EPIGNOSIS OF GRACE
Saturday, November 22, 2025

IN THE BEGINNING

GENESIS 1:1
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (KJV)

We said that Genesis to Malachi is the testimony of Christ. The message is about Christ. This is how Jesus taught from the book of Moses and the prophets.

Luke 24:27,
“And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself”.

The Bible as we see is a book that deals with the plan of God in Christ. In other words, it’s what God wanted to achieve in Christ. Therefore, we have to pay closer attention to the writings of the writers of the Bible because whatever they sought to write must reflect God’s plan in Christ.

Whichever mode they used in communicating God’s agenda, being language, words and expressions cannot be overemphasized because when we do, the import and intent of their writing would be missed. God’s plan was and is salvation by faith in Christ Jesus. With this view in mind, we can ascertain the facts of the scriptures. We shall begin by looking at the writings of Moses and how he communicated the message of Christ.

What did Moses mean when he said, in the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth? Was he talking about creation? Even though he mentions creation, he was not teaching creation but rather used the creation account to teach salvation in Christ.

What did Moses mean by heaven and earth? As we have explained before in our studies, we have said that words don’t have general application in scripture and therefore it is always wise to read and explain words within their respective context and usage.

In verses 6- 10 of Genesis chapter 1, Moses mentioned the heaven and earth in his writings and it does not mean the same as mentioned in Genesis 1:1. Moses used heaven and earth figuratively. Though it is true that God created the heaven and the earth, Moses’ statement in Genesis 1:1 was not about creation but God’s plan of salvation.

Moses was communicating the activities of God and man at the beginning. Heaven speaks of the actions, words and activities of God and the earth speak of the actions and activities of man. We can say that heaven is divinity at work and earth is humanity at work by the influence of divinity.

Moses therefore will be bringing out what God did to bring out the new creation. Heaven will be the control room of God on earth. Heaven and earth will be the union of divinity and humanity. The union of God and man. The activities on the earth or on humanity will be God’s influence or God’s action on the earth to bring out the new creation which is after Christ.

Moses was therefore not referring to literal heaven and literal earth. He was introducing God’s activities on humanity. The phrase “God created the heaven and the earth” is the summary of God’s salvation plan. In our next lesson, we shall see what God did on humanity to form the new creation.

CONFESSION: I am a new creation of God in Christ.

Additional Studies:
Genesis 1: 1-5,
Isaiah 65:17,
2Corinthians 5:17

EPIGNOSIS OF GRACE
Friday, November 21, 2025

THE SCRIPTURES

LUKE 24:25-27
Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. (KJV)

The most abused or wrongly interpreted or taught areas of the bible are the scriptures or the Old Testament books. This is because of the styles of the authors and the audience at that time. Jesus is the message of the scriptures. This means that the right interpretation or use of the scriptures is to reveal Christ.

John 5:39,
“Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me”.

Time and time again we keep emphasizing what Jesus did for his disciples when he expounded unto them in all the scriptures. This means Jesus set an example for us on how to use the scriptures. Hence, we shall begin to explore from Genesis to see how Jesus revealed Himself in the Old Testament books of the Bible which is the scriptures.

Remember Jesus’ words when he said to his audience that if they had believed Moses, they would have believed in him also because Moses wrote of him. Moses wrote of Christ using figures of speech, symbols, typologies and other modes of communication.

Though you will not read the word “JESUS CHRIST” in Moses’ writings, his writings were about Christ in a concealed form called mystery. The question that some still ask is how did Moses or others write about Jesus because they can’t seem to find Jesus personified in the scriptures, that’s Genesis to Malachi.

This kind of problem is what has resonated with the essence of proper bible teaching in the body of Christ. On the face of it, one of the contributing factors to why many are preaching all sorts of teachings and practising every sort of magic in the name of Jesus is because, more often than not, they miss what Jesus did to the scriptures at those forty days he spent with his disciples. Jesus revealed Himself in the scriptures to his disciples.

