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Some agnostic named Alex O’Connor struts into a video and declares the “problem of evil” is the argument, the obvious point that wrecks any worldview. John Lennox calls it hard for everyone, but let’s skip the polite dance and get straight to it: the guy is just making stuff up. The Bible never once frames evil as this big, scary “gotcha” against God. Not a whisper. Not a footnote. Why? Because from God’s own starting point it isn’t even worth mentioning.

Scripture says it alone is true, and it says everything else is false. 2 Timothy 3:16 says the whole Bible is God-breathed and equips us completely. So when someone starts with a human starting point of observations, or “inductive logic” and pretends it produces subjects and predicates, they’re operating from an anti-Christian foundation. Christians are forbidden to treat that garbage as intelligent. To do so would be to crown their human starting point and anti-logic higher than the Logos, and the Bible shuts that rebellion down cold.

God creates. God controls. God decrees every single thing that exists. Ephesians 1:11 nails it: He “works all things according to the counsel of his will.” Isaiah 45:7 is even blunter—He forms light and creates darkness, makes peace and creates calamity. The Lord does all these things. Since God is good by definition, whatever He likes, wants, or causes is good relative to Him. For us? Good is whatever His arbitrary command says it is. No debate. No blender-mixing their made-up “free will” fantasies with His absolute sovereignty and then acting shocked when the contradiction explodes in their face.

That’s the rookie error they keep tripping over. They take their worldview, slap it next to ours, and gasp, “Look—they clash!” They are so dumb they don’t understand they are mixing up worldviews when they attempt to attack the bible; they think they are showing a contradiction in our internal system, when all they have shown is our view doesn’t work with theirs. No duh. Tell me something I don’t already know. Thus there is no problem for us. The so-called problem of evil is their problem, not ours. They start from superstition and speculation, and they don’t even have enough intelligence to critique an internal system question, without making a category error by blending two worldviews together. They pose no threat, expect to embrace themselves.

And this same sovereign God who decrees us to be seated with Christ far above every power. He gave us His name, His authority, His Spirit. And so, sickness, demons, lack—they don’t get a vote. They flee when we speak in faith, just like they fled when Jesus spoke. The same power that rested on Him to heal the sick is here for us right now. Pray in tongues. Command mountains. Reclaim everything the enemy tried to steal. No fear—only believe.

This is our worldview. It has no problems. It is Unstoppable. Tangible. Explosive.

*97 God gets glory when we ask for ourselves.

Some clown hit me with this gem after my last post on prosperity: “We’re not selfish—we “pray for others, not ourselves.” Mind-numbingly dumb. Straight-up fleshly nonsense dressed up as humility. Even for the sake of argument, let’s use their exact phrase—the Bible and Jesus teach us to be very selfish in our prayers, and God loves it.

From the moment you’re born again, you’re crying out, “Forgive me, Lord, for my sins.” You can call it selfish if you want, but whatever you call it, God commands we pray this self-serving prayer for God to forgive me. Also, Jesus doesn’t say, “Pray for your neighbor’s lunch.” He says, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Jabez didn’t whisper a polite group prayer—he looked heaven square in the eye: “Oh that You would bless me indeed, enlarge my territory, let Your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so it would not pain me!” And God granted what he asked. The Psalms are packed with raw, personal shouts for prosperity, protection, and blessing. Jesus seals it: “Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” Not someone else’s. Yours.

Jesus says it plain in Matthew 6: Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things—the exact level of wealth the pagans chase like it’s their god—will be added to you. He wants you to have it, but you get it by worshiping Him first. Tithing works the same: bring God His, watch your barns overflow. Even the baptism of the Holy Spirit follows the pattern—Peter tells the crowd panting for that power upgrade, “Repent first, then you’ll receive this gift.”

And yeah, you can just ask and believe like Jabez did, like the Psalms do. It’s available to anyone walking in faith without doubt. But if you’re not seeking the Kingdom first, or you’re double-minded when you pray, don’t expect a thing.

This whole “asking for yourself is selfish” scam? It’s like hiding your flashlight under the bed because you’re scared the darkness might notice you’re lighting up the room. But lighting up the room and running off darkness is exactly what we are to be doing. The gospel is God showing off by lavishing righteousness, healing, wealth, and power on His kids. He becomes poor so we become rich. He bore our sickness so we walk healed. Why? So we live in the overflow and our joy explodes in praise.

Abide in Him, let His words sink deep, then ask whatever you will. The Father is glorified when you receive big—when you run to the throne like a son who knows his Dad delights to give. It’s humility to obey God by asking for ourselves and walking in the new definition God gave us in Christ. It honours God as God. To reject this is arrogance and unbelief.

God gets glory when we ask for ourselves and He forks the bill with a smile, filling our lives with tangible joy and power.

That’s the God of the Bible. That’s the life He bought for you.

*98

When Jesus healed the blind man, it was spiritual blindness. And when they pulled the coin from the fish’s mouth it was a spiritual wealth not a real coin. When Phillip was casting out demons and healing the sick it was only spiritual healing, and the demons were metaphors for other spiritual problems. When Jesus took stripes for my healing, the lashes that fell on Jesus’ back were spiritual and also the healing was only spiritual. When Jesus was naked and penniless, it was only spiritual poverty he experienced and so the riches we get in exchange is only spiritual.

Look mom, I’m a world-class theologian now!

*99 Joy for Benefits

If you do not serve the Lord your God with joy and enthusiasm for the abundant benefits you have received… (Deut. 28:47 NLT).

God doesn’t drop commands into thin air. He builds them on reality. This verse doesn’t say “serve Me with joy in case I might give you something someday.” It says serve Me with joy for the abundant benefits you have received. The command presupposes the gifts are already in your hands—health that makes doctors scratch their heads, provision that turns empty cupboards into overflow, miracles that make the devil look slow and stupid. If those benefits weren’t real and received, the command would be cruel nonsense. God isn’t cruel. He’s the One who loaded the gospel with every good thing Jesus purchased.

Look at the cross again. Isaiah 53:4-5 (NLT): “Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down… He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.” Same blood that took your sin took your sickness. 2 Corinthians 8:9 (NLT): “You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich.” Not spiritual-only rich—real, pay-the-bills, bless-your-family rich. James 5:14-15 (NLT): “Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well.” Same faith that receives forgiveness receives healing. No asterisk. No “maybe next lifetime.”

The centurion understood this. He didn’t beg Jesus to maybe heal his servant. He said, “Just say the word and my servant will be healed—I know authority when I see it.” Jesus called that great faith. Peter preached election and immediately pointed to the baptism of power. James taught God’s total sovereignty over tomorrow and then commanded the prayer of faith that guarantees healing. They didn’t treat the benefits like lottery tickets. They treated them like signed contracts written in Jesus’ blood.

Stop tiptoeing around like a spiritual pauper begging for scraps. You’re seated at the King’s table. The benefits are already yours. Grab them. Speak to that sickness like the centurion’s servant heard the word—gone. Command that lack to bow like reality bowed to Jesus’ voice. Then turn around and serve the Lord with loud, over-the-top joy and enthusiasm because the abundant benefits are not coming—they are here.

The gospel is not a theory. It is God showing off on you. Let the world see the proof: healed bodies, blessed homes, bold faith, and a Christian who can’t stop grinning because the Father loaded him up with every good thing.

The command presupposes the gifts are already in your hands—health that makes doctors scratch their heads, provision that turns empty cupboards into overflow, miracles that make the devil look slow and stupid. If those benefits weren’t real and received, the command would be cruel nonsense. God isn’t cruel. He’s the One who loaded the gospel with every good thing Jesus purchased. The abundant benefits are already yours in Christ, so get your praise on and make it joyful and loud.

*100

People get lost in end time timelines and charts. They want to know what happens during the “last days.” Peter quotes and interprets the scripture to help us understand what happens during the “last days.” Peter quotes Joel’s prophecy, saying “In the Last Days, I will pour out My Spirit…”

Peter, under the power of the Spirit, says this means the baptism of the Spirit, which Jesus called “power.” The context was praying in tongues by the Spirit’s baptism.

This is how God, Jesus and Scripture define the last days. This is God’s “last days” agenda and testament. If you are not doing the baptism of the Spirit for power to pray in tongues, prophecy, heal the sick, raise the dead, and cast out demons, then you are existing in the last days, without living in them.

*101 God-grade dynamite

2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (NIV)
“The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

I have often focused on the middle and latter parts of this passage, but I want to highlight the first part. The scripture says we have “weapons.” These are not weapons God reserves for Himself, for we reject pantheism. No, they are given to us. We are the ones to use them and pull the trigger, not God. Then it says these weapons are infused, not with TNT, but with divine power. Finally, it declares that these divinely empowered weapons “demolish strongholds.”

This reminds me of the story of David and Goliath, often moralized to encourage Christians to face their giants with faith; this is good because the bible moralizes itself. And we will do the same. And so, although moralizing is legit, Paul isn’t just moralizing—he directly states that we possess powerful weapons to dismantle strongholds. Many strongholds, at their root, are intellectual, which is why the passage emphasizes knowledge, and intellectual systems in the public forum that creates strongholds in the mind. The direct meaning is in the public forum to destroy any anti-Christian thought and doctrine. But it can also be moralized to ourselves. We have the Word and the Spirit.

For example, if you are battling depression, the mighty weapon God has given you is praying in tongues. Praying in the Spirit allows God to directly edify and strengthen your inner being. It’s like aiming a machine gun at depression. You have this weapon, and you can choose to use it or not. Jesus directly ties “power” to the baptism of the Spirit (Acts 1-2).

We also have the weapon of Jesus’ name. Jesus said, “Ask for anything in my name, and you will receive it”—be it healing, provision, or restoration of relationships.

We have the mighty weapon of speaking to our mountains and commanding them to move.

We hold the high ground with our weapons because we have authority over all demons and sickness.

We have many divine weapons at our disposal to destroy strongholds.

2 Corinthians 10:4-5 is handing you a divine arsenal that makes Rambo look like he’s wielding a plastic spoon. These aren’t your average worldly weapons—nope, they’re packing divine power to obliterate strongholds. Forget TNT; we’re talking God-grade dynamite. From praying in tongues to blast away depression, to commanding mountains to skedaddle in Jesus’ name, you’re armed to the teeth with faith-fueled firepower. So, grab your spiritual machine gun, take aim at Satan, and show those strongholds who’s boss. You’ve got the high ground, and it’s time to let ‘er rip!

*102 Spiritual Power and Miracles

Galatians 3:5 Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

The miracles and the Spirit came to the Galatians church, because as Paul said, the atonement of Jesus gave them the blessing of Abraham(v13-14). Their faith in Jesus’ atonement, which gave them the blessing of Abraham is what caused them to receive the Baptism of the Spirit, with all the power that comes with this, including miracles.

However, something bad happened. They stopped having faith in Jesus’ atonement that gave them Abraham’s blessing for free, which gave them the Spirit and miracles. They traded this faith to receive Abraham’ blessing through Jesus, for the works of the law.

There are more than one important observations and applications to reap from this passage, but consider this one. Paul’s presupposition is that people who are operating in God’s grace by faith in Jesus, giving them Abraham’s blessing, are filled with Spiritual power and miracles. The other is obvious, if people are operating by works of the law to get Abraham’s blessing and good things from God, are people who do not demonstrate Spiritual power and miracles in their lives.

Grace by faith in Jesus finished atonement is shown by Spiritual power and miracles.

Works to receive God’s blessing, is shown by no spiritual power and no miracles.

This is a good test to see where you are at with God and to see if your faith is in vain. Like the Galatians, if you are making a mistake, correct yourself and operate with God based on faith not works.

It also shows that many church denominations and traditions make works of the law their formal religion because there is no spiritual power and no miracles among them. Their whole religion is in vain. Spiritual power and miracles shows your faith is true and not in vain.

*103 What I Have and What I Give, Not God

“What I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Acts 3:6

Peter had the authority, power and Name of Jesus to heal. Thus, imagine how dumb it would be if Peter looked at the crippled and prayed, “Jesus, I don’t have the power and authority to heal, but you do. I am nothing, but you are everything. Please heal this man, if it is your will.”

This is how most pray, and there are many things wrong with it. However, I only wish to point out the one aspect that Peter said he already had the power, authority and name of Jesus to heal. He did not say, Jesus has it in Himself to heal you. No. Peter said a very unchristian like thing. Peter said he has it, and he gives it. Peter did not say, he had it, but Jesus gives it, nor did he say, Jesus has it, but Peter gives it. No. Peter both said, he had it and he gives it, referring to the healing.

Thus, it would make no sense for Peter to ask Jesus to heal the man, when Peter already had it to give it away. However, we are not different from Peter. The stripes of Jesus that brough Peter healing and the cripple were also for us (Isaiah 53:4). The Name of Jesus is given to all believer to ask for whatever we want (John 14-16). The authority to ask whatever we want and to cast anything, including mountains to the sea is for all believers (Mark 11:22-24). The same Spirit that baptized Peter with Power is the same Spirit that baptizes all believers in power, based on Jesus’ resurrected and seated on the right hand of God (Acts 1-2). All spiritual blessings have already been given to all believers. The same power that God work in Jesus to put Him above all names and powers and dominions, is the same power in and flowing out of all believers today. All believes are already seated with Jesus above all names and powers. (Ep 1-2). Cancer is name, and we are already above it.

This is why asking God to heal you, as if you don’t already have it, is as strange to ask God to forgive you, as if you don’t already have forgiveness and God needs to grant it. Jesus’ atonement is already finished. We confess to obey God, but the forgiveness has already happened. The atonement is already finished. It already belongs to us in faith. Peter already had it and gives it. We are the same. We already have healing and so we give. We have it and we give it, not God.

*104 Shut the Jaws of Death

Living in the Spirit is the gospel. It is life itself. It is living with God. The Spirit is the Spirit of God. The Spirit is the Spirit of Christ (Romans 8 ). Being baptized in the Spirit is to live with the Father; it is to live with Christ. Praying in the Spirit keeps me in the love of God. Praying in the Spirit causes God to directly minister to my spirit and build me up. Praying in the Spirit and getting interpretation makes God my personal trainer—think of Him as the ultimate cosmic coach, always spotting you for that next level-up. Praying in tongues is to bring heaven on earth. Praying in the Spirit is a hug around my heart. Praying in tongues is to bitch-slap Satan across the face like a piñata being whacked by an MLB player on a home-run streak. Praying in tongues slams Satan’s face into the ground over and over again. Praying in tongues is to expand the kingdom of God. Praying in tongues pushes back against the kingdom of Satan. Praying in tongues stops the mouths of lions. Praying in tongues shuts the jaws of death.

I was praying in tongues last night, along with praising God and confessing words of faith in His promises. When the Spirit gave me a few interpretations of the tongues—or they could just be words spoken without direct relation to the tongues, but from the general presence of God overflowing around me—one message was this: “I have delivered you from the jaws of death. I have spared you and delivered you. Praise me, because I have delivered you from the jaws of death.”

Of course, I began to praise God for delivering me. I did not know exactly what God had delivered me from (I have a few ideas, but the Spirit did not tell me what it was). The important part was that God has been faithful to me, even when I do not see all the many ways He has kept me and spared me. God was letting me know that, even from unseen dangers, He keeps me safe and spares my life, over and over again. Both from the things I see and do not see, God keeps me and delivers me. He made the promise, and so it is the most common and average thing in all reality for God to do what He says. He is a God of truth and faithfulness.

In moments like this, I often remember the Roman Centurion, who asked for an upgrade to his miracle. Jesus said He was going to heal the boy—that is, to give him an iPhone. But the Centurion told Jesus, “Just say the word, and he will be healed right here and now.” Jesus granted his upgraded miracle request. He got an iPhone Pro Max—because why settle for basic when you can go premium with a divine warranty?

And so I told God: “Even if you meant that the jaws were inches from closing down on me, I don’t see them next to my face or smell their breath. Destroy it in front of me, so that I see you slam your fist into my enemy’s face from a distance.

”I don’t have to guess. I know God has granted my request, because He does the things I ask—after all, when He sees me, He sees His Son. This is the life of righteousness. This is the life of the Spirit—like plugging into the universe’s infinite power source, no batteries required.

To pray in tongues is life. It is the life of God. Why settle for less? Why short-circuit your own adventure by not obeying Jesus’ command to pray in the Spirit? Why reject life?

*105 Miracles Overcome Delay

Today my mom realized at noon she’d forgotten to haul the trash cans out that morning. She loves doing it for the quick exercise, so I told her, “Hey, sometimes the truck runs late—wheel ’em out and see.” She has hesitant for a bit, but did it anyway. Minutes later she came back grinning ear to ear: the trash truck rolled up right as she hit the curb; a perfect hand-off like some divine relay race.

It’s a loud reminder that with God, it’s never actually “too late” for His kids. If you’re in Christ—truly an insider with Abraham’s blessing stamped on your soul—then despair over missed chances is just a lie from the pit. God specializes in flipping dead-end clocks into explosive breakthroughs.

Think about it. Abraham and Sarah were way past prime time—bodies as good as dead, yet God fired up their reproductive systems again. Isaac arrived, and Abraham kept fathering kids into his old age like it was nothing. Joshua and Caleb spied the land at 40, waited decades in the wilderness because of everyone else’s unbelief, but at 80 and 85 they were still flexing the same strength, ready to conquer mountains (Joshua 14:10-11). Joseph rotted in prison one morning, forgotten; by evening he was second-in-command of Egypt, running the show for Pharaoh (Genesis 41). Rahab the harlot thought her city was doomed, but she threw in with Yahweh’s spies and snatched salvation for her whole family. That woman bleeding twelve years, bankrupt from doctors, shoved through the crowd thinking, “If I just touch His clothes…” Boom—healing hit instantly, and Jesus called her faith beautiful (Mark 5:25-34).

And don’t get me started on Joel 2:25—God straight-up promises to restore the years the locust devoured. Not some vague hope; a sovereign decree from the One who owns time itself. He doesn’t wring His hands saying, “Oops, too much delay.” When you step out in faith, He meets you right there on the street with perfect timing.

