Tag Archives: Paul

Head Held High

Maturity is not the nervous waiter routine some Christians keep pulling at the cosmic buffet—scraping together a few spiritual tips, hoping the Father will notice their effort and toss them a crumb. Nah. Maturity is you, the full-blown son, leaning back in the seat of adoption and letting the endless, jaw-dropping blessings roll in like waves that never quit. The Spirit is no vague vibe floating around; He is the insider, searching the deep things of God and shouting straight into your soul, “Hey kid, this feast is already yours—dig in!” (1 Corinthians 2:6-12). The gospel was predestined for your glory, not your groveling. Paul spells it out: we have received the Spirit who is from God so that we may understand what God has freely given us. Freely. No strings, no performance review, no cosmic rent due. Just pure, ridiculous generosity from the One whose unmerited favor supplies man—man does not supply God.

Picture the prodigal again, but this time do not stop the story where most do. The kid drags himself out of the pig pen, stench still clinging to his rags, ready to beg for servant status. “Father, I have sinned… treat me as one of your hired hands.” That is the low-faith script most believers keep rehearsing. But real maturity? That is when the Father’s Spirit pumps iron in your soul so you do not limp home begging scraps. You stand tall, eyes locked on the One who ran to meet you while you were still a long way off. He slides the signet ring onto your finger—full authority, baby. He drapes the best robe over your shoulders—righteousness that screams, “I belong here, and the blood of the Lamb made sure of it.” He buckles the sandals on your feet so you walk like royalty, not crawl like a hired hand. Then you march straight into the house, head high, grin wider than the banquet table, because you are not a guest. You are the son. You are the prince. The party is for you.

This is the heartbeat of the gospel. The Father does not negotiate a probation period. He does not say, “Earn the robe first.” He restores identity on the spot because that is what the contract always promised: I am your exceedingly great reward. You are the promises of God. The same love the Father has for Jesus, He pours out on His elect without measure. We are co-heirs with Christ, clean, righteous, empowered with the same Spirit of power and ministry that Jesus had through the baptism of the Spirit. All things are ours. The past and the future are ours. We judge the world and angels. We inherit the world. We boldly approach the throne of Almighty God as sons, princes of heaven, to ask and receive. Financial prosperity and healing belong to the same faith that receives forgiveness—because the gospel is total salvation or it is no gospel at all.

Some still tiptoe around like they owe the King rent. They treat maturity as a spiritual gym membership where they sweat out enough good works to qualify for blessings. It denies the unmerited favor of the gospel that supplies everything. It treats the cross like a down payment and your effort like the rest of the mortgage. Stop it. The Spirit who searches the deep things of God does not hand you a to-do list; He hands you the finished work and says, “Understand what has been freely given.” Faith is mental assent to God’s word, full stop. Emotions are not epistemology. Works are not grace. When you live by feelings or performance, you are being disobedient and irrational at the same time.

Look at the ring again. That signet is authority. The robe is righteousness. The sandals are the walk of a son who knows his Father is not keeping score. The fatted calf is already on the spit, and the Father is not waiting for you to earn the barbecue sauce. He is running toward you with arms wide, robe flapping, ring ready, because the gospel was predestined for your glory. Paul says the wisdom of God is hidden in a mystery, but God revealed it to us by His Spirit. The world’s wisest philosophers could not dream this up. Human wisdom never gets you there because its limits are bound by observation. Our measure are the promises of God, not empiricism. Only the Spirit who knows the mind of God can shout the good news into your heart: you are not a servant eating pig slop. You are the son.

This is where faith to move mountains becomes everyday reality, not a special-occasion trick. The same faith that receives healing receives prosperity, receives authority, receives joy that the world cannot manufacture. By faith you save yourself from double mindedness. By faith reality obeys you because the Sovereign God who upholds all things has placed His word in your mouth. You do not scrape together faith by human effort; you assent to what is already true. The promises are not waiting for your perfection—they are waiting for your confession. You are the promises of God. Test yourself: are you walking in your new identity? Do you approach the throne like a nervous waiter or like a prince who knows the King delights to give the kingdom? The answer is not in your feelings; it is faith in your confession.

Heaven throws better parties than any pig-pen after-party ever could: the Father is not keeping score. And if He is keeping score it is keeping score on the righteous score sheet given to you through Jesus.  He is popping the champagne while you are still rehearsing your apology speech. Maturity looks like you receiving the ring, the robe, the sandals, and then throwing your head back and laughing with the joy that only sons know. You belong at this table.

