ACCURATE and correct proclamation of the Gospel of Christ should not leave people between the wrath of God and Satan. Satan will always open his arms to receive people destroyed by lack of knowledge.
Devotion column with Erasmus Makarimayi
Make a decision today to enter into the arms of your loving Father God. Salvation, which is the major subject of the Bible, has to be repeatedly taught. We have to be wise in this area. Apostle Paul says this in 2 Timothy 3:15, “And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” We are saved by the love and not the wrath of God. Commit to His fellowship without fear and worship Him in peace. You are saved by the love of God. Christianity is God’s free gift to His people to reconcile and fellowship with their Creator and Maker who has begotten us as sons and daughters in Christ. He’s, therefore, our Father. Reaching out to God is influenced by the way one views Him. To some He’s a vicious and hard being waiting to beat you up when and if you transgress or trespass His statutes. In this case, He’s viewed as an unrelenting heartless ruler of the universe. The mental picture painted would be some very high being with a sheet of paper meticulously jotting down all your activities and marking in red your faults and punishing you harshly for all your misdeeds. If you cry unto Him, He closes His iron doors and asks His angels to whip you so hard so that you won’t bother Him. This is God to some people, but is this in tandem with the spirit of the Bible? We shall find out. I always refrain from giving my personal testimonies in this column preferring the testimony of Jesus Christ, which is always true and authentic. My concern is that some may be led to make a theology and belief system out of it and negate the diverse scope of truths covered in the Bible. I’m giving this one prayerfully persuaded it will lead many to the testimony of Christ. Probably, my earliest encounter with someone purporting to witness or evangelise for Jesus outside the confines of my local church was at a tender age of about 10. An elder brother from the neighbourhood, who attended a different denomination felt the denomination I was attending was heading to hell, thus his burden to enlighten me. His witnessing was on the grounds that on the day of judgment, my blood will not be asked from him. It sounds scriptural from Ezekiel 3:18, “When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.” He was so elaborate in describing hell and how sinners will burn there. Those with few or lesser sins will burn like paper and not feel intense pain. Big time sinners will burn like fresh logs and stay longer in the fire, feeling the agony. Introduction to God based on fear doesn’t lead you to worship Him. It’s not judgment, but the goodness of God that brings people to repentance. Running away from something doesn’t entail running to something. Some perceive Him as so much interested and bent on sending us to hell. As I grew I began to search the scriptures and discovered that God is full of goodness and mercy. He’s so full of tender love and care that He epitomises the embodiment of love. The words of Jesus Christ in John 3:16 prove God’s deep feeling towards us. The Scripture reads, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” God loves us and doesn’t want us to perish, period! After man sinned, God instituted a redemption plan. Throughout the pages of the Bible, He’s reconciling His people to Him. I had to unlearn many human barriers for God’s Grace to reach me. As I studied the Bible, I learnt truths about God’s intention. Wrong teachings may leave you between a rock and hard place. You will be led to think that God is pushing you to hell while Satan will be eager to swallow you. You will be left with nowhere to run to. Sometimes you have to question why God should be so interested in creating people to be feasted by the devil. Such teaching should be satanic lies to ride on ignorance. You need to embrace verses such as Psalm 103:8 which reads, “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.” You need to check whether God created hell first then created people to put into it. The kingdom of God will benefit if people repent in love. Grace and peace be multiplied to you through knowledge.