Listen, some of us feel like we’ve blown years on unbelief, sickness, bad choices, or just waiting. And it is true that you have lost some time. But if you belong to Jesus, those lost seasons don’t have to be permanent losses—they can become miraculous restoration. God wants to give you the miracle more than you want to grab it. The issue isn’t His clock; it’s whether we’ll ditch the doubt, fix our eyes on the promise, and move. Stop staring at the missed pickup and start confessing the yes in Christ. Speak life over dead situations. Believe for strength in old age, sudden promotion, instant healing, family salvation.

Faith isn’t polite suggestion—it’s violent appropriation of what Jesus already bought. So wheel that trash out, even if it feels late. Act on the Word. Your divine truck is coming, and the Driver never misses His route. All the promises are yes and amen in Him.

*106 On His enemies

I recently wrote in “Is Something My Will If I Already Did It.” “ Acts 10:38 says healing is good, and Jesus did this good thing called healing. It is true that God is good, and so also Jesus is good. Because God is good, by definition of His nature, anything He does is good. However, this is not what the verse says. It says that healing is good, and Jesus is doing this good thing. Thus, the Bible declares healing as a category of good. Thus, it is always good to heal. Healing is good… Sickness is bad, and the devil does this bad thing called sickness. Thus, to oppose healing is bad. You’re a bad person because you do bad things when you do anything to oppose the supernatural healing ministry of God.”

Some might be prone to ask “But doesn’t the Bible show God sending sickness sometimes?” Sure it does—on His enemies! Remember the Philistines swiping the ark? God hit them with tumors so bad they were stacking golden hemorrhoids as peace offerings (1 Samuel 5–6). That’s God treating outsiders like the cosmic pests they are. Plagues on Egypt? Same deal—judgment on those who hated Him and His people. Even Job: Satan was the one dishing out the boils and misery, while God set the boundaries (Job 1–2). Ultimate level? God sovereignly decrees everything. Human level—the one Scripture keeps hammering when it talks about us under the New Covenant? Satan ministers sickness; God ministers healing.

Acts 10:38 couldn’t be clearer: Jesus “went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with him.” Every single person Jesus healed was being victimized by Satan, not lovingly disciplined by the Father. Jesus never once looked at a sick believer and said, “This cancer is my gift to teach you humility.” He saw sickness as Satan flipping the bird at the atonement and crushed it every time.

Because here’s the punchline: the blood of Jesus changed the game. Isaiah 53:4-5 (quoted directly in Matthew 8:17 about physical healing) says He bore our sicknesses the exact same way He bore our sins—substitutionary atonement. Three different ways He took sickness off us: became our curse (Galatians 3:13), carried it away like the scapegoat (Leviticus 16 language), and swapped His stripes for our health. Healing is as much the gospel as forgiveness. To say God now hands out the very thing Jesus died to remove is to call the Father a covenant-breaking deadbeat who re-crucifies His Son every time a Christian gets the flu.

If sickness is coming from God to you—a blood-bought, adopted, co-heir with Christ—then God sees you as an enemy, not a son. But Romans 8:32 screams the opposite: He who did not spare His own Son will freely give us all things. All things includes healing, prosperity, power—children’s bread on Abraham’s table (Matthew 15:26). Sickness is Satan’s ministry of death; healing is Jesus’ ministry of life, and life abundant.

So stop begging God to maybe heal you if it’s His mood today. The contract’s signed in blood—He already did. Open your mouth, command that sickness to get out in Jesus’ name, and watch reality obey the word you just spoke. Anything less is letting the devil squat in territory Jesus already paid for. And frankly, that’s just bad manners at the Father’s table.

* 107 Strength of Days

In Deuteronomy 33:25, Moses blesses Asher with this gem: “As your days, so shall your strength be.” This isn’t just pretty poetry—it’s a rock-solid promise of sustained vigor, where your endurance perfectly matches every day you’re given.

Flip over to the curses in Deuteronomy 28, and you see the dark flip side: weakness piling up, infirmities stacking like unpaid bills. Doctors describe exactly what they observe in aging bodies—and too many believers nod along, calling it “normal.” But if you agree with that narrative, you’re unwittingly giving Satan and the curse a foothold in your life.

You’re not a helpless bystander. You’re a royal priest in Christ Jesus, wielding irrevocable authority whether you feel like it or not. When you open your mouth and agree with decline—”Yeah, I’m just getting older”—you’re using that God-given authority to empower Satan and the very curse Jesus died to cancel.

Here’s the game-changer: Galatians 3:13–14 lays it out plain. “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us… so that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus.” Jesus didn’t just pay the penalty—He reversed the curse entirely. Abraham’s blessing package? Overflowing health, miracles, and the promised Spirit (the same baptism Peter preached in Acts 2:38: repent, be forgiven, then receive the gift of power). We’re not outsiders scraping by under the law’s shadow anymore. The Spirit of God quickens our mortal bodies—not the curse.

Words aren’t neutral; they’re weapons. Proverbs 18:21 warns that death and life are in the power of the tongue. Agreeing with a grim diagnosis without countering it with God’s promise is dangerous. Nothing wrong with stating what you see, but stopping there makes you like the ten fearful spies. They told the truth about what they observed—giants, fortified cities—and God called their report evil because they left out His promise. They didn’t follow up with, “But the Lord has empowered us to take them!”

When God’s promise collides with what we see, we side with the promise. We confess it, decree it, and align our words with heaven’s reality. “By His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5) isn’t a hopeful maybe—it’s a finished fact, received by the same faith that grabs forgiveness. James 5:15 promises that the prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, with forgiveness thrown in as a bonus. No begging required—just bold declaration, like Peter in Acts 3: “What I have, I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”

Joshua and Caleb saw the same giants but declared, “They are bread for us!” (Numbers 14:9). God-ordained obstacles? Breakfast. Your days dragging with fatigue? Decree the Deuteronomy promise over them. Psalm 1 says the person who meditates day and night on God’s Word will prosper in everything.

Don’t let unbelief (Satan’s favorite product) water this down. Jesus said faith as small as a mustard seed moves mountains. Your strength isn’t fading—it’s fortified by rivers of living water flowing from within (John 7:38). Romans 8 doesn’t say the curse quickens our mortal bodies; it says the Spirit does. But Doctors see bodies; they don’t see the Spirit or God’s promises. So open your mouth and agree with God instead. Watch weakness lose its grip as His blessings stack higher and higher.

*108 All Things Are Possible Means Certainty

Let’s cut through the fog that surrounds one of the most misused statements in Scripture. Jesus looked at the desperate father whose son was tormented by a spirit and said, “‘If you can’?” Then He declared, “Everything is possible for the one who believes” (Mark 9:23 NIV). Immediately the father cried, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” And what happened next? Jesus commanded the spirit to leave, and the boy was completely healed. No hesitation, no “let Me check with the Father,” no partial result. The miracle followed the moment belief was exercised.

Yet the vast majority of Christians quote this verse as if Jesus were offering a polite possibility rather than a divine guarantee. They pray for healing, for provision, for breakthrough, and then tack on, “if it’s Your will” or “we’ll see what happens.” That is not faith; that is unbelief wearing a pious mask. When Jesus says “everything is possible for the one who believes,” He is not handing out lottery tickets with slim odds. He is stating a categorical truth: when belief aligns with God’s revealed promise, the outcome is certain.

Look at the parallel accounts. In Matthew 17:20 Jesus says if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, “Nothing will be impossible for you.” Not “almost nothing” or “some things on a good day.” Nothing. In Mark 11:23-24 He teaches, “Truly I tell you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Notice the tenses: believe that you have received it (already done), and it will be yours (future manifestation of what faith has already grasped).

James brings the same certainty to healing: “And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up” (James 5:15 NIV). Will, not might. There is no room for the weak, wavering, “well, God is sovereign so maybe He’ll heal, maybe He won’t” nonsense that passes for humility today. That attitude is not humility; it is rebellion against the clear testimony of Scripture.

People object, “But what if it’s not God’s will?” The question itself exposes the problem. God has already revealed His will in the finished work of Christ. By His stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:5; 1 Peter 2:24). He took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses (Matthew 8:17). The same gospel that saves the soul also heals the body.

Here’s the frank reality: most believers treat “all things are possible” like a vague inspirational poster instead of a contractual promise sealed in Christ’s blood. They approach God like He’s a cosmic vending machine that sometimes jams. But Scripture presents a Father who has already said “Yes” to every promise in Jesus (2 Corinthians 1:20). When we believe — truly believe without doubt — we are not hoping for a maybe. We are enforcing a certainty that heaven has already ratified.

To read “all things are possible means a vague idea of possibility” and not, what you ask is what you will get, show that you read the bible like outsider to God. You read it, but don’t believe it. God sees reality in one way, but you see reality in a contradiction to God’s. You have a worldview problem.

So stop praying timid, double-minded prayers that cancel themselves out (James 1:6-8). Start praying with the confidence of a son who knows his Father’s word is unbreakable. Command that mountain to move. Speak healing to that body. Declare provision over that need. Believe you receive when you pray — and you will have it.

Because with man, all things are possible. For the one who believes, what they say God will do for them is as good as done.

* 109 Dominates the course of your Life

What you believe God will do for you, is God will do for you.

This single axiom unlocks more of Scripture than most people ever grasp, and it explains why some lives overflow with power while others limp along in quiet defeat.

I first heard Vincent Cheung phrase it in “Have Faith in God,” (Borders Vol.1) “God wants us to live as though whatever we truly believe He will do for us, He will in fact do.” The statement is biblical, concise, and comprehensive. It applies to both the positive and the negative without partiality.

Consider the ten spies. They looked at the land, looked at the giants, looked at themselves, and concluded, “We are not able.” That was their doctrine of God: He brought us this far, but He will not give us victory here. So God looked at them and said, “Fine. Because you have spoken in My hearing that you cannot take the land, you will not take it.” Their unbelief became a self-fulfilling prophecy. God honored their confession. Every human being is, in this sense, a prophet: what you say God will (or will not) do for you, He will make certain. God sovereignly ensures you are a prophet, whether you want the job or not. The issue is not if you are a prophet, but whether you will confess goodness or evil over your life.

The same principle runs in the opposite direction. The woman with the issue of blood reasoned, “If I merely touch the hem of His garment, I will be completely healed.” She did not pray for partial relief or for strength to endure the sickness; she expected full, immediate deliverance. And that is precisely what she received. Her expectation defined the outcome.

The Roman centurion provides an even starker example. He told Jesus, “Only speak the word, and my servant will be healed.” He did not ask for a visit, a laying on of hands, or a prolonged treatment plan. He believed that Christ’s bare command was sufficient. Jesus marveled and declared that He had not found such great faith in all Israel. The servant was healed that very hour. Again, the man’s conviction about what God would do determined what God did.

Most Christians live far below this level. They confess, in practice, that God helps those who help themselves, that He heals through physicians, that prosperity is dangerous, that suffering is usually His will. Then they are shocked when their lives conform exactly to that confession. They spend decades and fortunes in waiting rooms, submit to procedures, and call it “trusting God” when the real trust was placed in human methods. God, being sovereign and just, gives them what they believed He would give: a little help, some relief, occasional encouragement—never the explosive demonstration of power promised in the gospel.

Your mouth is steering the ship. If you confess with settled conviction that you are the righteousness of God in Christ, that by His stripes you are healed, that He daily loads you with benefits, that no weapon formed against you will prosper—then those realities will dominate your experience. If, on the other hand, you hedge every prayer with “if it be Your will” (on matters He has already revealed), you will receive exactly the uncertainty you confessed.

If you believe God will give you best case blessing, that is what you get. If believe for only some minor help, then that is what you will get. If believe the Christian life is about suffering and pain under the hand of God, then that is what God will give you.

Recently I’ve heard of a famous Christian writer confessing an 8 year long adulterous relationship. He is now surrounded by pain and suffering. I also heard how he often spoke in his writings that we often use our faith to sustain pain and suffering. And so, Like with the 10 spies God has given him what he confessed.

A man will not rise higher than his confession

Show me a man who says, “Lord, only say the word and it is done,” and I will show you a man whose life is governed by the dauntless power and goodness of God rather than by circumstances, statistics, or medical prognoses.

The gospel of Abraham is so radically high and the gift of Jesus’ righteousness and adoption is so great, you cannot error in confessing goodness too great about your life. You only run the risk in believing too small.

Stop limiting God with small, cautious, respectable expectations. Scripture is clear: according to your faith—your doctrine about what He will do for you—is what God will do for you. This is what has already determined your life up to this point, and it will continue to dominate the course of your life into the future.

* 110 Moving mountains is a possibility?

Sometimes I see promise verse posts boil down Jesus’ statement to “Faith Can move mountains.” However this is a lazy or possible misleading way to say it. Does Jesus teach with faith the broad idea of moving mountains is a possibility? Not exactly. What Jesus teaches is more direct and definite. He doesn’t merely say Faith Can Move Mountains, as a mere possibility, He says, if you have Faith the Mountain will move.

Listen, folks, Jesus wasn’t spitballing hypotheticals when He dropped this bombshell in Matthew 17:20—right after His disciples flopped at casting out a demon. He looked them square and declared, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Notice the bite: “it will move.” Not “it might” or “if the stars align and God feels like it.” No wiggle room. He hammers it home again in Mark 11:23, post-cursing the fig tree: “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them.” Believes it “will happen”—future tense locked in, no probation period. Luke 17:6 echoes the tune: even mustard-seed faith lets you uproot a mulberry tree and plant it in the ocean, and “it would obey you.”

Logic demands we take this at face value, in context. Jesus ties mountain-moving faith to everyday discipleship, not some elite apostle gig. It’s deduction from His promises: God decrees all things, sure, but His commands to us insiders—born-from-above sons—override the curse, flipping sickness, lack, and obstacles into bread for the taking. Isaiah 53 swaps our pains for His stripes, making healing as definite as forgiveness. Peter in Acts 10:38 calls Jesus’ heal-everybody rampage “doing good,” demolishing Satan’s oppression. So why the lazy memes watering it down to “can” when Scripture screams “will”? It’s like spotting a buffet and whispering, “I suppose I could eat”—nah, dig in, because the Father loaded the table for you.

Frankly, these half-baked posts reek of unbelief dressed as piety, like those Pharisees Jesus roasted for tradition over truth. They rob glory from the Father, who gets praised when we snag “whatever we ask” (John 15:7-8). If you’re tired of mountains mocking you, renew that mind on His word day and night (Psalm 1). Assent to the facts: you’re Abraham’s heir, Spirit-baptized for power, and nothing’s impossible. Watch those peaks bow—then give God a shout-out. He loves a bold heir who grabs the goods.

* 111 He Gives New Strength

Isaiah 40:29 NIV – “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.” NLT: “He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.” Different translations, same punch – God pumps up the drained and depleted soul.

Even after we’re born from above, life’s battles can leave us weary because of our lack of faith and immaturity. In this light, it makes sense to ask for new strength. However this isn’t the norm for Christians, because the norm is regular supernatural Vigor and power. This is the maturity we should all strive for.

When we do find ourselves wearied, it didn’t happen because God is trying to teach us a lesson by dangling renewal just out of reach, forcing us to beg for what isn’t already ours, to keep us humble. No, that’s Satan’s priesthood. Through Jesus’ finished atonement, power and vigor are etched into our spiritual core, part of the inheritance sealed by His blood. The good news? God delights in meeting our needs, eager to respond when we cry out.

And here is the big idea: God loves us and has promised to help, but we ask from a position of victory. Victory is our new identity in Jesus. It is given to us as part of us. Victory is the hill we fight from. Colossians says that the Father has already conveyed us out from the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of the Son of His love. Ephesians says God has already seated us in Christ in the heavenly places. Not that it will happened, but that it already has happened. Reality is created by what God thinks and decides. And God thinks these are true for us, and so they are.

Strength is ours through Jesus’ atonement; it’s our definition. Paul doesn’t say to ask for God’s armour or ask to walk in His power; he says to put on the armour because you already have access to it, and to walk in the power because you already have access to it. You already have God’s strength, but you must take responsibility to put it on and use it. Ask for God’s help, but also use the power God has already given you.

Satan loves flipping the script, turning strength into some elusive prize behind a paywall of striving, begging, or “if it’s His will” nonsense. He wants you fighting on the wrong hill, seeing yourself as lacking. He wants you to view your identity as lacking this strength, so that you view yourself pushing and striving from a position of not having. He lures you to battle on the wrong hill, viewing yourself as deficient, scrambling from a place of lack, to get to a place of strength above you. That’s a hellish deception, designed to keep you in perpetual defeat.

You’ve got the shield of favor already strapped on and the sword of the Spirit (aka. Praying in tongues) in your mouth. Release His authority, release Jesus’ name that is already branded on your tongue. God is not the one withholding, He has already given you all blessings in Jesus. Do not fear, only believe.

God’s decrees secure our redemption, attributing Jesus’ wounds to our wholeness, His humility to our exaltation, His life surging through us. Affirming His faithfulness while wallowing in weakness? Sensation is the real fraud—your fleeting feelings and fatigue don’t dictate truth; faith in God’s revelation does.

Confess Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Command that weariness to bow – “Weakness, get out in Jesus’ name; strength, flow now.” Watch God back it up, like He did for Elijah, turning a drained prophet into a marathon man (1 Kings 18). Or Hezekiah, grabbing 15 extra years through faith-fueled appeal (Isa. 38). That’s your blueprint.

God’s strength isn’t a “someday” tease; it’s your now-reality through faith in His Word. Don’t be stupid and tempt God by never getting enough sleep, and then blame God’s inability to refresh you. Hear His Word, believe His Word, pray in tongues to encourage your inner man and receive the miracles to uplift you and yours. Do it from the place of victory Jesus has already given you. You do not need to fight to get to the hill of victory, because Jesus has already put you there. You need to catch up to reality and believe Him, because those walls will fall, as surely as the sun will rise.

*112 I consider this logical

I came across this idea today: “Many people argue that a good God must allow critical thinking and questioning of God. I consider this logical.”