Some will read this and feel a twitch of resistance—old religious programming whispering that you must earn the seat. That is the servant mentality trying to sneak back in through the side door. Kick it out. God’s Word is our theology, our doxology, and our apologetic. It attacks the central weakness of every defective view: the lie that man supplies God. We do not. He supplies us. The same unstoppable power that created the world out of nothing now creates fresh confidence in your heart on the occasion of His word, separate from anything you feel, observe or achieve. That is occasionalism at work in the life of faith—God directly causing the knowledge and the assent, every time.

So head held high, son. The Father is already running. The robe is draped. The ring is on. The banquet is served. Stop acting like you are still mucking out the pig pen when the banquet hall is calling your name. The Spirit has searched the deep things and handed you the menu: everything is yours in Christ. Understand what God has freely given you. Receive it. Confess it. Live it. The party is for you, and the Father is grinning wider than the table because His son is finally home—head held high, heart full, future exploding with glory.

This is maturity. This is the gospel. This is you.

The First Importance Of The Gospel

Some folks out there still treat 1 Corinthians 1:18 and 2:2 like a pair of spiritual brass knuckles, swinging them at anyone who dares point out that a lopsided “cross-centered” slogan has been twisted into an excuse for unbelief and disobedience. They read Paul’s words about the message of the cross being foolishness to the perishing and decide that any critique of a so-called cross-centered gospel must mean the critic is perishing too. They quote Paul’s resolve to know nothing among the Corinthians except Jesus Christ and him crucified, then act as if that single phrase cancels out the rest of the apostolic deposit. It doesn’t. It never did. The cross is glorious, but when the faithless use the doorway of the gospel to bludgeon gospel into a blood heap, they have become Satan’s little helpers.

Scripture never hands us a minimalist gospel; that’s the devil’s job. God’s revelation is the sole starting point for knowledge, and that revelation is a seamless, non-contradictory system. Paul did not preach a bare fact of crucifixion and then stop. The faithless love a bisected gospel because it reduces the one thing they can’t do, faith. They can’t believe Jesus and they will do all they can to make sure you follow them in their perversions. Paul preached the whole counsel that centers on Christ crucified precisely because that message, understood in its full biblical context, is “the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor 1:24). To rip the phrase out of that context and wave it like a stop sign against systematic theology, apologetics, sovereign election, miraculous gifts, or the present authority of the risen Christ is not faithfulness; it is the very anti-intellectual distortion the apostle confronted. The same Paul who said he knew nothing but Christ and him crucified went on to write thirteen chapters of dense doctrine, ethics, and correction to those same Corinthians. He reasoned, disputed, and taught the entire worldview that flows from the cross and resurrection. Anything less is not the gospel Paul preached; it is a counterfeit that leaves people sick, defeated, and emotionally broken while boasting that “this is the power of the cross.” That is not power. That is unbelief dressed up in Calvary language.

Vincent Cheung nailed this exact abuse years ago, and his words still cut through the fog better than most modern pulpits ever will. In “The Proof of the Spirit” (December 26, 2008) he wrote:

“The entire chapter of 1 Corinthians 2 has been distorted by many anti-intellectual commentators. For example, Paul says in verse 2, ‘For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.’ … The statement … refers to the gospel’s contrast against non-Christian thinking, and not an anti-intellectual strategy of evangelism.”

He said it again in “Remember Jesus Christ” (November 16, 2009):

 “Many people, especially those with an anti-intellectual bias, interpret this to mean that Paul did not preach an entire body of biblical doctrines, and that he was not interested in theology or in intellectual arguments, but that he only preached the ‘gospel.’ … such usage misrepresents what the New Testament means by ‘gospel.’ … although he uses ‘Jesus Christ and him crucified’ as an expression that embraced all that he preached to the Corinthians … this is only a representation (not even a summary) of what he preached, when what he preached was doctrinally much more extensive than the bare expression can convey in itself.”

And in “Theology of the Throne” (November 23, 2025) he drove the point home with surgical precision:

“If the cross becomes the sole reference point, Christianity risks degenerating into perpetual guilt and weakness, as if believers must linger forever at the site of sacrifice without grasping the triumph that followed. … We are not standing at the foot of the cross as if history had stopped there, nor are we waiting outside the empty tomb as if resurrection were the end. … A theology of the throne guards against distortions that arise from an incomplete focus.”

