop disturbing us about how we should tithe, where we should tithe, to whom we should tithe, or even not to tithe at all. Tell them that the christian is free. Those who MONITOR the individual believer's giving fall into the same category. That is LEGALISM. Please tell Mark and co, they are forever on the tither's neck monitoring.

Look at what Peter told Ananias in Acts 5:
"While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God."
Obviously this was a clear opportunity for Peter to have talked about tithing. How come he missed it out?

This is ludicruos. Scripture interpretation doesn't work like that How do you determine a clear opportunity to talk about tithes?

So, again, what we are against IS NOT giving by the Christian. What we are against is the yoke of bondage put on believers by leaders who should know better. 

Tithing is giving, i give tithes of all.

MarkMiwerds:
concerning the man who was told to sell everything, it is important to notice that Jesus did not tell him to give ten percent of the money... No, He told him to give it all to the poor.

The pro-tithe crowd can't explain that one away.

Are you kidding? The man said he had kept the commandments from his youth. Of course, he would have being giving offerings and tithes. Why tithe what you have already tithed. Again, tithing is not as important as you would wish. The man was asking about eternal life and you think Jesus should have told him about giving 10%, ridiculous.

paxonel:
please,i want to ask, since you say, the Antichrist is the beast in revelation, is this beast humans? going by this Scripture
2 John 1:7 For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.
meaning, this deceiver is a human who deceived people that Jesus did not come in the flesh .
the question is, could it be that the beast in that revelation represent humans?

The Antichrist would come in human form when it is time. Please, i am not saying anymore on this. i have other engagements and i would rather not be chipping in uninterested one liners.

Alexis86:
creature or planted earth, it's still the same thing, because the earth is God's creation

The earth is God's creation, the human being is also God's creation. That is why i had to clearly distinguish what i meant. So, when i said that the world is irredemable, i meant the earth not humanity.

Alexis86:
and the image of the Antichrist or mark of the beast who will deceive people is a spirit, which is satan himself that was later cast into the lake of fire?

i don't do unimportant conjectures, sorry.

vooks:
If anyone can decide what to do with the money, they would be following Paul's principle of giving as you purpose and certainly nobody should look down on those stuck with a fixed 10% or 5% or whatever they decide on. And this is the whole point, there is NO law on what and when to give

Rather, nobody should look down on those of us that tithe. That is what all the antitithers here do.

There also is no record of human sacrifices both in the NT nor in church history. If a sect decided to offer them since we lack ALL first century sermons, would they be justified? We have ENOUGH history both in the scriptures and outside of the first few hundreds of years on giving to conclude that tithing was never practiced at all and that gibing was along free will basis. You can't IGNORE all the evidence and rely on your fertile imagination to fill the gaps

The Scripture does not support humans sacrificing humans. There is no evidence whatsoever to conclude that tithing was never practiced at all.

About Matthew 23, Jesus was born UNDER the Law and that's why he kept the Law and he instructed the Jews to keep the Law. This point has been hammered so many times I don't understand why you insist on it. He instructed an ex-leper to offer sacrifices according to the Law. Nobody today offers animal sacrifices after they have been healed

Then you people need to stop asserting that Jesus never tithed. It keeps repeating itself, and when you are logically shown the possibility and Jesus'commendation of the tithe, you resort to the under the law line. If i debunk this again, i know your next line. This cycle has happened too many times already. i sincerely do not know why any knowledgeable person would ASSERT and insist that Jesus never gave tithes, or His disciples. When you assert it, there is no way one would not come up with bible passages like Matthew 23 which show the possibility. On ex-lepers, who told you that nobody today offers animal sacrifices after they have been healed? how do you come to such a claim? How many people have you seen healed, and how do you know what they gave or did not give? You have started again with unfounded assertions.

Jesus also told one man to sell EVERYTHING he had and follow him. Do you practice or teach this? Not everything Jesus said is for the Christian or anybody who reads them, and there is a very simple test of confirming what's meant for you or not, it is not arbitrally

Mar 10:21 Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.

If that is the one thing i lacked, i would practice it. This passage remains a well taught passage today in churches. Of course one needs to understand the passage instead of just brashly brushing it aside with logic.

paxonel:
ok,
who is the Antichrist? is Antichrist the same thing as the beast?

Yes the Antichrist is the same as the beast. i believe i've answered the thread's primary question about why there is a rapture if God wants us to be fruitful and multiply etc. i would very much like to stop around here after saying one or two things to the other posts made. thanks.