This isn’t logical at all. Consider the law of contradiction, a foundational principle of logic. It states that something cannot be both true and false at the same time in the same sense. To affirm that it’s good to allow critical thinking and questioning of the law of contradiction itself is not logical or good—it’s actually anti-thinking. You cannot intelligently question the self-authenticating nature of the law of contradiction without relying on it to make your case. To question it is to use it; to deny it is to affirm it in the denial. Claiming that anti-thinking qualifies as critical thinking is a delusion, leading to insanity. The Bible commands us to have a sound mind, as in 2 Timothy 1:7 (NIV): “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline” (or “sound mind” in other versions like NKJV). A sound mind aligns with God’s knowledge, logic, and syllogisms—faith itself is a sound syllogism rooted in divine revelation.

The same principle applies to Christianity. I don’t know how to intelligently question the biblical worldview without falling into anti-thinking and delusion. Questioning Christianity requires using elements it alone provides, like incorporeal knowledge, contradiction, identity, time, space, cause, difference and other aspects of intelligibility and public knowledge. Yet the Bible declares itself as the sole truth, with all others false. All necessities for intelligence—such as subjects and predicates and innate knowledge and the laws of identity and non-contradiction—converge only in the biblical system. John 1:1 (NIV) states, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Here, “Word” (Logos) means divine reasoning and logic itself, embodied in Jesus Christ. To question the basic laws of logic is to question Jesus who is the Logic, which is impossible without employing it. The Bible is self-authenticating revelation from God, providing substantial knowledge for all life. Any deviation from obeying God’s Word is a deviation from critical thinking itself. You cannot critically think while questioning God’s Word, because to do so uses the Word, yet the Word calls such questioning foolish and rebellious.

Job 38 (NIV) shows God responding to Job’s questions with divine authority: “Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said: ‘Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand.'” God doesn’t submit to human interrogation; He reveals truth, and we assent by faith. To say it’s good to allow questioning of God affirms it’s good to halt thinking altogether, reducing the mind to anti-logic and delusions. The biblical command is for a sound mind filled with God’s revelation.

By definition, critical thinking means obeying God’s Word and having faith in it—a sound syllogism applied from revealed premises. I consider this logical. Any stray from this, slams the brakes on thinking itself.

(As a reminder, Vincent Cheung has helped me with this specific type of presuppositionalism based only on scripture. Read his works for more.)

*113 Christ-Centered Prayers

Let’s talk about this trendy obsession with “Christ-centered” theology. Sounds holy, right? But hold up—sometimes these buzzwords get twisted into man-centeredness, no matter how spiritual they sound.

Being humble is not produced with fancy labels like “gospel-centered” or self-deprecating whiplashes. No. True humility kicks in when you ditch the sensation circus—your feelings, observations, all that empirical fluff—and grab hold of God’s Word as your sole knowledge factory. Cast off that inductive nonsense, believe what He straight-up says, and boom, you’re at humility’s peak. It’s like upgrading from a rusty bike to a rocket ship; suddenly, you’re soaring on faith (aka, a syllogism) straight from divine premises.

Now, doctrines like Christ-centeredness or that redemptive-historical hermeneutic? They can sparkle like diamonds when handled right, unveiling gems in the Bible. But in the grip of the faithless? They become ugly and transmute into demon dogmatics. Push them too far, and you’re forcing Scripture to dance to your tune, stripping its authority and handing the reins to control freaks who crave power over people. In fact, this is the end game for such perverted pastors. Christ-centeredness is a man-made doctrine to transfer the Bible’s authority over to man. That’s not faith; that’s faithlessness.

Take those complaints about modern worship songs from churches like Elevation or Vertical Worship—not being “Christ-centered” enough. Only a spirit straight out of the pit could have such sub-animalistic thinking. Flip through the Psalms and you will find plenty are not Christ-centered. Heck, many passages of Scripture zoom in on other truths without that spotlight. Imposing a “must-be-Christ-centered” rule is like demanding the Bible jump through hoops it never set for itself. To impose such a standard is to impose a standard that the Bible itself does not even impose on itself, nor demands we do.

Jesus’ extreme faith doctrine is focused on the will of man, not God’s will.

Then there’s Jesus dropping truth bombs in John 14-16. He doesn’t whisper, “discover God’s will and pray in My name for it to be done on earth.” No, that is not what He instructs here. He boldly declares, “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it” (John 14:13-14). Or later: “Whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you… Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full” (John 16:23-24). Think about that carefully. Jesus’ extreme faith doctrine is focused on the will of man, not God. Jesus flips the script to your will, not just God’s. Use His name as your VIP pass to ask the Father for what you will. It’s man’s will in the driver’s seat, powered by Christ’s Name. He doesn’t say to seek and ask what God wills, and then pray for it in Jesus’ name; rather, He says to discover what you will, and then use Jesus’ name as a stepping stone to ask the Father to provide for you what you will.

If this is the type of Christocentric focus they want, then I have no quarrel with them.

As Jesus told Peter, who had a similar problem with God serving man, that “if Peter did not let God become Peter’s waiter, then God would become Peter’s executioner,” (paraphrased from Gabrial Arauto.)

*114 Have You Received the Spirit?

“Paul… reached Ephesus, on the coast, where he found several believers. “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” he asked them.” Acts 19:1-2

Paul rolls into Ephesus, spots some believers, and his first question isn’t about their theology creds or how they’re handling sin—it’s straight-up, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”

So the first thing Paul does when finding some new believers, knowing nothing about their experience or theology education is to ask if they had received the Holy Spirit, which is the baptism of the Spirit for power (Act 1:4; ch 2). The original encounter is them speaking in tongues (Acts 2) and the other times we see this, as in this same Chapter 19 and with the gentiles Peter preached to, also showed speaking in tongues as the sign of being baptized in the Spirit.

Think about it. If you were to meet some Christians on your missionary journey, and you knew nothing about them, what would be the first thing you ask them? What doctrine and application would be the number one first importance to you? What doctrine is one doctrine you must get across to new to Christians at all cost, in case you might not see them again? Would it be the baptism of the Spirit for power. It was for Paul.

He did not first ask about the crucifixion of Jesus. He did not first ask about repentance. He did not first ask about knowing how sinful they were. He did not first asked about the resurrection of Jesus. Why? ‘Cause the gospel’s not just forgiveness; it’s Jesus swapping our mess for His mastery, including that Joel promise of dreams, visions, and wonders for all God calls to Himself (Acts 2:17-21, 39). Deny the Spirit’s splash for miracles? You’re basically mocking Jesus’ bloody climb to authority, acting like His throne’s just a fancy chair, not the source of kingdom conquest.

By asking about the receiving the Spirit He was by consequence making eschatology his priority because baptism of the Sprit is the application of eschatology. It is the application of Jesus sitting at the right hand of God and communicating with that Jesus Christ.

Maybe this is why we do not see the book of Acts type of church in our families and churches? We do not put first importance on the baptism of the Spirit above all other doctrines when meeting other Christians for the first time? And then after teaching the baptism of the Spirit and leading Christian to be baptized in power commanding them in the name of Jesus to eagerly seek the gifts even if they are abusing them?

Paul makes even Pentecostals look like cessationist as compared to his priority he book on receiving and growing in the Spirit. He even thanked God that he spoke more in tongues than the gift abusing Corinthians. Paul says that speaking in tongues leads to God edifying your inner man. Thus, by thanking God that he spoke in tongues more than them, he is thanking God that his inner man was more edified than theirs.

Maybe that’s why our churches look more like social clubs than Acts explosions—no fire because we’re skimping on the fuel.

This is the type of importance Paul placed on the baptism of the Spirit. Do you? If meeting believers fires you up to probe their power level first, you’re tracking with Paul. If not, time to rethink: is your eschatology man-centered politics or throne-powered punch?

*115 Confess It with Me—Father of Many Nations!

Confession of faith is foundational and non-negotiable in biblical Christianity—it’s not some optional add-on or “nice-to-have” for the super-spiritual elite. Scripture treats it as an ethic, a commanded way of life that flows straight from believing God’s promises. And where does it all start? With Abraham, of course.

Paul dubs Abraham “the father of all who believe” (Romans 4:11-16; Galatians 3:7, 29). His name change from Abram to Abraham—”father of a multitude of nations”—was God’s clever mandate for perpetual confession: “No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations” (Genesis 17:5).

Every time Sarah, his servants, neighbors, or random passersby called him “Abraham,” they were unwittingly confessing God’s impossible promise—years before Isaac even showed up. Abraham lived this daily, as Romans 4:17-21 describes: He “believed God… and gave glory to God” by calling things that weren’t as though they were. He didn’t waver over his century-old body (basically dead) or Sarah’s barren womb; he confessed the promise right in the face of reality.

Abraham basically forced everyone around him into the habit of speaking faith. His name was a walking, talking sermon: “Confess it with me—father of many nations.” That’s the ultimate Word of Faith Confession (WOFC) lifestyle. As I outlined in my Systematic Theology 2025 (pp. 603–610), Abraham’s confession wasn’t primarily about sin or forgiveness—it zeroed in on goodness, fruitfulness, healing, prosperity, fame, and supernatural favor. Forgiveness came later to lock in that original blessing package.

This is why Paul insists true children of Abraham do the same works (Romans 4:12; Galatians 3:7, 29). If we’re not confessing God’s promises against what we see, hear, or feel, we’re not walking in his footsteps.

How crucial is confession of faith? It’s not just important—it’s the heartbeat of Christianity, pulsing all the way back to Abraham, the OG father of faith (Romans 4). God didn’t just hand Abram a promise and call it a day; He rebooted his entire identity, turning him into a living billboard for the impossible. Every introduction, every shout across the tent—”Hey, Abraham!”—echoed the promise: “Father of many nations.” No kids in sight, bodies failing, yet his name was a bold, daily declaration that flipped off every visible fact. That’s not quiet belief; that’s aggressive, reality-bending confession. Abraham didn’t wait for circumstances to play catch-up—he spoke God’s word until the world aligned.

Paul echoes this in Romans 4:17-21: Abraham trusted the God who revives the dead and calls non-existent things into being. He didn’t waver in unbelief but grew stronger in faith, glorifying God and fully convinced of His power to deliver. The sequence? Believe first, then speak: “I believed, therefore I have spoken” (Psalm 116:10, echoed in 2 Corinthians 4:13). This isn’t a fluffy devotional hack; it’s the core ethic of the covenant. Confession means aligning with God’s reality over sensory illusions— not denying what your eyes see, but refusing to let it trump God’s word as the ultimate starting point for knowledge.

It’s not just Abraham’s story. It’s the blueprint for every believer grafted into his blessing through Christ (Galatians 3:13-14, 29). Romans 10:9-10 spells it out for salvation: “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Heart and mouth team up; confession seals it. But it doesn’t end there—Jesus amps it up in Mark 11:23: Speak to the mountain, believe without doubt, and watch it splash into the sea. Say it. Believe it. Receive it. The faith that justified Abraham unlocks healing, provision, victory—every “yes” promise in Christ—when we confess it against the odds.

Too many Christians treat confession like a polite suggestion, whispering hopes while belting out complaints, then scratching their heads when mountains don’t budge. (Pro tip: Mountains aren’t great listeners unless you speak faith at them.) But Abraham? His name shouted the promise every time it was uttered. We follow suit by confessing God’s Word over sickness, lack, fear, or failure—not ignoring reality, but upgrading it to God’s premium version.

Speak it relentlessly, daily, even publicly if it fits. Make the world echo the promise back, Abraham-style. It’s not arrogance; it’s obedience to the faith patriarch. And hey, if it feels a bit cheeky, remember: God started it by renaming a childless old guy “Dad of Nations.” Divine humor and triumphalism at its finest.

In short, confession is everything. It’s how we embody our new identity as sons and daughters, claim Abraham’s blessing, and advance the kingdom. Don’t muzzle God by staying silent or confessing weakness—proclaim His strength, favor, and finished work. You’re not chasing the promise; it’s chasing your agreement.

Let’s crank up the volume on what God’s already declared. Your confession today blueprints your tomorrow, because faith doesn’t whisper—it speaks. This is why Word of Faith Confession isn’t “name-it-claim-it” gimmickry; it’s the primordial orthodoxy of God’s people, from the first believer onward.

Bottom line: Confession of faith is as vital as faith itself, because Scripture doesn’t split them—faith naturally spills out in words. They are the antecedent and consequence of a necessary logic. If you have one, you have the other. Abraham lived it. Jesus commanded it. The apostles rocked it. The church is built on it (Matthew 16:18—”on this rock” = Peter’s bold confession). If we’re silent or parroting what we see instead of what God said, we’re not living as Abraham’s kids.

Live a life of confessing God’s promises so infectiously that you rope everyone around you into it. Be like Abraham, the Father of Faith. And if anyone rolls their eyes, just smile—after all, it worked out pretty well for him.

*116 The Spirit Is Spirit

I saw someone commit the unforgivable sin today in a random FB post. Regarding speaking in tongues they said, “speaking in tongues does not lead you from the carnal into the spiritual realm, it leads from you being spiritual into being carnal. Study the letter to the church at Corinth; there, Paul says it’s the least of the gifts.”

With such a person I would never waste time talking to them, or even befriending them. They have no present or future. They have lost all hope of forgiveness after blaspheming the Spirit.

To claim tongues is “least” and thus dispensable violates the law of non-contradiction: either all manifestations are needed, or none are, but Paul affirms all. If tongues were “least” or led to the carnal, Paul contradicts himself by desiring it for all and practicing it most. Scripture cannot contradict itself, since Jesus is the Logos. If praying in tongues takes you out of the Spirit, and into being carnal, then Paul was the most carnal Christian there was. This is the insane looney world that unbelief puts people into.

Tongues is utterance by the Spirit (14:2)—he who speaks in a tongue speaks “not to men but to God…mysteries in the Spirit.” This is direct spiritual communion, edifying the inner man (Jude 20; 14:4). It builds up faith, sharpens the mind for the helmet of salvation and sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6), and keeps one in God’s love. Far from leading “from spiritual to carnal,” it is purely spiritual operation that produces spiritual strength and often flows into interpretation, prophecy, and miracle power. To call it carnal denies the Spirit’s work and likely risks blasphemy (Matthew 12:31-32).

Paul identifies speaking in tongues as a direct manifestation of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:7-11), given “for the common good” as the Spirit wills. He commands, “Do not forbid speaking in tongues” (14:39), and describes it as speaking “to God…mysteries in the Spirit” (14:2)—pure spiritual operation, not human invention. To assert that tongues “leads from spiritual to carnal” is to declare that what Scripture calls a work of the Holy Spirit is in fact fleshly (carnal). This directly denies the Spirit’s agency and attributes His operation to the flesh.

By the law of non-contradiction (upheld by Christ the Logos, who cannot lie nor deny Himself, Titus 1:2; Hebrews 6:18), the same act cannot be both a manifestation of the Spirit and merely carnal. The statement chooses “carnal,” thereby speaking against the Holy Spirit—exactly parallel to the Pharisees who, seeing the Spirit’s power, called it demonic or unworthy. Whether one labels the Spirit’s work “carnal,” “psychological,” “demonic,” or “least/inferior” in a way that rejects its divine origin, the effect is the same: rejection of the Spirit’s testimony about Himself.

The Spirit Is Spirit; why do I need to explain this to adults? The statement in question is not neutral exegesis; it reverses Paul’s teaching and demotes a commanded spiritual gift to something fleshly and downward-pulling. On Scripture’s own terms, this is not harmless error—it is the very attitude Jesus pronounced unforgivable when persistently held against clear divine operation.

Pursue love—and eagerly desire spiritual gifts (14:1). Tongues is not least; it is commanded, coveted by Paul, and a direct line to God’s throne for personal edification and greater power. Forbid it, and you forbid Scripture and your soul along with it.

*117 Mortal Flesh Animated By The Spirit of God

Romans 8:11 hits like a thunderclap straight from heaven: “If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”

The old man you used to be? Dead and buried. That guy lived locked under the law of sin and death—a merciless law with zero opt-out. The curse God put on the earth didn’t just make the ground fight back and bodies decay; it ripped man away from God’s life. Suddenly all you had was human strength in a world rigged against you. Combine that with a curse actively animating your mortal flesh and it was devastating. Doctors and medicine operate right there in that old system. They patch up the body using its own depleted ability to heal itself because that’s all the old man ever had—human limits trapped inside the curse

But you are not that guy anymore.

You are a brand-new creation. The old is gone. The curse and the law of sin and death no longer animate your body—the Spirit of the living God does! Jesus already became your curse for you. That means your “human limits” got evicted when the old tenant died. The same resurrection power blasting Jesus out of the tomb is now pumping life through your mortal flesh right now. Your body is not being moved by mere human ability trapped in decay; it is being animated and sustained by God Himself.

Here’s the real problem with leaning on doctors and medicine as your main lens. The Bible doesn’t condemn them, but you’ll hunt in vain for any real endorsement as the go-to for God’s people. Why? The new creation isn’t defined by the old way. Doctors can only tell you what human limits can do under the curse. They look at scans and symptoms and treat you like you’re still that old man—still animated by decay and weakness. They have zero category for a body powered by the Holy Spirit.

Stick with that long enough and it trains your thinking into a carnal habit. It keeps teaching you to define yourself as if the curse still rules, as if you’re still the dead man walking. It’s the exact same trap people fall into with guilt. They refuse to let the old man stay dead, so they drag around a conscience of sin instead of the righteous, Spirit-animated one Jesus gave them. Same with sickness. Same with lack.

Until you stop agreeing with any definition of yourself that died on the cross and start declaring the new creation reality, you’ll stay stuck with a conscience full of sin, sickness, poverty, and death. The New Testament commands you to renew your mind in the knowledge of Christ. The fact that God commands it means you can do it—and you will.

You’re not some weak victim of human limits. You’re a hero of faith in Christ, with God’s own resurrection life surging through your veins. Rise up, renew your mind, and start speaking life over this body every single day. The power is already in you!

*118 He Must Increase

“I must decrease so that Jesus must increase.”