The same abuse shows up when people grab 1 Corinthians 15 and twist Paul’s phrase “of first importance” into another excuse to camp out at the doorway instead of walking through it. Paul opens that chapter by saying, “Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you… For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor 15:1, 3-4). The atonement and the resurrection are indeed first in importance—the doorway, the entrance, the non-negotiable foundation that gets you inside the house of God’s. But the doorway is not the dining room. The doorway is not where you sit down at the table and feast with the King. You do not build your whole life in the foyer, staring at the hinges while the banquet hall echoes with joy and power and promises kept. Paul goes on in that same chapter to thunder about the bodily resurrection, the defeat of death, the sovereignty of Christ, and the certainty that “God may be all in all” (15:28). He is not handing us a slogan to linger at Calvary or the empty tomb forever; he is flinging wide the door so we can enter the gospel, which includes the present throne life, Spirit baptism, healing by faith, mountains moved, and every promise made good in Christ.

The Lord’s Supper itself proves the point with blunt apostolic logic. Jesus commanded, “Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19; 1 Cor 11:24-25). If we were meant to stay perpetually cross-centered, locked in endless sin consciousness and weakness at the foot of the cross, then commanding a repeated supper that looks back while we press forward would make zero sense. The table presupposes we have already walked through the doorway. It calls us to remember the price paid so we can enjoy the victory won. It is a feast of triumph, not a funeral dirge. To treat the cross or the resurrection as the entire meal is to turn the Lord’s Supper into a self-flogging session that the apostle never authorized. That is not biblical piety; that is a unbelief that robs the gospel of its forward momentum and leaves believers spiritually malnourished in the foyer while the King waits at the head of the table.

Vincent Cheung saw this coming and warned against it with the same clarity he brought to the cross-centered slogan. The full gospel is never a truncated one; it is the doorway that opens onto the throne room. Anything that stops short of that full-orbed revelation—election, resurrection power today, miracle gifts, sovereign lordship over every thought and every sickness—is not protecting the gospel; it is shrinking it into something the faithless can do by human effort.

If you find yourself reaching for 1 Corinthians 2:2 or 15:3-4 every time someone says the atonement and resurrection are the entrance, not the whole house, stop. You are not defending the gospel; you are defending a half-gospel that leaves people sick, broke, and powerless while boasting that “this is the power of the cross and empty tomb.” And when they die before their time, their blood is stained on your hands. The real cross and resurrection say, “By His stripes you were healed” (1 Pet 2:24) and “All things are possible for the one who believes” (Mark 9:23). They fling open the door to the throne where we boldly approach and ask and receive. Anything that stops short of that is not the power of God; it is the power of unbelief sugar-coated with spiritual-sounding phrases.

The throne is where the story ends, not the cross or the tomb. Stop lingering at the doorway like it is the finish line. Get up, believe the full revelation, walk through, and sit down at the table with the King. That is where Jesus is. And that is the only way the cross and resurrection stay anything but empty in your life.

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.

Keeping Your Love For Jesus White Hot

Jesus had this against the church in Ephesus: they had walked away from God as their first love. He approved their hatred for the evil deeds and false doctrines committed by others, but in their testing, exposing, and hatred( all things Jesus himself endorsed) they had stopped doing the most important positive action, which is loving God. It’s a sobering reminder, isn’t it? You can be doctrinally sharp, spotting false teachers like a hawk spots a mouse, yet if your heart grows cold toward the One who first loved you, you’re making a fatal error. Revelation 2:4 puts it bluntly: “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.” Jesus doesn’t mince words here. He calls them to repent and return to the works they did at the beginning, or risk having their lampstand removed. That’s church-speak for “lights out,” and I will move on to those who will love Me.

The question revolves around how Jesus wanted them to correct their behavior to receive and give God’s love. It does involve some speculation, but not much, to extrapolate from the book of Ephesians and the book of Acts the specific things God told the Ephesian church. Ephesus was an important hub for the early church because Paul stayed and taught in a public school for two years. This would make it a hub of educated Christians. Thus, it makes sense for Jesus in Revelation to say they were good at doctrine and good at exposing false teachers. But Paul did more than just educate them. He had his usual miracle ministry of healing, casting out demons, and leading people to be baptized in the Spirit. In addition to all that, Acts 19:11-12 says that God performed “special” or “extraordinary” miracles through the Apostle Paul in Ephesus. These miracles were so unusual that handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched Paul’s skin were carried to the sick, resulting in healings and the departure of evil spirits. Think about it—miracles so potent they worked via second-hand contact. That’s not your average Sunday service; that’s Jesus blasting his followers in the power of the Spirit to tear down the gates of hell and expand His Father’s kingdom