Alexis86:
ok., what you are saying is, the creature is irredeemable, But man is redeemable?

Earth planet earth.

paxonel:
ok,
who is the Antichrist? is Antichrist the same thing as the beast?

Yes.

trustman:
[size=8pt][/size]

So because we do not have copies of ALL the sermon outlines of John & Thomas you can begin to fabricate a theory that they taught tithing?

You speak without much sense of pedigree. Hopefully, that's not the way you read and comprehend, at least not in real life.
Do you have copies of ALL the sermon outlines of John & Thomas as to assert that they did not teach about the Holy Communion? My questions are not rheotorical, they can be answered in a straight and plain manner. Why do you assert without proof that the apostles and early christians NEVER taught tithing?

So because, like you said, "That Jerome or Luke does not write about it doesn't mean it DID NOT happen." then you can invent the theory that the early Christians paid tithe?

It is not an invented theory, it is a very probable thing that some early christians gave tithes. i have given reasons why already, you can go and read it. It was just a few hours ago on this thread.

It is clear that the revealed Word doesn't mean much to you. This is truly unfortunate.

You hardly see anything clearly, the little that i've known of you on NL.

The book of Acts covered decades of the church life. If tithing were as 'serious' as some of you are making it out to be, why is it CONSPICUOUSLY absent in this book? 
How is it that even the CLEAR directive to the church that the Mosaic Law is not binding on the Christian is even ignored or disregarded by you guys?
How come the EPISTLES that give the blueprint for the Christian way of life also miss out on tithing? 

Tithing is not serious, quote and unquote. how many times do i have to say that already? Even today, i still compared it to kindergaten. It is you and your cohorts that take tithing so serious and fearfully gnash your teeth at the possibility of parting with up to 10% of your income. There were more important and weightier matters of the law, like judgement, faith and mercy. There is no need to be mentioning tithe in every book of the Bible like it is some serious matter. your friend winx thinks so great of tithing that he thinks it a damnable heresy. That is, those that tithe are liable to damnable heresy, they may be damned on judgement day. Tithing is not as serious as having a calling or ministry of making people see the night that they should not tithe. It is not worth all that. The hypocrisy of the average antitither.
Also, have you seen Matthew 233v23 lately? i will show you, don't worry.
Mat 23:23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

Jesus said judgment, mercy, and faith are the weightier matters of the law. Are they binding on the christian? Can we have faith, or we can decide not to? Is it okay to be merciless as this is a weighty matter of the law. Perhaps, you have also disregarded the CLEAR directive, who knows.

That today's Christian would rather go back to the prescribed way of life for Israel to define his spiritual life shows the extent of degeneration the church has plunged into. 
That the freedom we are to enjoy in Christ has been largely eroded by you LEGALISTS shows how evil you guys really are. 

Degeneration? Do you even know the meaning of degeneration? Who has hindered you from enjoying freedom? Gnoni?.
What is so evil about me giving God my money. Like Pilate asked, Pilate said unto them, Why, what evil hath he done? And they cried out the more exceedingly, Crucify him. i take my own money that God has given me, and determine to give God 10% of it consistently. And you decide to call me all sort of names, and demand that i explain why i do what i do. Lemme leave you with this question from the Master Himself. Answer it, and get offfffffffff our backs for good.
Mat 20:15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?

Yooguyz:
Exactely my thoughts, sometimes our popular magazines lie or distort the truth. I once read Bishop Oyedepo's saying that the dailies were lieing about him having 4 private jets, and that he had only 2. Look at the case of Oyakhilome his wife is divorcing him for inappropraite relationship, but the popular dailies in nigeria here said Adultery.

Am doubting this Forbes magazine account, it sounds too good to be true, the exchange rate of dollar to naira is very high, and yet no american mega pastor is on the top list. Besides forbes magazine has a history for being negative towards the prosperity creed.

i'm even waiting for him to confirm if it was Forbes. i think not.

Rom 11:29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.