Sounds pious enough, doesn’t it? So pious the faithless love quoting it like it’s spiritual candy. They chew on it, nod solemnly, post it with sunset filters, and then go right back to living powerless, prayerless, and unchanged. But unfortunately it’s wasted breath on faith-fumblers who treat the Bible like a manual for masochism instead of the living command of the King.

John the Baptist said it in a very specific context—pointing crowds away from himself to the Lamb of God. Nothing wrong with moralizing the principle now that Jesus is seated at the right hand of power. The real question is: how did the believers in Acts actually decrease so Jesus could increase?

They didn’t do it by trying harder to be humble. They didn’t do it by endless navel-gazing and “dying to self” seminars. Jesus commanded them, “Wait in the city until you are clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). Then the baptism of power hit like a holy freight train. “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:4 ESV). The Spirit surged in, and the flesh got displaced. Boldness replaced fear. Miracles replaced excuses. Tongues replaced timid prayers. Jesus increased because the same power that raised Him from the dead was now overflowing through ordinary people who simply obeyed.

That’s what real humbleness looks like. Not a religious performance of decreasing yourself through willpower, but obeying the Commander who said, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you” (Acts 1:8). The more the Spirit increases, the more the old man decreases—automatically. It’s physics in the spiritual realm. Fill a glass with water and the air has to go somewhere. Fill a believer with the tangible power of God and the fleshly thinking, the doubt, the weakness, the religious show—it all gets pushed out.

The faithless hate this because they don’t have the faith to believe and obey Jesus on this point. They’d rather stay in their safe little “decrease by discipline” theology where nothing actually changes and nobody gets healed or delivered. They mock the power baptism, call tongues weird, and act like miracles are for first-century superstars only. Meanwhile the rest of us are out here watching Jesus increase through us by signs, wonders, and everyday believers who refuse to live below the command.

Listen, the gospel isn’t God showing off man’s humility. The gospel is God showing off His Son’s power through us. So stop quoting John 3:30 like a bumper sticker and start obeying the last thing Jesus told us to do before He ascended—get filled. Pray in tongues until the overflow starts. Lay hands on the sick like it’s the most normal thing in the world. Speak to mountains like they have ears. Watch what happens when the Spirit increases and you decrease the only way that actually works.

Jesus is ready to increase in your life today in ways that make the faithless clutch their pearls. The only question is—are you ready to obey?

*119 GOD’S WORD IS HIS WILL

Think about that. Really sit with it. If you deny it, you’re forced to say God’s Word is not His will. And since we only know God through His Word—His self-authenticating revelation—then we could never know His will at all. What an insane world that would be. Like trying to read a map that keeps rewriting itself based on how you feel today. Fleshly thinking loves that chaos because it lets you dodge responsibility. But Scripture doesn’t play games. God’s Word is His will, full stop. No qualifiers, no hidden escape clauses. For those with faith, that is the best sort of news

Look at what His Word actually says. James 5:15 (ESV): “And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up.” Not “might,” not “if it’s My will.” It will. Same sovereignty that guarantees forgiveness when you confess also guarantees healing when you pray in faith. Same chapter, same promise. You can’t slice one out without slicing the other. Jesus Himself said in Mark 11:24 (NIV): “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” John 14:12-14 (NIV) doubles down: “Whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these… You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”

If God’s Word is His will, then it is always His will for the prayer of faith to raise the sick. It is always His will for you to ask in faith and receive. It is always His will for believers to do greater works than Jesus did on earth—if you believe. Deny that and you’ve just admitted you can’t know God’s will at all. If this cannot be admitted, the it is impossible to know God’s will at all, because it would mean God’s Word is not His will.

God’s word is not theory it is His will. The centurion got it. He understood authority: his word made servants move, so Jesus’ word makes reality move. Jesus called that great faith. James pointed to Elijah turning rain on and off like a faucet—same human as us, same God. Peter preached election and immediately applied it to receiving the baptism of the Spirit. They didn’t theorize sovereignty; they commanded results with it.

Stop the sensory nonsense. Stop the “if it be Thy will” cop-out that turns bold promises into maybe-so prayers. That’s not humility; that’s unbelief wearing a religious mask. God’s Word already revealed His will. Believe it. Speak it. Act on it. The same Spirit that raised Jesus lives in you. The same authority that made mountains obey Jesus now belongs to you.

You must come to this crucial decision. Is God’s Word His Will? If not, then you cannot know anything about God’s will and so stop trying to know God at all. But if so, then all the wonderful things Jesus promised are true. All the things Jesus said about faith are true. Thus, right now, wherever you are, pray in faith for that healing, that breakthrough, that greater work. Confess it. Expect it. His Word is His will, and His will is to give you more than you even know how to ask.

*120 God who is too wise to err

The God who authors every circumstance is the same God who commands faith and rewards every single act of it with overwhelming victory. He is the only real cause in reality—period. In the ultimate sense He sends the disappointment, the hardship, the heartbreak; He decrees it all because everything is by His direct and absolute sovereign cause. Yet on the relational level—the level where you and I actually live as beloved sons—He has already written the script so that your faith turns that same disappointment into a victory so ridiculous it makes the devil look like he showed up to a gunfight with a limp noodle.

Look at Moses again, because the Bible never lets us forget how this works. Sea in front, chariots thundering behind, people screaming like they just realized their vacation was cancelled forever. Moses did not whimper, “Lord, help me endure this disappointment with longsuffering knowing you are in control of it.” No. He lifted the rod and told the water to get out of the way. He saw the invisible God who had already decreed deliverance before Pharaoh ever woke up that morning. That is not a special-case miracle for Old Testament superstars. That is the normal, expected, glorious existence of every single person born from above.

The Christian life is supposed to be the kind where mountains pack their bags and leave when you speak, demons file for unemployment, sickness checks out of the hotel of your body, and provision shows up like Uber Eats from heaven. Every visible obstacle is under orders to yield to the one who refuses to stop looking at the invisible Sovereign. Anything less is not “mature endurance”; it is just unbelief wearing a fake beard and calling itself deep.

False teachers hate this. They spit the words “presumption,” “name-it-and-claim-it,” “prosperity gospel” like they just bit into a lemon soaked in vinegar. Cute. What they are actually attacking is the faith once for all delivered to the saints—the same faith the apostles lived and the early church multiplied by the thousands. It is what Jesus commanded when He said, “All things are possible to him who believes” (Mark 9:23). Not “some things.” Not “spiritual things only.” All things. The same Jesus who became poor so you could be rich, who carried your sicknesses so you could walk in health, who was condemned so you would never be—He is not up there changing the rules because some seminary professor got his feelings hurt.

So when disappointment knocks on your door wearing that smug little grin, do not invite it in for tea and a theology lesson about “suffering under God’s hand knowing that God is in control,” like a Hindu drunk on fatalism. See the invisible God who sent it, then command it to leave in the name of Jesus like you actually believe He is Lord of the circumstance. When hardship presses in like a bully at recess, do not romanticize it with flowery journal entries about “what God is teaching me.”

Recognize the sovereign hand behind it—yes, God caused it in the ultimate sense—but then relate to God and reality exactly as He commanded: exercise the faith that moves the trouble out of your way. When heartache threatens to crush your chest, remember the God who is too wise to err and too loving to be unkind has already promised beauty for ashes, joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness (Isa. 61:3). Claim it. Speak it. You will have the good things you say, because Jesus became your sanctification and your faith is perfected by the One who started it.

This is the endurance that never fails—because it is not endurance in weakness; it is overcoming in power. The believer who knows his God does not beg; he receives. He does not grovel; he reigns. He does not limp through life hoping for a participation trophy; he walks in the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead and makes demons scream.

May the Lord open our eyes to see Him who is invisible more clearly every single day. May He deliver us from the caution of unbelief that dresses up like wisdom and fill us instead with the bold, declarative, mountain-moving faith that honors His sovereignty by taking Him at His word. This is the life God has given us. Anything less is just faithlessness with better lighting.

Now go lift your rod. The sea is waiting to obey a man with faith. A man with faith is never at the mercy of circumstances; rather, circumstance are always subservient to a man with faith.

*121 Sick and Demonized—It’s Dinner Time, Saints

Matthew 9:35–38 (NKJV) Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

It is interesting when we think about what Jesus meant by harvest, right? Growing up, preachers seemed to only look at passages like this as a proof text for evangelism—to go share the gospel with our co-workers. Now, that would include it; however, what Jesus says here is much more than that. The context is about preaching the good news of the kingdom, and Jesus healing every sickness and every disease. The context is not preaching repentance specifically, although that would be included. The context is the good news of the kingdom.

What is this kingdom? Jesus said that if He casts out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom has come upon you. Thus, when Jesus is talking about kingdom He means exactly that—Kingdom power that advances and occupies. Jesus applies this to casting out demons and healing, which often happened when demons were cast out. This is the good news of the kingdom. The original passage bears this out because Jesus’ kingdom preaching was healing all who were sick.

Now consider Jesus’ remark about seeing the context of Him preaching the kingdom and enforcing God’s kingdom in the physical realm by healing as a “harvest” ready to be gathered. This is like Joshua saying about the inhabitants of Canaan, they are bread for us. Joshua did not fear, but looked at destroying giants and fortified cities as food—as donuts and coffee. Jesus is saying a similar thing about the harvest. All the sick and demon-possessed people were a food-gathering harvest for Jesus. Seeing a sea of sickness and demons did not bring fear, but a hunger to harvest and eat.

This is the vision and attitude Christians need to look at sickness and demons with today. The idea of fear for a new creation is long gone. We do not fear; for that was part of the old man that died. There is a new vision for a child of God. Sickness and demons are food to be harvested for the expansion of God’s kingdom and conquering the spiritual and the physical.

That’s why the centurion stunned Jesus: “Just say the word and reality obeys.” That’s why Peter tied election straight to the baptism of the Spirit—power now. That’s why James said the prayer of faith will make the sick person well, guaranteed. This is the full Good News: Jesus bore our sicknesses in His body, became poor so we could be rich, and now commands us to harvest what He already paid for. The atonement isn’t partial; it’s total. The Kingdom isn’t begging—it’s feasting.

Stop seeing the hospital beds or tormented people like the devil is winning. He’s not. He’s serving us lunch. The old man who feared is dead. The new creation sees opportunity. Reality obeys the command of faith the same way those soldiers obeyed the centurion. Sickness bows. Demons pack their bags. The Kingdom advances.

The harvest is plentiful. The power is already in you through the baptism of the Spirit. Let’s stop praying the verse and be the laborers who actually understand the Kingdom. Find one sick person today. Find one tormented soul. Look them in the eye and declare, “The Kingdom has come near—be healed in Jesus’ name!” Watch the harvest come in. That’s how we expand. That’s how we show the world the King is alive and His sons are eating the giants for breakfast.

All things are possible for the one who believes. The table is set. Pass the hot sauce and let’s eat.

*122 It’s a Sin Not to Be Healed by Faith

Stop the Category Blunders, Saints

Listen up. The Bible doesn’t play games with categories. Jesus hammered home God’s absolute sovereignty – ultimate level, where He moves everything directly like the Master of the chessboard. “You did not choose Me, but I chose you.” But then, right in the same breath, He switches to the relative level and says your faith will save you, your faith will heal you, and whatever you ask in My name, the Father will give it.

That’s not contradiction; that’s divine precision. All material blessings flow from the spiritual ones we already possess in Christ. Healing? It starts as a done deal in the atonement – “He bore our sicknesses.” Wealth? “He became poor so you could be rich.” Righteousness? “He became sin so we become God’s righteousness.” These are commands to receive by faith in the relative realm where we operate.

James doesn’t mince words. Sick? Call the elders for the prayer of faith that WILL save the sick and raise them up. Lack wisdom? Ask in faith without doubting, or don’t expect a thing. If you pray with doubt and stay sick or stupid, you’ve sinned against the command to believe. It’s the same as not repenting in faith for forgiveness. Paul commands all men everywhere to repent and believe – no excuses.

Look at the centurion. He got sovereignty right at the relative level: “Just say the word and my servant will be healed,” because reality obeys Jesus like soldiers obey orders. Jesus called that great faith! Peter applied election straight to the baptism of power. James skipped Nehemiah’s hidden providence and pointed to Elijah turning rain on and off like a faucet. “The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power.”

Yet here come the theologians and pastors, committing category errors faster than a reprobate dodging tongues. In the context of faith for healing (relative/material), they drag in ultimate sovereignty – “Well, God might have decreed this sickness for His glory” – and blur the lines like mixing oil and water. That’s not wisdom; that’s twisting the Word and sinning. It’s like saying grace is works. Stupid and sinful. The antecedent ain’t the consequent!

God’s sovereignty guarantees the certainty of both forgiveness AND healing when asked in faith. Don’t waste the gospel by unbelief. Your faith moves real mountains. Reality obeys the sons of God.

Stop tiptoeing around like spiritual paupers. March to the throne as co-heirs. Ask, believe you receive, and watch the tangible power hit your body and bank account. The same Spirit that raised Jesus lives in you!

Who’s ready to stop the sin of doubt and receive what Jesus already purchased? Faith isn’t optional – it’s the victory that overcomes the world. Do it now. God is boasting about those who believe.

*122 Absolute Sovereignty in Application

It is sad—downright hilarious, actually—when Arminians, who in their fancy doctrinal statements deny God’s sovereignty left and right, somehow manage in everyday life to affirm God’s absolute sovereignty and decree better than a whole crowd of Calvinists who’ve been arguing about it for 500 years.

Take Joseph Prince in that one little clip (starting at 4:00 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GONV8BO7rxc)). The man outshines most Calvinists while they’re still arguing over the order of the decrees. Commercials are designed to make you live by sight, and not by faith. Health surveys hit you with “one in ten will get cancer” and suddenly you’re supposed to bow your head like that’s wisdom. Nope. That’s not living by faith in Isaiah 53, by whose strips we were healed. That’s living by induction and empiricism—the same pathetic anti-logic the world runs on. Doing what Joseph is talking about here would force you, every single day, to affirm God’s unbreakable promise, His ironclad decree, and the absolute authority of His Word over man, over symptoms, and over that superstition called “common sense.”

I heard Benny Hinn say it the other day and it hit like a sledgehammer:

“Healing comes when you find God’s Word more real than your symptoms.”

One sentence. That’s Christian epistemology, metaphysics, and ethics in a single mic drop. If you can write a 10,000-page book on how sovereign God is and another 20,000-page monster with 100,000 perfectly ordered supralapsarian decrees, yet you’ve barely seen answered prayer, a real miracle, or the baptism of power in your own life in the last twenty years… congratulations. Your doctrines just became very expensive wallpaper. You don’t believe them. You’re doing exactly what the religious leaders did in Jesus’ day—surrounding yourself with the Word while secretly despising the very thing you claim to love.

I now use this as my quick-and-dirty test for any theologian or layperson:

Do you affirm or deny the doctrine of God’s absolute and direct sovereignty through His promises in everyday life application?

Seriously—what is the use in shouting “God is sovereign! God is in control!” if you’ve barely applied it once in twenty years? That’s not theology. That’s theological cosplay.

The centurion in Matthew 8 had no seminary degree, but he understood something most “sovereignty experts” still don’t: reality obeys Jesus the same way servants obey their master. Jesus was amazed and upgraded the miracle on the spot. Peter took election and slammed it straight into the baptism of the Spirit. James grabbed sovereignty over tomorrow and turned it into guaranteed healing by the prayer of faith and wisdom received without doubting. Jesus Himself tied predestination to “ask whatever you wish in My name and you will receive it.”

True sovereignty is not some vague mysticism. It is faith that makes Isaiah 53, 2 Corinthians 5:7, and Mark 11:24 your daily, tangible reality. The promises are more real than the symptoms. The Word is more real than the report. The decree is more real than the diagnosis.

Anything less is just religious theater. And the curtain is about to drop.

*123 What God Actually Delivers

Hold up, fam — Jesus didn’t whisper polite suggestions. He dropped the ultimate mic-drop faith bomb statements: “Whatever you ask, it will be given to you.”

No wiggle room. No escape hatches. Just straight-up category logic that slaps harder than a double espresso on Monday morning.

Here’s the simple truth using basic categories: ALL things you ask for (in faith, in His name, abiding in Him) are things God gives you. Period. Every single request falls inside the big circle labeled “God Gives It.”

Picture this Euler diagram in your head — the little circle of “Whatever You Ask” is completely swallowed up by the giant circle of “What God Actually Delivers.” No overlap issues. No leftover crumbs outside the promise. It’s airtight. ALL A is B, and that B is massive. NONE of your asks are left out. What we learn is what you ask is what God delivers.

One massive consequence from, what you ask, is what you get is this: what you believe God will do for you is what God will do for you.

Jesus did NOT say something weak like, “If you ask, I will give an answer.” That would mean ALL asks get some kind of response — maybe a yes, maybe a no, maybe a maybe later. That could leave tons of room for disappointment and doubt. But our King doesn’t play that game. He said the strongest thing possible: Whatever you ask, it will be given. ALL requests in line with man’s will are granted . NONE are denied. SOME preachers soften it, but Jesus went maximum strength.

No “name it and claim it” preacher on the planet can express Jesus’ extreme faith doctrine more extremely than Jesus Himself did. He already maxed it out. They can hype it up, but they’re just repeating what the Master already said.

And He didn’t say it once and ghost — He repeated this same extreme force over and over so we couldn’t miss it! Check Mark 11:24: “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Boom — ALL your prayed asks? They’re already yours in the “given” category. NONE left hanging. Not some. But all. Or John 15:7: “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” ALL wishes in that abiding circle get done. No “some” exceptions. Then John 14:13-14 hits even harder: “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do.” Straight category lock — ALL asks in His name land in the done-and-delivered zone. Jesus stacked these promises like divine dynamite because He wants us locked in, not fumbling around with doubt.

Matthew 21:21-22 NIV

Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

The religious elites and servants of the Faithless One? They twist it into “Well, God answers with a yes, no, or maybe… or He gives you what He thinks is best instead.” Nah. That’s not what the King said. Jesus went full radical — the strongest possible statement in easy category premises — because He’s not playing games with His words.