Even before I start to conclude, some readers should already pick up where this is going. In the book to Ephesus, Paul quickly flies by doctrines of the atonement, resurrection, predestination, and election, likely because they were already well educated in these things. But there are two important highlights in this letter. One is in chapter 3 where Paul focuses on how, through the Spirit and knowing God’s love, the inner man is strengthened. Paul did not say it was hours of education that did this, but the Spirit and receiving how much God loves you that makes your inner man strong. Obviously, you need right teaching to know about God’s love, but the focus is not broadly about Christian teaching, but the power of the Spirit to help you believe how much God loves you. This is interesting because Jesus’ accusation against them is about them not loving God as they ought, when Paul is making a special plea to them to strengthen their inner man by receiving God’s love for them. Ephesians 3:16-19 spells it out: “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 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.”

This is the first part of what it means for the Ephesians to love God. They will love God when they are properly receiving how much God loves them, in the power of the Holy Spirit. The focus is not how much they love God, but how much God loves them. The conclusion Paul gives for a person strengthened by the Spirit with God’s love is that they ask God to give them things, and God gives them exceedingly, abundantly, beyond all they think or ask. Thus, Paul’s test of orthodoxy for a person who is properly receiving God’s love is someone who is praying for God to give them stuff, and God is going overboard in supplying their request. Think of all the baskets left over from the feeding of the 5,000 and 4,000. If you want to know that you haven’t stopped loving God, then the proof is that you ask and receive big from God because the Spirit has made your inner man strong by knowing how much God loves you. It’s almost comical how straightforward this is—God loves you so much He wants to spoil you rotten with answers to prayer. Not because you’re earning it, but because His love is that extravagant. If your prayer life is drier than a desert, it might be time to check if you’re really soaking in His love or if you have it backwards and are focused on giving to God. The point is about His love to you, not your love to Him. The way you love God more, is receiving how much He loves you.

The second interesting focus in Paul’s letter was about putting on God’s armor and weapons and being strengthened in God’s power. Paul ends the letter by saying, “Finally my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.” To say “finally” indicates something Paul felt was important or even the number one reason why he might have written the letter to them. It was not about more studying or education but about raw, explosive “power.” Remember, Paul’s time with the Ephesians was a time with great miracle power and the baptism of the Spirit. In fact, in Acts 19, the whole section starts off with Paul walking into Ephesus, finding believers, and the very first thing he says is, “Have you received the Spirit?” The first thing he asks is not about Jesus Christ, but about the baptism of the Spirit for power. Think about that carefully. I dare say even most Pentecostals do not show this level of importance on the Baptism of the Spirit as Paul was showing here. Acts 19:5-6 records: “On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.”

Paul helps them receive the Spirit for power, and they pray in tongues and prophesy. Thus, the Ephesians, with their personal experience with Paul, understand when he says “the Spirit” or “pray in the Spirit,” it is referring to spiritual power, miracles, and praying in tongues. I do not have time to go over all the aspects of Ephesians 6, but I will draw your attention to two things. One is the command to put on God’s power and walk in His might. Paul uses three different words about power and strength regarding God. The command is to put on God’s power and strength and wield it as your own. You do not have the option to walk around like a hot-mess weakling, because it is a command to walk in God’s almighty power. Paul did extraordinary miracles when he was with the Ephesians, and so when he talks about walking in God’s power, it means to have so much power that a handkerchief you had in your pocket gets passed around and heals people. Ephesians 6:10-11 urges: “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”

And lastly, the sword of the Spirit is directly connected to “always praying and praying in the Spirit.” Again, the Ephesians in their personal experience with Paul knew of praying in the Spirit as praying in tongues. Thus, to properly take up the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit cannot be done correctly without praying in tongues. By praying in tongues, you are better at taking up the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit to attack the devil and the kingdom of darkness, which Paul says is our real battle, not the things of the flesh. Ephesians 6:18 adds: “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” It’s like spiritual cardio—keeps your heart pumping with divine energy. Without it, you’re swinging a dull blade in a fight that demands sharpness.

It is also noteworthy, since our topic is about loving God and not forsaking our love for Him, that Jude says in verses 20-21: “But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.” Praying in the Holy Spirit—aka praying in tongues—keeps yourselves in the love of God. You keep yourself in God’s love by praying in tongues. This is why reprobates cannot overcome Jesus’ rebuke to return to loving Him first, because they cannot pray in tongues. Because they cannot believe Jesus to be filled in the Spirit, they cannot pray in tongues. Because they do not pray in tongues, they do not keep themselves in God’s love. It’s a vicious cycle of unbelief, and frankly, it’s tragic. But for those who embrace it, it’s like stoking a fire that never goes out—white hot, passionate, and powerful. How important is it to you to keep yourself in God’s love. If it is then love yourself and pray in tongues. If you do not pray in tongues it is a sign that God does not like you, or a sign you do not like God, because staying in His love is unimportant to you.