Praise God, Praise God forevermore. Like i said, this is not exactly a commentary in the sense but a picking out of points perhaps not so obvious at first read. This verse is many times translated to mean that when God gives somebody something, He cannot collect it back. So, if God has given you salvation, He can't take it. Or if God has given you a gift of the Spirit, you can't lose it no matter what. i do not think that is what the Bible is saying. i respect the wisdom and the experiences of people who have said and arrived at that, but we are looking at the Word of God, which is above those.
In the context of the passage, the verse is actually saying that God's plan would be ultimately fulfilled.
Rom 11:28 As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes.
Rom 11:29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
Rom 11:30 For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:

Talking about the Israelites, the writer was telling the Gentile Romans that they were enemies, and yet beloved. Why? BECAUSE/FOR the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. There was a calling, a prophecy(ies) on Israel that is yet to be fulfilled but would be in the future. This is the ultimate plan, the grand plan of God in the scheme of things. It's not about a particular individual but about Israel as a nation, and the promise to the Gentiles that they would come IN, be grafted in. FOR/Because ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: God had a plan for Israel and for the Gentiles. That plan is being ultimately fulfilled. We are in the period of the Gentiles and Gentiles are being saved. God is not relenting or repentant on that. And we pray that His will be done in earth as it is done and settled in Heaven.
Now, looking through the Bible, do we find God shy or afraid or arms tied as not to be able to take away gifts and callings? God made Adam, gave him a mandate and a gift. Adam lost his gift to satan and was unable to fulfil his mandate. God called the house of Eli. Did God not 'repent' of that calling? He did.
1Sa 2:30 Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me forever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.

God called king Saul, and gifted him with the kingdom. We all know that He later rejected Saul, collected the kingdom from him and gave it to another man.
1Sa 15:28 And Samuel said unto him, The LORD hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbor of thine, that is better than thou.

That man was David. King David knew that God could take back His gifts. No wonder he prayed God "Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. " If anybody knew God, it was Jesus. In fact, if you have seen Jesus, you have seen the Father. Jesus Christ, describing the kingdom of heaven talked about a man who was called and given the gift of a talent. In the end, the talent was taken from him.
Mat 25:28 Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.

How about the man that lost forgiveness? Forgiveness is a gift from God, it is bought by grace and faith in the precious blood of Jesus. Jesus paid for it.
Mat 18:32 Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:
Mat 18:33 Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant, even as I had pity on thee?
Mat 18:34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.
Mat 18:35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.

Paul is said to have written this passage in focus. What did he think of his calling? Did he think he could not lose it? Hear him.
1Co 9:26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:
1Co 9:27 But I keepunder my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

Can Paul be a castaway? Was he joking or being sarcastic? i guess not. Someone that is called like Paul, the gifts and the calling of God, a castaway? Even John the beloved said to " Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. ' We need to be careful as not to take verses out of context and end up careless. Watch.

Rom 11:30 For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
Rom 11:31 Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
Rom 11:32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.
Rom 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

Notice the first two verses. Mercy through unbelief, mercy through mercy. It is wonderful, the depth of the riches of the wisdom of God and of His mercies of course. The Psalmist drills it into our ears for good, "His mercies endure forever". i find it strange how anyone would not tap into and access God's mercies. Can you imagine, somebody will come and say he is not sure if God will have mercy on him, because God said "I will have mercy on who I will have mercy". Well, you are that WHO/WHOM, good news. Mercy is everywhere, front, back, left, right, up, down, enduring forever. Goodness and MERCY shall follow me, EVERY DAY of my life. Blessed are the merciful, they shall obtain mercy. What a promise! Whosoever, wherever, whoso confesseth and forsaketh his sins shall have mercy. Through somebody's unbelief, the Gentiles obtained mercy, imagine!! In the future too, the Israelites will obtain mercy through Gentile's mercy. There is mercy and pardon available for you. There's room, Psa 57:10 For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds.

Rom 11:34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counselor?
Rom 11:35 Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
Rom 11:36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory forever. Amen.

Nobody knows the mind of God, we need to constantly seek it. God is great, and greater than our logics and reasonings. He has given us all things and deserves our all. Let's try to understand God, growing in the knowledge of God. Let's not throw our hands up in the air hastily and conclude against God. We are the ones with something to lose, God has nothing to lose.

Psa 62:9 Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.
Isa 40:15 Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.
Take up the billions of men, low degree high degree no degree. add them together, they are a lie. One lie, not even two. Lighter than vanity, that is more useless than nonsense. take all the nations of the world, the UN, WHO, UNESCO, UNICEF, G7, G* etc. they are as a drop of a bucket. In other words, they are irrelevant, a very little thing. Consider the size of the universe, and of the solar system, and of one man. And you think you're all that. And God better prove Himself to you, or reveal Himself,else He is a wicked God or whatever. You are dancing at the gates of destruction. You are not being real. Who hath first given to Him? What can you give Him, poor as you are? People argue about giving to God. Their lives, their time, their material, their possession. It's unfortunate to even argue about. God is the Owner of all things, to Him be glory forever. Amen.