And get this: the same Jesus who spoke these unbreakable promises is sitting on the throne RIGHT NOW at the right hand of power. He’s the One who’s gonna call every account when the books open. The promises and the judgment come from the exact same mouth.

This isn’t fluffy inspiration. It’s judicial-level truth from the Judge Himself. So when you pray, believe like the logic demands — because the Author of the promise is also the Finisher of your faith.

Here is the regular and common aspect of this. Standing on these exact words IS the highest form of reverence you can give the King. The faithless crowd adds their little “but maybe” clauses because deep down they’re scared or doubting. But true fear of the Lord? It means taking Jesus at His word without chopping it up to fit our unbelief. ALL your bold asks belong in God’s massive “YES” category — that’s the Lord’s Will He set up Himself. No twisting allowed. It’s not vague hoping, it’s locking into the promise like it’s already done.

I’m telling you, when you pray like this — no hedging, no safety nets — you’re honoring the throne-sitter who’s coming back to settle every account.

*124 The Pull-Out Game

You can’t turn Onan’s story into a divine smackdown on family planning in every possible way. Sounds intense, right? Like God’s running a cosmic hit list for anyone who isn’t going full “multiply and fill the earth” mode with nonstop baby-making sex, all while sovereignly letting the Lord decide exactly how many kids you get.

But since we’re diving into this the Bible’s own way—starting from Scripture as the rock-solid foundation, where Jesus is the Logos (pure logic itself, John 1:1) and everything flows deductively from what God actually reveals—we’re not smuggling in extra rules from culture, majority opinion, or lab stats. No induction games. Just straight deduction from the words on the page.

Here’s the scene in Genesis 38, straight from the source: Judah tells Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her; raise up offspring for your brother” (v. 8). Why? Big brother Er died childless, and this levirate custom (later spelled out in Deuteronomy 25) was all about preserving the dead guy’s name, inheritance, and line in Israel.

Onan’s response? He knew any kid would legally count as Er’s, not his—so “when he went in to his brother’s wife, he spilled the semen on the ground, lest he should give offspring to his brother” (v. 9). Boom: “What he did was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and he put him to death” (v. 10).

The sin isn’t some blanket “playing outside the rules to avoid kids” in marriage. The text pins it squarely on his refusal of that specific commanded duty—disobeying his father’s direct order and sabotaging the family lineage tied to God’s covenant promises. It’s rebellion against clear authority in that exact context.

Later, Deuteronomy 25:5-10 keeps the levirate rule but swaps the death penalty for public shaming if you bail—no automatic lightning bolt from heaven. You can’t logically leap from “Onan got zapped for dodging his brother’s heir” to “every birth control method ever, in any context, is an audacious act that God punishes with cancer or car wrecks.” That’s smuggling more information into the conclusion than the premises actually provide.

Genesis 2:18 establishes that marriage is first for companionship and oneness (hello, pleasure in sex)—“It is not good for the man to be alone.” Being “one flesh” is about deep unity. Paul in 1 Corinthians 7 treats sex in marriage as mutual pleasure and duty (verses 3-5), not a baby-making quota, and even notes that some people are better off single. This companionship and pleasurable oneness also pictures the union of Christ and the church. Children come third.

No verse anywhere says, “Thou shalt never plan your family or God will smite thee with a traffic accident.” That’s injecting fear where the text actually gives freedom under God’s sovereignty. The command in Genesis 1:28 is a “Corporate Creational Ordinance” (see my essay “The Corporate Creational Ordinance”), not an individual marching order.

Let’s be crystal clear: Nowhere in Scripture does God command married couples to have frequent, unprotected sex so He can “sovereignly decide” how many kids to hand out. That conclusion crams way more into Genesis than is actually there. It never entered the mind of God or the pen of the biblical writers. It’s an extra-biblical premise that quietly turns a corporate blessing into an individual obligation.

What this shows us is that if someone starts with the wrong presupposition about Genesis 1:28—treating it as a personal command for maximum baby production—it’s no wonder they read Onan’s story as a proof-text that any form of family planning will be met with God’s vengeance.

Christian marriage and sex are about that deep oneness and pleasure God designed, not some nonstop unprotected baby factory where God alone calls all the shots. The Bible never adds that extra rule. Children are a blessing, but they come third in the biblical order.

According to the actual words of the text (not even needing the broader context), Onan’s issue was straight-up disobedience to his father and failing the levirate duty to honor the family line. It’s not framed as a universal “birth control = instant death warrant” for modern marriages. The text gives zero room for the speculative leap that “avoiding kids means you’re attracting sudden death.”

Stretching the text past what the words allow is exactly what we’re warned against. Bible worldview on its own terms? God’s authority is real, but He reveals it precisely. Fun fact: if we deduce from the whole counsel of Scripture, the real “challenge to His authority” is rewriting His commands to fit our favorite soapbox.

Stay grounded in the Word. Interpretation rule #1: Read the actual words. (Yes, this is more important than context in the most basic sense.) And there’s nothing wrong with proof-texting—the Bible does it all the time—but it only works if your overall systematic theology is solid to begin with. Wrong categories and commands upfront? Proof-texting will just make the mess worse.

Faith: Winning the Path of Wisdom

Picture this: you’re standing on the narrow sidewalk of wisdom, the kind Solomon warned his son about. One wrong step and you plunge into endless darkness. Your blood runs cold at the thought of betraying the King of kings

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. How true this is. The fear of God can be seen in context of Scripture as something more mild as worship or reverence, or your blood turning cold in dread. As King Solomon wrote, paraphrasing ( Proverbs 20:2, & 24:21-22): my son, if you betray the king, expect the wrath of the king. Your blood should turn cold in fear if you betray the king. This is right and good. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Proverbs 1:7, NIV). The same truth echoes in Psalm 111:10 and Proverbs 9:10. Fear is not a one-time emotional spasm; rather, Godly fear, is the strength of mind to get on wisdom’s on-ramp. It keeps your feet planted on the narrow way while the darkness of human speculation yawns on both sides. Step off that sidewalk and you are not merely lost—you are swallowed.

However, the part to remember here is the word “beginning.” The fear of God will cause you to begin to walk on the path of wisdom, and it will keep you on the path without turning to the left or right. Think of a sidewalk and on the sides where the sidewalk ends, it plunges into endless darkness. You do not want to stray off this path.

If fear is the beginning of wisdom, what is the advancement of wisdom?

First, know the love. Paul prayed it for the Ephesians and I pray it for you right now: that you “may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:18-19). Notice the order. It is not your love for God that strengthens your inner man. It is His love for you. When that reality sinks in, you stop focusing on your stumbles and start receiving the fullness of God Himself. You stop crawling and start standing tall in the throne room as a legitimate son who already has a room prepared in the Father’s house. There is no more condemnation. Jesus already took that. Your judgment day is behind you; only grace and a brilliant future lie ahead.

When you know the Father loves you the same way He loves Jesus (John 17:23), your inner man swells like a sail in a hurricane. Prayers that once sounded timid now blast through the heavens. This is not sentimental fluff; it is deductive reality. God said it; therefore it is so. The stronger the inner man, the faster you sprint down the sidewalk of wisdom.

The second turbocharger is faith itself—the Flash of the spiritual realm. Hebrews 11 parades the heroes, not the moralists. Abraham lied about his wife, yet faith made him the father of nations. David committed adultery and murder, yet faith made him a man after God’s own heart. The chapter ends with the summary: “These were all commended for their faith” (v. 39). Why no chapter on “Heroes Who Kept the Marriage Bed Pure”? It is not because a pure marriage bed is unimportant, but without faith it is impossible to please God. (Hebrews 11:6). Faith is the deductive application of God’s revelation to your situation. You take the premise “My word shall not return void” (Isaiah 55:11), add the premise “Whatever you ask in my name will be done” (John 14:13-14), and the conclusion is as certain as 2 + 2 = 4. That is why James 5:15 can say, “The prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up.” No exceptions listed. Faith does not guess; it agrees with God that He is correct when He says, “ if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” (Mark 11:223-24).

You can keep every rule in the book and still be a total disappointment to heaven if you refuse to believe God for healing, wealth, miracles, and power. Without faith it is impossible to please Him. Period. The faithless can polish their halos all day; God is not impressed. But one man who believes “whatever you ask in my name will be given you” (John 15:16) and actually expects it—that man makes heaven cheer.

This is why Peter, right after Jesus predicted his betrayal, still got the same promise as everyone else: “I am going there to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2). Peter fell hard, but he never lost his room in the Father’s house. Jesus restored him in love, and Peter used that restoration to strengthen the brethren. That is what faith does. It turns your worst failure into fuel to win the path of wisdom.

Look at the centurion in Matthew 8. He understood sovereignty better than most theologians I know. “Just say the word,” he told Jesus, “and my servant will be healed.” He saw reality itself obeying Jesus the way soldiers obey a commander. Jesus called that great faith and upgraded the miracle on the spot. The centurion didn’t crawl in fear; he ran straight into the throne room with confidence and walked out with a healed servant. That is how sons advance on the path of wisdom.

And here comes the baptism of power that turns the Flash into a supernova. Jesus commanded the disciples to wait for the Spirit so they would receive power (Acts 1:8). Peter’s first sermon links repentance, forgiveness, and then the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38-39). The promise is for you. When that power hits, you do not crawl—you run. Mountains that once loomed now hear your voice and obey (Mark 11:23). Sickness that once mocked you now flees because Satan, not God, is its author (Acts 10:38; Luke 13:16). This is applied eschatology right now: the age of Jesus on the throne, empowering His body to do greater works (John 14:12).

Paul says, “Run in such a way as to get the prize” (1 Corinthians 9:24). Losers sit down in fear and baby-crawl, congratulating themselves on staying “on the path.” Winners blast forward on faith and power. The faithless will tell you otherwise. They will say, “God sovereignly gave you that cancer to teach you something.” That is not sovereignty; that is blasphemy dressed as piety. God is the metaphysical author of all things, yes—my Systematic Theology spells it out in the metaphysics section—but on the relational level where He commands us, He is Healer, not disease Santa. Claiming God authors your sickness is the same as claiming you are an Egyptian or Philistine under direct curse. If you are in Christ, you are under Abraham’s blessing, not Adam’s curse. Jesus already carried those stripes (Isaiah 53:4-5; Matthew 8:17).

The same Spirit that raised Jesus is in you. The same authority that commanded storms to be still is yours. The baptism of the Spirit is not optional decoration; it is the supercharger that turns ordinary Christians into heroes who turn rain off like a faucet (James 5:17-18).

Self-debasement is almost always unbelief dressed up stupid. If someone whines about “God’s mysterious sovereignty” while their congregation stays sick, broke, and powerless—they have already stepped off the sidewalk into the dark. Faith-fumblers peddle endless suffering. They are not walking the sidewalk of wisdom—they are face-down in the ditch, eating gravel and calling it “deep.” They reject baptism in the Spirit, reject healing on demand, reject prosperity as part of the gospel, and then wonder why their prayers hit the ceiling.

Do not follow them. They are blind liars pretending to be wise. If they are not baptized in the Spirit, they have rejected the very power that proves election. If they teach suffering is their teacher, they have rejected the love that strengthens the inner man. Their blood should run cold, because they are leading people to betray the King, and their blood now stains their hands.

Faith applies God’s Word deductively to yourself; faith in this sense is a biblical syllogism applying God’s word to you. It is wisdom in action. You take the premise “God cannot lie” (Titus 1:2), add the premise “By His stripes you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24), and the conclusion is inescapable: I am healed. That is not positive thinking. That is wisdom 101. No induction, no human speculation, no “maybe.” Just “God said, therefore I am.” When you live that way, reality obeys because the same God who spoke the universe into existence has decided that your faith-filled words carry His authority. That is how you run the race to win it.

Paul said, “Run in such a way as to get the prize” (1 Corinthians 9:24). You cannot win by crawling in fear. You win by believing every promise is “Yes” in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20) and then marching into the throne room like the co-heir you are.

So here is the straight talk. The fear of the Lord put you on the path. Good. Stay on it. But for the love of God, stop sitting there shaking. Get up. Know how wide and deep His love is for you. Then run—flat out—by faith. Believe for the healing. Believe for the miracle. Believe for the financial breakthrough. Believe for the power that makes demons scream and sickness flee. God is not looking for careful crawlers; He is looking for sons who will make Him proud. He wants to point at you one day and say, “That guy right there—he pleased Me. He took Me at My word. He ran the race like a champion.”

The path of wisdom is the path of faith, because faith is simply God’s knowledge applied to yourself with understanding. And on that path there is no condemnation. So fear the Lord—yes. But then run like the Flash in the other direction: straight into the arms of the Father who loves you more than you can imagine and who has already said “yes” to every good thing you will ever ask.

Know His love until your inner man explodes with strength. Then blast down the sidewalk on the rocket fuel of faith, baptized in the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. The finish line is not survival; it is “Well done, good and faithful servant.” The heroes of faith are waiting to cheer you on. The faithless are already tumbling into the darkness they chose. Choose wisely. Run like the Flash. Win the prize. God is pointing at you right now, saying, “This one pleases Me because he has faith.” Let Him be right.

The Corporate Creational Ordinance

A Biblical Worldview on Family, Calling, and Faithfulness

This essay is not about giving a positive doctrine on kids, but making a correct distinction of categories the bible lays out, so that from here, we can then formulate correct systematic theology on related topics. If you are violating definitions or the law of identity from the first chapter of Genesis, then your entire systematic theology on the subject and related ones will be wrong from the get go.

One of the most liberating truths in all of Christian theology is this simple but powerful distinction: some of God’s commands are given to humanity as a whole, not as a to-do list for every single believer to check off before breakfast. This one insight runs like a golden thread through Scripture, quietly reshaping how we think about family, babies, the so-called Cultural Mandate, and what actually counts as a “successful” Christian life. It’s not some obscure footnote—it’s a foundational safeguard against legalism, a celebration of God’s sovereignty over our callings, and a gentle reminder that spiritual fruit beats any biological or cultural scorecard every time.

Right at the center of it all sits Genesis 1:28: “God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.’” Same command shows up again after the flood to Noah (Genesis 9:1). Notice the wording: God is speaking to “them”—humanity collectively—at the two biggest population-reset moments in history. This is a creational ordinance for the race as a body, not a personalized marching order for every married couple in every era, in every possible way.

Picture the scene in Genesis 1:28. God looks at the brand-new human race—Adam and Eve together—and says, “Be fruitful and increase… fill the earth and subdue it.” Same reset button after the flood with Noah’s crew in Genesis 9. Notice He’s talking to “them,” the whole batch, not whispering a private to-do list in every ear. That’s the starting point, right there on page one. Scripture never flips the script later and says, “Oops, actually every married couple must personally check every box.” If it did, we’d have a contradiction bigger than a camel through a needle’s eye. But the Bible doesn’t do contradictions—it keeps its own identity: grace is grace, law is law, calling is calling, and corporate is corporate and individual is individual (thanks, Paul in Romans 11:6 and 1 Corinthians 7).

Mixing up these categories is about as logical as saying grace is works and works is grace. And here’s where the rule of first mention kicks in with perfect timing: from the very first page of the Bible, this is framed as a corporate creational command. Later Scripture can’t suddenly flip it into an individual absolute without clear evidence—and the burden of proof lies squarely on anyone who wants to make that switch. God could change it, sure. But He didn’t.

Vincent Cheung has been shining a spotlight on this for years. In his 2009 essay “True Son in the Faith,” he puts it plainly:

“Reproduction is without doubt a part of the mandate. God commanded man to increase and fill the earth. Nevertheless, as with some of the other commands that have been intended to be carried out by entire communities, no individual is expected to fulfill it in all the possible ways… It is a mistake to think that every individual must have his own biological children in order to fulfill the Cultural Mandate. The Bible says that each man has his own gift from God, so that one might remain single, and another might marry. Each must contribute to the Cultural Mandate in his own way.”

Sure, humanity as a whole is supposed to fill and steward the earth—that’s good and beautiful. But turning it into “every Christian must personally rule politics, arts, business, and rock-climbing all at once”? That’s like saying every Israelite had to personally rebuild the whole temple. Nah. The church does it together through all kinds of gifts, just like the body has eyes and ears and feet. The real upgrade? The Great Commission: make disciples of all nations. Spiritual kids, spiritual legacy—that’s the Abraham-level blessing that never fades (Galatians 3:7, Romans 9).

This is systematic theology doing its job. Scripture never contradicts itself. Once you see Genesis 1:28 as corporate, trying to turn it into an individual, perpetual, high-intensity reproductive quota becomes not just wrong but comically impossible. The doctrine is defined from the outset by Genesis. All related scriptures align with this point and are be interpreted accordingly. If you see Genesis as individual, then of course you will reinterpret other passages to fit your opinion; and so the argument isn’t over other passages, but what this passage in Genesis means. This is the argument. And nothing more needs to be said out it.

However, we can see where a wrong understanding will lead to impossible outcomes. Just ask Jesus. He never married, never had kids, and still managed to fulfill the entire law perfectly (Matthew 5:17). As Cheung points out in his February 20, 2026 Annex essay “Reproduction and the Measure of a Life”:

“Jesus himself provides the clearest confirmation. He never married and never had children, and yet he lived in perfect obedience to the law of God. If reproduction were a universal moral requirement, then Jesus would have failed to fulfill the law he came to fulfill. That conclusion is impossible.”

The same corporate logic shows up everywhere in the Mosaic Law—national festivals, corporate tithes, sabbath-year land rest, levirate marriage. No single Israelite had to do it all, every day, at full volume. The nation carried the load together. Same principle today keeps us from turning God’s good creational blessings into private guilt trips.

That’s why Matthew 19:12 and 1 Corinthians 7 aren’t random “proof texts” someone yanks out of nowhere to justify optional childlessness. They are the consistent Genesis corporate doctrine being applied by Scripture to itself; the corporate creational ordinance that was never meant to function as a rigid, one-size-fits-all personal mandate. Jesus celebrates those “who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.” Paul calls marriage and singleness different gifts from God and says, “Remain in the condition in which you were called.” These passages don’t create a supposed loophole that isn’t there; no, they simply show how the corporate ordinance doctrine from Genesis is consistently applied by scripture to itself, and how scripture has always operated inside God’s distribution of callings.