Do not stop loving Jesus. You do this by being filled with the Spirit, who will help you know and believe how much God loves you. You improve loving Jesus more, not by focusing on loving Jesus, but by focusing on how much He loves you. The proof you are doing this correctly is by asking for stuff and God giving you more wealth and health than you asked for. You love Jesus not by walking in lowly human weakness, but by obeying His command to walk in His power and strength, to walk in healing the sick, casting out demons and to walk with your head held high. Lastly, you protect your love for God from growing cold by praying in tongues. It’s not rocket science, but it is supernatural; and because the supernatural can only be done by faith, it excludes most people. And let’s be honest, in a world full of faithless perverts, keeping that love white hot, will keep you in God’s love and it will be the spark that sets the world on fire for Him. So, dive in—receive His love, wield His power, and watch as your heart stays ablaze.

You Are A Child Of The Devil And An Enemy

Ques: “How do new covenant Christians understand and apply psalms 139:21“

Ans:

2 Timothy 4:14, Paul says, “Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds.”

Acts 5:5-6 “You have not lied to men but to God.” 5 And as he heard these words, Ananias fell down and breathed his las\

Acts 13: 9-11, “Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, “You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord?  Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.” Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand.”

Paul cursing Elymas (Acts 13:9-11), Peter’s confrontation with Ananias (Acts 5:5-6), and Paul’s prayer about Alexander (2 Timothy 4:14)—illustrate that the early church didn’t shy away from invoking divine judgment against those who blasphemed the Spirit or hindered the ministry of the Word. Jesus’ own words in Mark 3:29 about the unforgivable sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit reinforce this. These aren’t personal vendettas; they’re responses to direct attacks on God’s kingdom and mission. This shows us the imprecatory Psalms also apply to the church after the resurrection of Jesus and Him baptizing us with power.

The context is not about personal pet-peeves or personal hurts. When it comes to believers we are called to love and forgive each other as we have been forgiven in Jesus Christ. We are commanded to be long-suffering. We’re commanded to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44) and forgive as Christ forgave us (Colossians 3:13).

However, the bible, even in the New Testament has a special place for those harming the church, and those directly hindering the ministry of the word and hindering or opposing the power of the Holy Spirit. In fact, Jesus goes out of His way to say those who blaspheme the Spirit will never be forgiven. If God will not forgive them, then I do not forgive either. Who am I to resist God? This would even have some application to governments, but because most Christians lose their minds over the subject I will reframe from this topic. I will only make one quick point. In chapter 4 the disciples ask for God to empower them to fight back at the Jewish government, who were trying to persecute them, by bold preaching, healing and various miracles. God approved of their request. One such miracle was an earthquake that broke prison doors. It damaged government property. The church ought to call on God to act against opposition to the gospel.

There are other ways to apply this, but I wanted to keep it short and on the applicable issue. Paul caused physical harm to a person hindering the gospel and called him cruel names. The Holy Spirit was the power that blinded the man, but Paul is the one who pointed the gun at the person and commanded the blindness, not God. Peter, by the Spirit, killed two people, in church. Paul prays, saying God will repay the coppersmith the harm he caused him in ministry.

Remember the Psalm you quoted? David loves God. Psalm 139 is a deeply personal psalm where David marvels at God’s omniscience, omnipresence, and intimate care for him. Verse 21 arises in this context—David’s zeal for God leads him to despise those who despise the Lord. Then says these wicked people mis-use God’s name. In essence, David hates them, because they hate the God who David admires so much. It is fake love if you are not enraged at someone who hates and targets the object of your love. Imagine a parent who shows no concern when a person hits and abuses their child? You must have the same outrage over people who hate the God, you say you love so much.

In short: Psalm 139:21 calls us to love God so fiercely that we hate what opposes Him. The New Testament examples teach us to channel this anger by prayer and through the Spirit’s power, not our own hands. We forgive personal wrongs but stand firm against assaults on God’s kingdom. Because most do not have power or faith to get their prayers answered, they are left with two bad options. Just do nothing and make kindness your official religion, or become a political zealot. Neither is the way commanded in the book of Acts. When all you have is human power, your options are limited to carnal outcomes. But if you have faith and the Spirit, a whole new world of possibilities opens.

[Grok xAi, aided in some summaries]