And let’s be crystal clear: nowhere in Scripture does God command married couples to have frequent, unprotected intercourse so He can “sovereignly decide” how many kids to hand out. That conclusion adds way more information than Genesis actually provides. It never once entered the mind of God or the pen of the biblical writers. It’s an extra-biblical invention that quietly collapses a corporate blessing into an individual obligation.

Cheung says it straight in “Unfading Beauty” (2005):

“Another purpose for marriage is that God is ‘seeking godly offspring’ (Malachi 2:15). This does not mean that every marriage must produce children, but it is a general principle, and if there are children, they must be raised for faith and holiness.”

The same lens corrects the popular over-expansion of the Cultural Mandate. Plenty of folks today take Genesis 1:28 and run it into a full-blown program requiring every Christian to “take dominion” over politics, arts, business, education—you name it—as a personal duty.

In Reformed, Kuyperian, Reconstructionist/Theonomic, and some postmillennial or “dominion” circles, Genesis 1:28 (“be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it”) is routinely called the Cultural Mandate. Proponents argue it obligates Christians (individually and corporately) to transform every sphere of society—politics, economics, education, arts, media, business—into Christian culture. It is often presented as a standing command for believers to “take dominion,” build institutions, and redeem culture as a primary task of the church (sometimes alongside or even above the Great Commission). This view appears in writers influenced by Abraham Kuyper, R.J. Rushdoony, or modern “seven-mountain” and Christian-nationalist teachings.

Cheung gently pushes back in that same 2009 essay:

“Although it is often called the ‘Cultural Mandate,’ and it is indeed a mandate, it does not suggest the scope of the culture-making that some Christians attempt to infer from it… The mandate indeed requires mankind to ‘make culture’ in this sense. But it seems too farfetched to make it justify everything from painting to capitalism, and from poetry to rock climbing.”

If we individualize the whole thing, every believer suddenly has to play parent (biological reproducer), ruler (civil dominion), and farmer (literal subduer of the earth) all at once. Good luck with that before your first cup of coffee! Instead, humanity—and now the church—fulfills these roles together through a variety of gifts and vocations. However, getting past the indirect argument here, the more important issue is this. Does scripture consistently apply an absolute individual application to itself from the rest of Genesis to Revelation in biological reproduction, dominion ruler and farmer to all people in full force in every possible way. No. So, not only do the words and context not mean absolute individual force in Genesis, but the rest of scripture does not apply it to itself that way in the three categories mentioned. It is a corporate creation ordinance.

This truth slots perfectly into the grand storyline of systematic theology: Creation → Fall → Redemption → Consummation. After the Fall, God introduced the spiritual distinction—two lines of humanity separated not by DNA but by sovereign grace and faith (Genesis 3:15; Romans 9; Galatians 3). Abraham’s real descendants are believers, not blood relatives. The Great Commission doesn’t cancel the Cultural Mandate; it fulfills and gloriously elevates it. Cheung nails it:

“As Christians, our mandate is not just to make children, or even to make culture, but to ‘make disciples of all nations.’ … our true sons are those who follow our Christian doctrine and example, and not those who inherit our genetic materials.”

So here’s the freeing bottom line: the measure of a life isn’t the size of your quiver, your cultural empire, or how well you match some imaginary “life script.” It’s simply this—faithfully receiving the full blessing of Abraham, the baptism of the Spirit, and every benefit of Christ’s atonement… and then living it out in the exact calling God has placed on you (sometimes that calling is just helping you fulfill the desires of your own heart). Spiritual children, spiritual legacy, spiritual fruit—that’s the prize.

Lose this corporate-individual distinction and legalism crashes the party like an uninvited guest. Suddenly we’re judging the childless, inventing bedroom rules, and grading spirituality by family size or Instagram influence. But Scripture offers something far better: truth. God is sovereign over fertility, over gifts, and over legacy. Our job is to believe, obey, and joyfully receive everything He has promised.

Here’s the fun part that feels like a weight lifting off your shoulders: God never slipped in an extra rule like “married folks must have frequent unprotected sex and let Me decide the number.” That idea isn’t in the text; it’s just extra baggage some folks added later. Lose the corporate-individual distinction and suddenly we’re grading people by quiver size or Instagram influence. But keep it biblical and—bam!—legalism gets shown the door. Your life’s measure isn’t a baby count or a cultural empire checklist. It’s this: receive everything Christ purchased, live out the exact calling He wired into your heart, and watch spiritual fruit explode.

This truth sets us free to chase real spiritual reproduction—making “true sons in the faith”—without a shred of guilt over biological or cultural metrics. It keeps the Cultural Mandate in its proper, limited, place: a corporate creational blessing, never an individual checklist.

Do Not Restrict The Spirit With Silence

Saying women must stay totally silent in church—to the point they can’t pray aloud, sing, or operate the gifts of the Spirit like prophecy—isn’t harmless tradition. It’s straight-up resistance to the Holy Spirit, flirting with the very blasphemy Jesus warned about. Fleshly control dressed up as “order”? Hard pass.

First off, 1 Corinthians 11:5 isn’t whispering in a corner—it flat-out assumes women are already praying and prophesying right there in the public gathering. Paul says “every woman who prays or prophesies” with her head covered (or not) is the issue, not whether she does it at all. That’s the “when,” not the “if.” Same letter, same churches. Flip to chapter 14:34-35 and you get “women should remain silent.” Boom—looks like a clash, right? But deduction from the Logos says Scripture doesn’t play gotcha games with itself. Paul isn’t schizophrenic; he’s the guy who just spent the whole chapter regulating prophecy and tongues so everything stays “decent and in order.” The silence command sits smack in the middle of that chaos-control section, right after instructions on how prophecy should flow orderly.

Look, 1 Timothy 2:11-12 is crystal clear: women are to learn in quietness and full submission, not to teach or exercise authority over a man. That’s the biblical line on roles, straight from creation order—Adam first, then Eve. Paul doesn’t stutter. But zoom out, church. The same apostle, writing to the same churches, assumes women are already praying and prophesying right there in the assembly. 1 Corinthians 11:5 says, “But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head—it is the same as having her head shaved.”

Context check: this is the public gathering, not “in your prayer closet with just you and hubby.” Boom. Paul isn’t saying if she prays or prophesies—he’s saying when she does. Head covering honors the order; the praying and prophesying? Fully expected. The Spirit moves through daughters just like sons. The same Holy Ghost who filled the Upper Room didn’t suddenly get gender-specific stage fright.

Flip over to Acts 2:17-18, quoting Joel: “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy… Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.” Peter didn’t slip in a sneaky footnote: “Except in church, ladies—zip it.” This is New Covenant reality. Philip’s four daughters were known prophets (Acts 21:9). The Spirit doesn’t play favorites or half-measures. He hands out gifts—tongues, prophecy, healing, words of knowledge—as He wills, to build up the whole body. Silencing half the body isn’t submission. It’s doctrinal amputation. Ouch.

And 1 Corinthians 14:34-35? “Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says.” Context, people. Right before this, Paul is regulating prophecy and tongues so everything stays decent and in order—not nuking the gifts. The “speaking” here targets disruptive chatter—wives probably grilling or contradicting their husbands’ prophecies mid-service, or wielding gifts in a way that steamrolled male leadership by overly drawing attention to themselves. I’ve seen the flip side too: women who claim “I’m under authority” but somehow end up front-and-center, loud, and calling themselves pastors. That’s not submission; that’s disobedience.

It’s easy to yank verses out of context and ignore systematic theology. Take 1 John 5:19—pure gold: “the whole world is under the sway of the evil one.” At first glance it sounds like planet-wide lockdown, right? It doesn’t just say “world,” but “the whole world,” so it must mean all, right? There cannot be any other meaning, right? Flip back one verse: “the one born of God is kept safe, and the evil one does not touch him” (5:18). Plus we’re explicitly “not of the world” (John 15:19; 17:14-16). If Christians got lumped in, you’d have the Holy Spirit under Satan’s thumb. Not only a contradiction—you’d be blaspheming the Spirit Himself. Deduction wins: “whole world” = the unbelieving system, not us. “Whole” doesn’t always mean “whole,” in all possible ways.

Key Discussion in Systematic Theology

In the section on hermeneutics and interpretation (pp. 156–158 in Vincent Cheung’s “Systematic Theology*”), Cheung nails it:

“However, only the most untrained and naïve exegete would assume that the words ‘all’ and ‘everyone’ in the Bible always refer to all human beings. There are endless examples in our daily speech in which the scope of these seemingly universal terms are limited by the context…”

He gives examples:

Matthew 10:22 (“All men will hate you because of me…”) — Context (vv. 21, 23) and historical setting (1st-century Israel) restrict “all men” to relevant unbelievers (e.g., family betrayers, those rejecting the gospel), not every human alive or ever.

Romans 8:32 (“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all…”) — “Us all” refers only to the elect/chosen (per the chapter’s context and Romans 1:7), not every person.

Acts 2:17 (“I will pour out my Spirit on all people”) — Restricted by surrounding verses to ethnic/national universality (“from every nation”) among “all whom the Lord our God will call” (i.e., the elect), not every individual.

Other cases: “All the Jews” in Acts 26:4 means those relevant to Paul’s situation, not literally every Jew; “everything under his feet” in Psalm 8:6/1 Corinthians 15:27 excludes God himself.

He applies similar logic to “world” (kosmos) and “whole world”:

1 John 5:19 (“the whole world lieth in wickedness”) — Refers to the realm of non-Christians/unbelievers under Satan’s influence (the “world” as opposed to the elect/church), not every person literally or the physical planet in a salvific sense. This fits the systematic distinction between elect and reprobate.

“World” often denotes fallen humanity in its rebellion (not implying universal salvation or love in a saving sense for all individuals). God’s providential/natural benefits may extend broadly, but spiritual love and atonement are particular to the elect.

Cheung stresses systematic context throughout: Interpretation must integrate the whole of Scripture (clarity of Scripture, but with diligence against distortion—see 2 Peter 3:16). Naïve out-of-context readings lead to errors like universalism or Arminian misapplications.

Our approach to biblical interpretation consistently emphasizes contextual exegesis over isolated literalism, much like his handling of terms such as “all,” “world,” or “whole world” (as discussed previously). We apply the same principle here: Scripture must be read in light of its immediate context, the broader biblical teaching, and logical consistency, without forcing contradictions.

1 John 5:19 move is the chef’s kiss. “The whole world is under the sway of the evil one” can’t swallow up believers, or you’d have the Holy Spirit under Satan’s thumb—total contradiction, and we’d be blaspheming the One who keeps us safe (v.18). Context and the whole of Scripture limit the scope, just like with those “all” and “world” examples. Same principle here: “silent” doesn’t mean mute button when the same apostle already green-lit public praying and prophesying a few chapters earlier. Scriptural Deduction wins again, as it always does; Paul’s keeping the wind orderly, not tying it down like a kite in a hurricane.

So when Paul says women must “remain silent,” does he mean mute in every way in the assembly? No. Just like “whole world” in 1 John doesn’t include believers, Paul already affirmed (a few chapters earlier in the same letter!) that a woman prays and prophesies with a symbol of authority on her head.

Total silence would contradict his own teaching.

Paul isn’t schizophrenic. He’s keeping chaos out of the assembly and protecting male leadership while the Spirit still flows freely. Sing? Ephesians 5:19 commands all of us—“speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit.” Pray? The whole church is told to pray without ceasing. A total mute button on women? That’s not Scripture. That’s religious flesh trying to play air-traffic controller with the wind of God.

Here’s the sharp edge: Jesus called blasphemy against the Holy Spirit the one unforgivable sin—attributing the Spirit’s clear, powerful works to Satan or stubbornly resisting them (Matthew 12:31-32). In the blasphemy essay I wrote, I laid it out: when someone whispers “dial it back” on miracles, healing, or gifts, red flags everywhere. They might be channeling opposition without realizing it. The Pharisees watched the Spirit heal a blind, mute, demon-possessed man through Jesus and said, “Beelzebul.” Same spirit today when folks say the Spirit’s gifts can’t operate through women in church. You’re not “being careful.” You’re quenching the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19-20: “Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt”). You’re telling the wind of God, “Blow only where I say.” That’s muzzling the Spirit like a dog and calling it order. I’d politely suggest they muzzle their mouths first—hoping it’s not too late and they haven’t already crossed the line.

The kingdom of God is not advanced by telling the Spirit to shut up but by obeying Jesus’ command to be filled with the Spirit and power, in and out of an official church meeting. There is no other way but this way of truth and power.

Parallel in Your New Creation

A Huge Communication Problem

How involved were you when God created you? When God knit you together in your mother’s womb, how much were you involved in this? Did you have a say in being created? Did you do anything to affect how you were created? Did God ask you if you wanted to come into existence?

Of course the answer is no on every count. You contributed nothing. You offered no input on your genetic makeup, your personality traits, or the precise moment of your first breath. As Psalm 139:13-16 so beautifully declares, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” God sovereignly decided and executed your creation without your consultation or cooperation. That is what it means to be a creature. By definition, the Creator brings existence out of nothing, unilaterally, and Jeremiah 1:5 confirms the same eternal foreknowledge: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.”

Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5 that we are a new creation. We do not even know Jesus from a human point of view anymore, and neither do we see ourselves from a human point of view, because like Jesus we have a new type of existence. How did this new existence happen? Jesus told Nicodemus it is like the wind. “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit” (John 3:8). It is by the sovereign work of God; you don’t know where it came from or where it went. You were not consulted. You did not vote. You did not assist. The Spirit swept in like an invisible force and performed a total reboot, a supernatural species upgrade that left the old humanity behind forever.

Paul says our old selves died with Jesus and we were raised in a new life. This new creation is intellectual and spiritual first, and because of this intellectual and spiritual foundation it is also physical. Before the curse animated our bodies in decay and death. But as Paul says in Romans 8:11, “the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.” The Father did not think we were part of Jesus’ body in the old sense. In our new creation the Father thinks we are part of Jesus. In His mind He thinks we are already seated with Him in the heavenly places, and all spiritual blessings are already given to us. Jesus sends the Spirit to baptize us in power, just like He has power. We are totally and utterly a new creation; no longer human in the old Adamic sense. Our old man with sins died. A new man who is both blameless and the righteousness of God exists in God’s mind.

I say this to illustrate how important we need to categorically see our new life in Jesus. Just as we did not ask God to bring us into existence and had no ability to effect our existence, it is exactly the same in our new creation. God did not ask me if I wanted to be the righteousness of God. Rather, He sent His Son and made it a reality, and faith arrives the moment God makes me aware that He created me as God’s righteousness in Jesus. Second Corinthians 5:21 settles it once and for all: “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” No negotiation. No application process. Just sovereign grace.

I did nothing to earn or contribute to my existence. I did not earn the ability to breathe. I did not earn the ability to think. God gave it to me as part of existence itself. I can choose to think well, but that is because I am already a person. The point stands: I do nothing for my existence by definition—I cannot. It is the definition of the Creator to create existences. The same holds true with my new creation. I did nothing to earn or contribute to my new existence. I did not earn the ability to be God’s righteousness. I did not earn the ability to have God be my paycheck. I did not earn Abraham’s blessing. I did not earn to have all my sickness healed. Without asking, God made me a new creation in all these things. I do nothing for it. It is a creation issue. It is God’s doing.

People often struggle with forgiveness and seeing themselves righteous because they still have not given up on their old selves. But the old man is dead and buried. My old man is a corpse. It is my old existence, and because I am already a new creation it has nothing to do with me in my standing before God. Yet every aspect of my existence follows this same pattern. God is correct, and what He thinks is reality. I am a new creation, but if I am foolish enough to still see my old self as alive—a walking corpse or zombie—I will have a defeated and pathetic life. Let’s call it what it is: zombie theology. The old you is pushing up daisies in the graveyard of Calvary, yet some folks keep digging it up for life advice. God is probably face-palming from the throne: “I buried that guy with My Son—stop exhuming the past!”

My new creation has no conscience of sin, because it does not logically apply to my new creation. That corpse is dead and buried. Romans 8:1 shouts with finality, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

This is the same with something like healing and prosperity. Jesus took my sickness as lashes on His back—Isaiah 53:5 says “by his wounds we are healed”—and my old man died there with Jesus’ death. In substitution He gave me healing. My old man tried to use either human effort and money to get healed, or to earn it by merit from God in a begging prayer. But that old man is a corpse in God’s eyes and in mine. Who am I to disagree with God? The new creation of Oshea does not use human effort or money to get healed. The new creation of Oshea exists as part of Jesus’ body, in the mind of God. Does Jesus need to use money to get healed? Then I don’t. Does Jesus need to earn favor to deserve to get healed? Then I don’t.

Jesus became my poverty—2 Corinthians 8:9 declares “though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich”—and I died with Jesus in that substitution. Then He gave me His wealth. The old man tried to use human effort to get prosperity. But in the creation I exist in now, Jesus is my paycheck and wealth, not me. We are to work because it is a command of God, but because Jesus already took our poverty and already gave us His wealth, we are to look to Him to be our breadwinner. We are to look to Him for the supernatural power to gain wealth, doors of favor, and miracle money finding its way to us. The old man, with his five senses and self-effort, was foundation and ability. But now my foundation is God’s revelation and my ability is Jesus’ ability. Trying to bootstrap what God already purchased is like showing up to a feast with your own peanut-butter sandwich while the host has slaughtered the fatted calf and says, “Dude, put that away—I’ve got this.” It is easy to pay tithes when you see yourself as a new creation where Jesus is your funnel of money, not your self-effort. The same holds for healing and good relationships. It is easy to give your time to knowing God when you see God as your favor that blesses you with good relationships.

In our new creation in Jesus, because we are part of Jesus’ body, Jesus is our provider for all things. The old creation looked to self and empiricism, but the new self looks to Jesus who richly provides us all good things, as 1 Timothy 6:17 reminds us.

The more you live as if the old you is relevant to your standing before God, the greater the degree you will have conscience of sin, be sick, and live in poverty. You need to live and see yourself in your new creation and definition in Jesus. The old you is utterly and completely irrelevant to your standing before God. The old you has no logical relevance to how you gain wealth and get healed. The old you does not exist in God’s mind. When you approach God for these things and act like the old you exists, God will still see the new you. And this is why your prayers have so little effect. You are seeing one reality and God sees another one. That is a huge communication problem. You must approach God as He sees you and engage Him on that reality. Then you will have success in receiving all freely given things that already belong to you in your new existence. Faith is not a beggar’s plea; it is a king’s decree, declaring what the Father already thinks about you in Christ. So walk in it. Act like the dazzling royalty you are. The old man is gone. The new has come. And that, my friends, changes everything.

Direct and Constant Access to God

Years ago, when I first dove into Vincent Cheung’s commentary on Colossians, it hit me like thunderclap. There I was, flipping through chapter 2, and Vincent further explains what Paul calls “shadows” or “shadow religion”—those rituals, holidays, and sensory crutches that masquerade as piety but throw a veil over the direct, unfiltered access to God that Jesus secured for us. It’s not just ancient Jewish festivals Paul was warning against; Vincent applies it straight to our modern mess, like Christmas trees and Easter bunnies, turning what should be a vibrant, Spirit-drenched faith into a dim echo of the real thing. The church today needs this message hammered home, because we’re no better than those early believers clinging to calendar days, thinking they add something extra when Jesus already delivered the full package. His atonement is finished, His ascension locked in that ongoing ministry of blessings at the Father’s right hand—no bells, no smells, no seasonal vibes required to tap into it. We’ve got it all, right now, if we’d just believe.

In his Commentary on Colossians (2008), Vincent Cheung unpacks Colossians 2:16-17: “These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.” He drives home how Paul is dismantling the Colossian heresy that promised deeper spirituality but delivered nothing but chains. Vincent writes, “The regulations mentioned—’Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!’—refer to things that are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence” (Colossians 2:21-23). Then he ties it to contemporary traps: “Christian traditions like Christmas or Lent often function the same way, imposing man-made observances that veil the direct reality of Christ. They suggest we need these shadows to approach God, when the substance is already ours in Him.” It’s a reminder that anything sensory—sights, sounds, smells—we lean on to “feel closer” to God is just a step back into the old covenant’s dim previews, when we’ve got the high-definition fulfillment in Jesus.

Paul isn’t mincing words—these observances were pointers, not the point. The reality is Christ, full stop. No more veils, no more middleman rituals. Satan loves these shadows because they distract from the direct line Jesus opened. The church today is starved for this truth—we’re drowning in sensory religion while the Spirit’s river flows untapped, and the word is not believed.

In a world where barriers seem to define so much of our existence—whether it’s the red tape of bureaucracy, the emotional walls we build in relationships, or even the digital firewalls that guard our online lives—it’s liberating to consider what the Bible teaches about our access to God. This isn’t some distant, occasional privilege reserved for the spiritual elite, like a VIP pass to a concert that only works on special occasions. No, through Jesus Christ, we have direct and constant access to the Father, a reality that reshapes everything from our answered prayers to our eternal confidence. As I reflect on this, I can’t help but think how the faithless complicate what God has made straightforward.

The New Testament paints a vivid picture of this access, rooted in the finished work of Christ. Consider Ephesians 2:18, where Paul declares, “For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.” Here, the apostle is addressing the radical shift brought by Jesus’ death and resurrection, tearing down the dividing wall between Jews and Gentiles, but more broadly, between humanity and God. Before Christ, access was mediated through priests, sacrifices, and the temple veil—a system of shadows that pointed forward but never fully delivered the intimacy we now enjoy. That veil, symbolizing separation due to sin, was literally torn in two at the moment of Jesus’ crucifixion (Matthew 27:51), signaling that the way into the Holy of Holies is now open to all who believe. It’s not a seasonal thing, like waiting for the right festival or the perfect alignment of stars; it’s constant, available at any hour, in any circumstance. Hebrews 4:16 urges us to “approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Boldly! Not with timidity or hesitation, as if we’re crashing a party uninvited. This is the throne room of the universe’s Sovereign, and we’re welcomed as sons and daughters, not strangers.

We can approach those ancient throne room doors to God Himself. We can push against them and swing those massive doors wide open. As we look, the middle of the throne room is empty. But off to the sides are angels and other heavenly hosts. They do not stand in the middle, before God, because they don’t have that type of access. But we do. All eyes watch us as we march down the center aisle, with our heads held high. We march in with boldness, as if we are God’s sons, who are co-heirs—not just mere sub-heirs—with Jesus Christ. We walk in with our heads held high, as if we are the very body of Jesus Christ, because we are. We were not first given a specific reason to come in at that moment. But we can anyway, unannounced. We stand before the throne, looking at God face to face, and boldly make our requests known to God. And God gives us what we ask for. God does this because when He sees us, He sees His Son. He thinks we are part of His Son, and God’s thoughts are the only thoughts that matter on the subject. God is correct, and I agree with God. I am part of Jesus and get prayers answered while boldly walking in and asking without hedging. Who am I to disagree with the Power?

To grasp the depth of this, we look back to the Old Testament contrasts that highlight the new covenant’s superiority. In Exodus 19, when God descended on Mount Sinai, the people trembled at a distance, warned not to touch the mountain lest they die. Even Moses, that great mediator, approached with fear and awe. Yet, in the New Testament, we’re invited to draw near without such dread, because Jesus has become our great High Priest who “ever lives to intercede” for us (Hebrews 7:25). This intercession isn’t a barrier; it’s the guarantee of our direct line to the Father. Romans 5:2 echoes this: “through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.” Notice the present tense—we stand in it now, not sporadically or conditionally. Faith is the key that unlocks this, and as Vincent Cheung aptly notes in his commentary on faith’s role, it provides “unhindered, direct access to God,” serving as proof of our election. We don’t manufacture this access through rituals or good deeds; it’s gifted through Christ’s atonement, where He bore our sins and opened the path once for all.

In Ephesians 2, it says we’re sitting with Jesus in the heavenly places. Not that we will be one day, but we already are. If you don’t see yourself that way, it’s because you do not believe God’s word and think He is a liar. Repent and start to agree with your Creator. Think about it. At this very moment, when the Father thinks of you, He thinks you are right now seated with Jesus, who sits at His right hand. He never thinks less of you than in that position with Jesus. If you are not experiencing the benefits of being seated with Jesus right now, that’s your fault and unbelief. God thinks you are, and so you are.

Too many Christians treat this access like an old phone line they only pick up in emergencies, crackling with static from doubt or tradition. They pile on layers of “helps,” like special days or sensory aids, thinking it draws them closer, when in reality, it veils the directness Jesus secured. Days like Christmas or Easter, while culturally ingrained, aren’t biblical doctrines, and so they can subtly shift our focus from revelation and the Spirit to a fleshly starting point. The early church faced similar temptations with Jewish festivals, as Paul warns in Colossians 2:16-17: “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.” Shadows! They’re not the substance. The reason a person wants a shadow and not the real thing is because they do not believe the real exists, or worse, they don’t like it. Our access isn’t enhanced by smells of incense or sounds of carols; it’s sustained by the Holy Spirit, who cries out “Abba, Father” within us (Romans 8:15). This reluctance to embrace constant access often stems from unbelief, masquerading as humility. We think, “Who am I to march boldly into God’s presence?” But the Bible flips that: “How dare you not boldly approach, when Christ has paid such a high price?”

Delving deeper into Scripture, Ephesians 3:12 reinforces this boldness: “In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.” Freedom—that’s the Greek word parrhesia, implying open, unreserved speech, like chatting with a close friend rather than petitioning a distant king. This isn’t license for irreverence, but it shatters any notion of intermittent access. Jesus Himself modeled this in His prayers, addressing the Father intimately, and He invites us to do the same in John 16:26-27: “In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.” See that? No middleman needed beyond Christ’s ongoing mediation, which empowers our direct petitions. This ties into our identity as co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17), where all things are ours, including this unfettered communion. It’s about asking for wants and getting them, but it also includes all sorts of benefits, such as constant and direct fellowship, where we abide in Him as branches in the vine (John 15:4-5), drawing life, miracles, prosperity, and every sort of favor, moment by moment.

Hebrews 10:19-22 urges, “Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body… let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings.” The “new and living way” isn’t static; it’s dynamic, sustained by faith that actively receives. Unbelief can hinder this, much like the Israelites who limited God by their grumbling (Psalm 78:41). They had manna from heaven, yet craved Egypt’s leeks—a foolish trade. Similarly, if we doubt our access, we forfeit the peace, power, and provision flowing from God’s throne.

“Beloved, now we are children of God… we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure,” (1 John 3:2-3 NKJV). “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life…,” (Colossians 3:2-3 NKJV). We draw strength not from self-effort, but from this constant access, where our seated position in Christ refines us by walking in that position when we ask, receive, and praise God. As we see ourselves better as already seated with Jesus, seeing His rich life pouring into us, the more we purify ourselves. The better we see how awesome we are in Christ and walk in that bold access, the more we have power to walk in purity and holiness. People often try to do the opposite of John’s instruction. The order is to first believe who you are, and the proof that you are believing your identity in Christ is if you can boldly ask and receive miracles, and then by doing this you will purify yourself in holiness.

Imagine waking up, not with a list of rituals to “get right with God,” but with the immediate awareness that the throne room doors are swung wide. You pray for healing, and James 5:15 assures, “The prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up.” You seek wisdom, and James 1:5 promises generous provision without reproach. Even in trials, like Peter’s denial followed by restoration (John 21), access remains, because our standing is in Christ’s righteousness, not our performance. The callings and gifts of God are irrevocable. God sees you as already righteous without any sinful markings on your record. And what God thinks is the only thinking that matters. This is irrevocable. Your righteousness record is forever. God thinks you are a royal priesthood, now, not later. God thinks you are seated with His Son in the heavenly places. This is irrevocable. It was based on Jesus’ finished work and given freely to you in grace. It has nothing to do with your performance.

Direct and constant access to God isn’t a theological footnote; it’s the heartbeat of the gospel. It mocks the idea that we need additives to spice up our spirituality, reminding us that Christ is sufficient. As we stand in this grace, let’s live it out with the frank boldness it deserves—no more hiding behind shadows when the Light Himself beckons us near. If we’re not experiencing this daily, perhaps it’s time to examine our faith, repent of unbelief, and step into the throne room. After all, the Father isn’t stingy; He’s extravagantly welcoming, eager for our company. In the words of 1 John 5:14-15, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.” That’s not wishful thinking; that’s gospel power, yours for the taking. Because God sees us as part of His Son, and thinks the blessing of Abraham already applies to us, “what we want” is the threshold that qualifies as “asking according to His will.” The only time what we want is not God’s will is if it violates a specific command or a word of direction the Spirit spoke to us. Thus, we can always ask in confidence knowing, “what we want” is what we get.

Faith isn’t waiting around for special days or moods; it’s grabbing hold of the promises now, because Jesus is already interceding with all the good stuff He pledged. Think about it: if the early church got tangled in Jewish Sabbaths thinking it helped their standing, aren’t we doing the same with Christmas carols and advent wreaths? It’s like showing up to a feast with your own sack lunch—you miss the bounty because you’re stuck on shadows. And let’s be frank, if your faith needs twinkly lights to sparkle, maybe it’s time to check if the power’s even plugged in. Imagine trading divine Wi-Fi for a holiday dial-up connection—talk about a spiritual lag!

Shadow religion veils the intellectual, spiritual core of Christianity. It’s empiricism in pious drag, basing faith on feelings and festivities rather than revelation. But Jesus’ high priestly role means constant access—no calendar needed. If we’re born from above, we’re insiders in the Father’s house, with rooms prepared. If your Christmas ham tastes better than the bread of life, you’ve got your feasts mixed up. That’s like preferring MRE meal to a gourmet banquet from the King.

Let’s ditch the veils and live in the full benefits that Christ already won for us—bold, direct access, and miracle-ready. To drive it home, consider the ethical fallout: shadow religion dishonors Christ’s sufficiency. As sons, we’re co-heirs with eternal rooms prepared (John 14:2-3), yet holidays suggest that calendars somehow help us sit closer to Jesus in the heavenly places. However, miracles aren’t holiday perks; they’re gospel proofs. If you tie them to Christmas, you’re unbelieving the very good news that sets us free. If you think miracles happen more around Christmas than from a daily prayer spoken in faith, then maybe check who’s really guiding your sled—your flesh or faith? Santa’s list might be naughty or nice, but God’s access is always “yes” in Christ—no reindeer required.

This delusion of seasonal surges stems from defective anthropology, viewing man as sense-bound rather than Spirit-led and word-based. The gospel tells us we are redeemed, righteous, headed to glory, designed for miracles now. Calendars chain us to the old man; faith unleashes the new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). Feeling closer via festivities? That’s flesh talking, empirical highs mimicking intimacy. Do you feel distant? That is the chill of a religious shadow, exposing your drift from reality. The cure? Deductive faith in Scripture: Jesus’ finished atonement and our current reality seated with Him means miracles come through faith, not calendar dates.

Two Sides of God’s Unbreakable Coin

Picture this: the gospel is like a coin minted in heaven’s own forge, with two sides that can’t be pried apart without ruining the whole thing. One side gleams with spiritual blessings—the forgiveness of sins, righteousness credited to us, and adoption as God’s sons. But flip it over, and you’ll find the material blessings that flow from the same source: healing for our bodies, provision for our needs, and miracles that shatter the chains of this fallen world. All blessings are spiritual at their core, rooted in God Himself who is Spiritual and Intellectual, and who gives them to us in unmerited favor; however, but some play out in the here and now, touching our flesh and bones. Try to split this coin—to accept the spiritual while rejecting the material—and you’ve got nothing but worthless scraps. No store owner hands out half a coin and calls it currency; it’s illegal, and it’d buy you zilch. God’s gospel works the same way. You take it whole, or you walk away empty-handed.

The Scripture doesn’t mince words on this. From the start, God’s promise to Abraham wasn’t some ethereal whisper about invisible graces alone; it was a bold declaration of overflowing good—health, wealth, fame, and victory over enemies (Genesis 12:2-3). Paul calls this the “gospel” preached in advance, where God justifies the Gentiles by faith and pours out the blessings of Abraham (Galatians 3:8-9). What does that look like? Miracles, the Spirit’s power, and yes, material abundance to fund the kingdom’s advance. Abraham believed God for a son when his body was as good as dead, and that faith unlocked supernatural provision—land, livestock, and descendants as countless as the stars (Romans 4:18-21). No separation there: faith for material blessings brough the adjacent benefit of God declaring him righteous. God didn’t say, “I’ll save your soul, but leave the body to rot.” He promised whole material world blessings, and Abraham grabbed it all, and in return for believing for material blessings God gave him spiritual blessings.

Fast-forward to Jesus’ atonement, the ultimate fulfillment of that promise. Isaiah 53 lays it bare: Christ bore our sins and our sicknesses in one seamless act of substitution. “Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering… by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:4-5, NIV). Matthew drives it home, applying this directly to Jesus’ ministry: “He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases” (Matthew 8:17, NIV). The cross wasn’t a pick-and-choose buffet—forgiveness on one plate, healing on another, tucked away for later. No, it’s all one bloody transaction. Jesus swapped our curses for Abraham’s blessings, our poverty for His riches, our sickness for His health (Galatians 3:13-14; 2 Corinthians 8:9). Peter echoes it: “By his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24, NIV)—past tense, already done. To slice out healing as “not essential” or “maybe if God wills” is to hack at the atonement itself, and by hacking the atonement you are hacking at Jesus Christ Himself. You can’t gut one benefit without bleeding out the whole gospel.

Look at how the apostles lived it. In Acts 3, Peter grabs a lame man and commands, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk” (Acts 3:6, NIV). No hedging, no “if it’s God’s will.” The man leaps up, praising God—not because Peter was some super-apostle with special perks, but because faith in Jesus’ name triggered the power. Peter spells it out: “By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong” (Acts 3:16, NIV). Faith flips the switch, and the atonement’s power flows. James doubles down: “The prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. And if they have sinned, they will be forgiven” (James 5:15, NIV). Forgiveness and healing, side by side, both on faith’s demand. Deny one, and you’re denying the blood that bought them both. It’s like saying, “I’ll take the salvation, but skip the resurrection”—absurd, and frankly, demonic.

Why the resistance? Tradition’s got its claws in deep, peddling a half-gospel that spiritualizes everything to death, leaving folks limping through life without the material muscle God intended. Cessationists and doubters scoff at healing on demand, calling it “name it and claim it” nonsense, but they’re the ones claiming God’s promises are expired coupons. Jesus warned about this: “Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me” (Matthew 11:6, NIV)—right after listing miracles as proof of His messiahship. Offended by free healing? You’re stumbling over the cornerstone. Paul blasts it in Galatians: anyone preaching a different gospel—say, one without Abraham’s blessings—is accursed (Galatians 1:8-9). And what’s that blessing? The Spirit, miracles, prosperity—all yours through faith, no merit required.

Don’t get me wrong; the gospel’s core is God’s glory, but He glorifies Himself by glorifying us (1 Corinthians 2:7). Predestined for our glory before the world began, the atonement crowns us as co-heirs with Christ. We ask big—healing for cancer, provision for ministries, miracles for the mundane—because that’s how God rolls. It’s not arrogance; it’s obedience. Jesus said, “Ask and it will be given to you” (Matthew 7:7, NIV), and He meant it. Skimp on the material side, and you’re shortchanging the spiritual too. The coin’s whole or worthless.

Picture that coin: one side shines with spiritual riches—righteousness, sanctification, and eternal life—while the other glints with material promises—health, wealth, and peace. Both are inseparable because both flow from the same source: Christ’s finished work. Romans 2:6-7 tells us God will judge and give eternal life to those seeking glory, honor, and immortality, a spiritual blessing with eternal weight. Yet 2 Corinthians 8:9 adds, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.” That’s material abundance tied to the same grace. In my reflections from the website, I note that all blessings are spiritual at their foundation, but some manifest materially—health from His stripes (Isaiah 53:5), provision from His abundance (2 Corinthians 9:8). Split them, and you’ve got a gospel that can’t purchase a thing; it’s no longer the good news it’s meant to be.

This unity hinges on what Jesus did at that specific time and place. His death paid for our sins, His resurrection declared us righteous, and His seating at God’s right hand secured our authority as we are seated with Him, co-heirs with Him and anointed by Him in the baptism of the Spirit (Hebrews 1:3). Every benefit—spiritual or material—springs from this single act. Take healing, for instance. In Mark 6, Jesus calms the storm and feeds the multitudes, expecting faith to normalize the miraculous. If you deny, “on the demand faith for healing as part of the gospel, you’re slicing the gospel coin down the middle. Its worthless and powerless for all things.

Grab the full gospel. Confess your sins and receive forgiveness by faith—then command that sickness to flee, that need to be met. It’s all one atonement, one victory, one unbreakable coin. Split it, and you’ve got nothing but fool’s gold. But take it whole, and watch God multiply it into eternal joy. After all, if faith can toss mountains into the sea, handling a little sickness or lack is child’s play. Let’s live like the heirs we are—no more half-measures.

Now, the religious mind loves to divide this, picking and choosing like a picky eater at a buffet. Some say, “Healing’s not for today,” or “Prosperity’s a distraction,” but that’s like saying half a coin buys a sandwich. Nonsense. The gospel’s integrity demands we receive it whole.

The gospel’s like that coin—two sides, one value. Jesus’ work at Calvary, the empty tomb, and the throne secures it all. Don’t let anyone convince you to trade half for a counterfeit. Embrace the whole—spiritual depth and material abundance—and watch it transform your life. It’s a brilliant future, because God’s promises are yes in Christ. Receive it all, and let’s live like heirs, not beggars. That’s the gospel’s power, undivided and unstoppable.

Grace Didn’t Striptease Me With Future Hope

Ah, that quote from John Newton—it’s got some truth in it, no denying that, but brother, it’s like he’s staring at the rearview mirror while the glory train is blasting full speed ahead.

“I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I want to be, I am not what I hope to be in another world; but still I am not what I once used to be, and by the grace of God I am what I am.”

Newton, the old slave trader turned grace-singer, he’s got the humility angle down real, real, real hard. And yes, acknowledging the past mess isn’t wrong, because Scripture tells us to remember where we came from, like Israel recalling Egypt (Deuteronomy 8:2). But here’s the thunderclap: he’s emphasizing the wrong thing. All that “not what I ought, not what I want, not what I hope” drags the soul into a worm-theology pit, focusing on lacks and longs when the New Covenant screams present reality: righteousness, power, miracles, and victory in Christ, right here, right now. Saints, we’re not stumbling in “not yets”; we are already seated with Him in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6), reigning in life through Jesus (Romans 5:17). G Grace doesn’t just forgive the past, it explodes into now with kingdom dynamite.

First, let’s hit that “I am not what I ought to be.” Newton’s tipping his hat to the ongoing battle, the flesh warring against the spirit (Galatians 5:17), and sure, sanctification’s progressive—we’re working out what God’s worked in (Philippians 2:12-13). Hebrews 10 says God is sanctifying those He has already perfected. Thus, emphasizing the “not ought” like it’s the headline? That’s missing the plot. The “ought” is already yours positionally in Christ. You’re the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21), holy and blameless in His sight (Colossians 1:22).

Salvation is not just ethics or future pie-in-the-sky; it’s reality now. God recreated you a new species, a prince of heaven, with diplomatic immunity under the New Covenant (Hebrews 8:8-13). Sickness? Poverty? Defeat? Those are Satan’s ministry and lies. Jesus became sin, sickness, and curse so you could be righteous, healed, and blessed (Galatians 3:13-14; Isaiah 53:4-5). I remember my own pit—depression choking me like a python, suicidal whispers in the night. But the Spirit hit me: “You are a child of God; these things fear you, not the other way around!” And Boom, I received instant healing, and I started declaring promises over “my observations.” This is the Christian ethic, declaring the promises of God and receiving the: not groveling in weakness, but bulldozing Satan’s works with faith confessions. Newton glances at the past change, but he fumbles the lead. Grace makes you what you ought right now, not in some hazy future.

Then there’s “I am not what I want to be.” This one stings if you let it, because who hasn’t wanted more—more faith, more victory? Paul wanted the thorn gone (2 Corinthians 12:7-9), (false super-apostles) but God’s grace was sufficient, turning weakness into power showcase. But again, Newton’s emphasis skews wrong, fixating on the gap when the want is already met in Christ. What do you want? Healing? Prosperity? Power? The covenant guarantees it, because Jesus’ blood activated the last will and testament, depositing Abraham’s blessings into your account (Galatians 3:14; 2 Corinthians 8:9). In systematic theology, I call it over-engineering: grace doesn’t just meet needs; it overflows with miracles. Praying in tongues? That’s the cheat code, building you up (1 Corinthians 14:4), keeping you in love (Jude 1:20-21), and unlocking your wants served on a gold platter. I was a smoldering wick once, wanting joy but drowning in despair. But one-on-one ministry with the Spirit, by praying in tongues and naming-it-claiming-it, and suddenly wants aligned with reality and peace like a river flowed (Mark 11:23). Newton nods to grace making him “what I am,” but he downplays the now. All promises are yes in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20). Don’t confess lacks; confess all the blessing already yours in Jesus. Sickness knocking? “By His stripes, I am healed!” Poverty lurking? “My God supplies all needs!” That’s the want fulfilled, here and now, not a wish list for glory.

And “I am not what I hope to be in another world.” Here’s where Newton really tips the scale wrong, shoving hope into eschatology like the best is postmortem. Sure, we groan for the resurrection body (Romans 8:23), seeing Him as He is (1 John 3:2). But eschatology is not escapism, it’s expansionism! Jesus is reigning from the throne now, and we’re co-heirs, enforcing His victory (Ephesians 1:19-23). A.D. 70 judgments are past, and Satan’s final smackdown is decreed; but the kingdom’s advancing today through miracles, healings, and power. Hope is not deferred; it’s applied throne-room access. Newton hopes for another world, but Scripture says the world to come is subjected to us now (Hebrews 2:5-8, Eph. 1:19-23, Mark 11:23). What about Miracles? Jesus tells us to prove ourselves His by asking for miracles and getting them (John 15:7-8). I’ve seen sickness flee and fears shatter when I declare faith in His promises. What about tongues and prophecy? Available to those with faith. Don’t park hope in heaven; plant hope for good things down here. God’s power delivered me from demonic terror. Grace didn’t striptease me with future hope; it slammed a victory for me now. Newton’s emphasis delays the party, and that is wrong. Hope does not bring shame because God’s love has already been poured out now (Romans 5:5).

Now, the pivot Newton makes—”still I am not what I once used to be.” This is correct as far as it goes; the past-to-present shift, and it’s not wrong to state it. Remembering the old man keeps gratitude flowing, like Paul recounting his blasphemer days (1 Timothy 1:13-15). Newton went from chains to “Amazing Grace”; I went from wreck to warrior. But even here, don’t linger! The past is crucified (Galatians 2:20). Only God’s thoughts about reality matter, and God thinks my old man is dead. Who am, I that I should disagree with God? We are to focus on the new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). What about sin’s power? It is Broken. Sickness? It has been crushed at the cross (Matthew 8:16-17). Newton’s right: by grace, we are what we are. But grace isn’t a pat on the back; it’s covenant firepower, sovereign favor molding us into overcomers (Romans 8:37). God boasts about us when faith shines (Hebrews 11), not when we mope in “nots.”

It’s not wrong to nod at the past mess or ongoing chisel, but what about the emphasis? Slam it on present glory. Righteousness: yours now, credited fully. Power: the same power that raised Christ, surging in you (Ephesians 1:19). Miracles? They are normal, commanded by faith. Heal the sick, cast out demons (Mark 16:17-18). Victory? It is both your definition and command to reign in life; dominating circumstances, time, reality. No more worm theology; you are a superior species, a child of God, with bold throne-room access (Hebrews 4:16). Pray in tongues and declare His promises, and by this, let the Spirit minister to you, one-on-one. Newton saw grace change him, but he underplayed the explosion. It is now, by grace. What are you now? Victorious, powerful, miraculous. This is the bible’s focus, and so it will also be ours.

Prosperity: God’s Big Idea

By Oshea Davis

29, 2025

Today, let’s start with the prayer of Jabez in 1 Chronicles 4:10: “Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, ‘Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.’ And God granted his request” (NIV).

Boom—God didn’t rebuke Jabez for asking big; He answered yes. Prosperity isn’t a side hustle; it’s God’s original blueprint, lost in sin, partially restored to Abraham, and fully unleashed in Jesus. And get this: It’s yours by faith, in ways that make reprobates squirm.

First off, prosperity was God’s idea from the jump—Creation itself screams abundance. Genesis 1:1 kicks off with God crafting a universe teeming with riches: gold in Havilah (Genesis 2:12), fruitful trees, rivers flowing, animals multiplying. He didn’t make a barren wasteland; He engineered a paradise of plenty. He called this overabundance “Good,” and so lack and poverty are “bad.” God didn’t design scarcity and then call it good. No, prosperity reflects His nature—generous, overflowing, unstoppable. He spoke, and wealth materialized: stars for navigation, soil for crops, seas for trade. Creation wasn’t neutral; it was loaded with provision, a divine trust fund for humanity. God likes big—big universes, big blessings, big faith. If you’re thinking small, that’s your human empiricism talking, not God’s Word.

Enter Adam: God handed him the keys to this prosperous kingdom. Genesis 1:28: “God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.'” Dominion! Adam wasn’t scratching for scraps; he ruled a garden where “gold… and onyx” abounded (Genesis 2:11-12), food grew effortlessly, and work was stewardship, not toil. The Garden was not Adam working to get rich; rather, it was God making Adam rich and then Adam managing this wealth. Eden defines prosperity mainly and directly as very material. However, there are other blessings involved such as authority, relational harmony, physical health. Adam walked with God in opulence, no lack, no limits. This was the original deal: Man as God’s image-bearer, prospering in every sphere because God supplied it all (as per Maxim 13: “God’s unmerited favor supplies man, man does not supply God”). But reprobates twist this, saying wealth corrupts. Nonsense—Adam’s prosperity was pure until sin crashed the party.

Ah, the Fall—where prosperity got hijacked. Genesis 3:17-19: Cursed ground, thorns, sweat for bread. Adam’s rebellion didn’t just bring spiritual death; it unleashed poverty, sickness, and struggle. The abundant earth turned hostile, mirroring man’s death. Sin didn’t erase God’s prosperous design; it veiled it under a curse. Humanity toiled in lack, empires rose on exploitation, and scarcity became the norm in many places. But here’s the kicker: Even in judgment, God hinted at restoration (Genesis 3:15). Prosperity wasn’t revoked forever; it was postponed for the faithful. Those who peddle “poverty vows” as holiness? They’re glorifying the curse, siding with Satan—the ultimate thief who comes to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). Defective ethics at its worst.

Then God kickstarts the comeback with Abraham. Genesis 12:2-3: “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing… and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” Abraham wasn’t some ascetic monk; he got filthy rich—livestock, silver, gold, king’s ransoms (Genesis 13:2). Why? Faith. He believed God’s promise, and prosperity flowed: land enlargements, victories over kings, supernatural favor. This was a substantial and multifaceted prosperity restoration, even if it wasn’t perfected heaven itself. Thus, even when Abraham faced famines and foes, he still came out victorious and rich. This fallen world, with all its curses and problems, kneeled under the boot of Abraham’s blessing to be prosperous. What God promised Abraham was a down payment, bypassing the curse. Galatians 3:14 calls it “the blessing of Abraham,” including the Spirit and miracles, but don’t sleep on the wealth: Deuteronomy 8:18 echoes it, “It is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth.” God began reversing Adam’s loss through covenant faith, proving prosperity honors Him when rooted in faith. Reprobates who bash “prosperity gospel”? They’re blind to this—Abraham’s blessing was God’s wealth transfer program, started with one man in faith, but completely fulfilled in Christ.

Fast-forward to Jesus: Full restoration, no holds barred. Galatians 3:13-14: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us… so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.” And that promise? Abraham’s blessing, but amplified through Jesus. Jesus became poor so we could become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9). The context is not spiritual wealth, but filthy money and material riches. He ministered wealth as part of His high-priest gig: righteousness, wealth, and healing. Only God’s thoughts matter. In the mind of God, He thinks the atonement swapped our poverty for Jesus’ riches, our sickness for health, our curse for blessing. Post-resurrection, we’re new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17), seated with Him above lack (Ephesians 2:6). Our Maxim 12 roars: “They financially prosper and are healed by faith in the gospel of Jesus.” In Christ, prosperity isn’t optional—it’s inheritance. Doubt it? You’re limiting God (Psalm 78:41), confessing empiricism instead of God’s word.

Now, how does God grant this prosperity by faith? Not some cookie-cutter formula but simply believing His Word. First, direct asking in Jesus’ name—John 16:23: “My Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.” Jabez-style: “Enlarge my borders!” Faith confession moves mountains (Mark 11:23), including financial ones. Speak wealth into existence, because reality obeys faith. Second, through wisdom and favor—Proverbs 8:18: “With me are riches and honor.” God gives ideas, opportunities, divine connections (like Abraham’s alliances). Third, sowing and reaping—2 Corinthians 9:6-8: Generous giving multiplies back, not as works, but by God’s promise received by faith. Fourth, miraculous provision—Matthew 17:27: Fish with coins? Why not? It’s available to faith. Agree that God is correct. Assent to God’s promises, act on them, and watch. But beware—unbelief blocks it, like the Israelites’ evil report. Defective faith-fumblers say, “Prosperity’s not for today.” Wrong! It’s for insiders, co-heirs who boldly approach the throne (Hebrews 4:16). If they choose to not see themselves as insiders and not boldly approach and receive, then they must hate their lives. Why join the dead? Why join with the faithless? Why join those who toss away their own lives as trash?

Reprobates focus on men; but the faithful focus on God (Maxim 14). Chase Him, and wealth chases you. If you are chasing God without healing and prosperity and blessings chasing you, then it means you are chasing God while you disbelieve Him. This is the sad and degrading life of the faithless. Chasing something they hate and distrust.

In sum, prosperity’s God’s brainchild from Creation, gifted to Adam, snatched by sin, rebooted with Abraham, and maxed out in Christ. Jabez nailed it—ask big, get big. If you’re not prospering, check your faith, not God’s will (see Maxim 19: “God’s Word is His will”). Prosperity is God’s idea, from creation to Abraham and finally in Jesus. When you pray for prosperity you are not asking a reluctant God. You are agreeing with God and receiving what He has already provided. “You have given me wealth in Abraham’s blessing and in Your Son’s atonement, and I agree with you. You are correct. I thank you for prosperity and receive it through the unmerited favor you gave it in.”

I Win No Matter What

I remember Vincent Cheung saying in Blinded by Atheism, “Apologetics is so easy that if it is the main focus of your life and if you become any good at it, you might become disillusioned with boredom and with a lack of purpose.”

He is correct; if you use biblical deductionalism or rationalism. If I choose not to be nice and always take apologetic arguments to the presuppositional level straight away (supposing my opponent even has the intellectual ability to go there), I win no matter what happens. If I stick to the scripture, I win. It doesn’t matter what my opponent says; if they say anything, I win. Even if all they say is the word “as,” I win.

The presuppositional level has to do with your starting point for knowledge and to a larger degree the things you must have in order to have any intelligence. My worldview is not their worldview. My Bible says it is true and all others are false. It says knowledge comes from God, not observation or empiricism. Thus, my worldview disagrees with all other worldviews about the presupposition of knowledge. Because other worldviews always disagree with my worldview about knowledge and the Bible is always right, then any knowledge they use does not come from their worldview, and so they never have logical justification for any knowledge they have. It does not matter if it is their own name, if it is knowledge about a tree, bird, or something abstract like “as,” “the,” or logic, or math; all such knowledge does not come from their worldview. Their worldview has no intelligence, or true or false premises about anything in reality; it has no subjects or predicates; it has no logic or math.

Even if I argue my position in a poor way, I still win. If we consider the worldview argument like a tree, the presuppositional level is the axe laid at the trunk of the tree. Even if I poorly argue for a point and my opponent seems to win a small point, they only manage to save a small twig at the top of the tree. However, one swing with my axe and the whole tree comes down.

If they make any statement about reality, or ask any question about reality or my worldview, I am not allowed to accept it, because the Bible says only it is true, says all others are false, and only it has knowledge. They do not have knowledge, and so they cannot use knowledge to make a statement about anything. If an atheist says rock layers show… (it does not matter what the conclusion is; the important thing is the knowledge of the terms rock and layers), I cannot receive his statement without presupposing his epistemology gives him knowledge. But the Bible clearly says only God gives knowledge; all others are false. If I accept his epistemology gives him the ability to use the terms “rock” and “layers,” then I reject the Bible at the same time because the Bible says only it gives knowledge (via God’s direct power) and all others are false. To use empiricism with my opponent is to reject my God at the same time. To use empiricism is to give the tree trunk to my opponent, so that the very best I can do is cut down some of his worldview branches, because I have now lost the ability to chop down the foundation of his worldview.

I would tell my opponent,

I do not use your epistemology of empiricism, which you used to produce the terms of rock and layers. If you are going to question me using an anti-biblical epistemology (the very thing we disagree about), then the logical burden of proof is on you to justify the knowledge of rock and layers. I admit, if I were to use or assume with you your empiricism, I must also reject my Christianity. But this is the very thing we disagree about, or will you just accept the Bible is the only starting point for knowledge? Because if you do, then I win, and you will be saved. I don’t believe in your worldview. I refuse to go further, because the burden of proof is on you. If you do not have knowledge of rock and layers, it is pointless what the conclusions are. You attacked me with the certainty that you have the knowledge of rocks and layers. I do not believe you. I don’t presuppose your worldview.