For this course, we shall have a feel for how Jesus handled the scriptures which eventually opened the eyes of his disciples to understand the scriptures. The teachings of the apostles also reflect how Jesus taught the scriptures. Since the disciples of Jesus were the people Jesus spent 40 days after his resurrection to teach, our interpretation of the scriptures will come from how they interpreted the Old Testament books.

Any interpretation of the Old Testament books which does not agree or is not based on the teachings in the epistles is an error. The teachings of Jesus and the apostles set the framework or standard by which we see through the scriptures.

CONFESSION: I interpret the scriptures through the lens of Christ and the teachings in the epistles.

Additional Studies
John 5:46-47,
Luke 24:44-47,
John 3:14

EPIGNOSIS OF GRACE
Thursday, November 20, 2025

THE WORKS OF THE LAW

GALATIANS 2:16
Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. (KJV)

We have explained the use of the term the law of Moses in the context of the writings of Moses. We also taught that the fulfilment of the law and the prophets is about the fulfilment of the promise, prophecies and things concerning Christ in the writings of Moses and the prophets. The apostles taught things concerning Christ from the law and the prophets.

In Acts 28:23,
“And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening”. (KJV).

The law of Moses was in reference to the writings of Moses. One evidence of maturity in the use of scriptures is the ability to interpret bible words in the right context. The Old Testament, the old covenant, and the law of Moses are all words used in different contexts to mean different things.

Most times, what we refer to as the law of Moses are the works of the law. Theologians say that Moses gave about 613 laws for the Israelites to obey. We have laws on holy days, dressing, agriculture, worship, family life, governance and many others.

These laws were the result of the hardness of the heart of the Jews. It was to expose the state of their heart and make sin imputable. Though the law was holy, none could fully obey the law, no one was able to stand justified before God by the works of the law.

The works of the law could not make anyone righteous. Nobody was able to meet the righteous requirement of the law. Jesus exposed the hypocrisy of the Pharisees in their selective observance of the laws of Moses. Anybody who is trying to please God or get righteous by the works of the law is on a journey of no success.

From our opening text, a man can only get justified by faith in Christ. Righteousness and justification have always been by faith in Christ. Moses gave the Jews the law because of their unbelief in the message of the scriptures. Abraham was justified by faith, not by the works of the law. The man who has believed the gospel is justified. He is therefore not required to do the works of the law. The works of the law and faith in Christ don’t work together.

In Romans 7, it is considered adultery to be in Christ and still try to get justified by the works of the law. Apostle Paul said in

Romans 3:27-28,
“Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. 28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. (KJV).

Moses gave the law of dead works. Jesus is the grace of God. Receiving Christ is receiving God’s grace or righteousness without works which is what is called the blessing of Abraham.

CONFESSION: I am justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law.

Additional Studies:
Romans 3:19-31,
Galatians 3:5,
Romans 7:1-4

EPIGNOSIS OF GRACE
Wednesday, November 19, 2025

THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS

MATTHEW 5:17-18
Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. (KJV)

In our studies so far, we have understood the use of the terms the Old Testament and Moses. We said that Moses can mean the person Moses or his writings. The law of Moses does not always mean the 613 laws Moses gave the Israelites. The law of Moses can also mean the writings of Moses.

We also said that some of the laws Moses gave the Israelites were a a mode of communicating the message of Christ to them. This means that the use of the law of Moses must always be understood in the right context.

Another use of words is the phrase “the law and the prophets”. Most times when we say that we are not under the law of Moses, which is in reference to the old covenant of fault finding and condemnation or the various laws Moses gave the Israelites, people quote our opening text saying that Jesus did nor come to abolish the law but to fulfil it.

This they imply Jesus came to affirm its obedience. Therefore, the laws of Moses such as the laws concerning the sabbath and dressing must be obeyed because Jesus did not come to abolish them but to fulfil them.

In Luke 24:44,
“And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me”. (KJV)

The law of Moses was referring to the writings of Moses. In our opening text, we have the phrase the law or the prophets. The same phrase was used in

Acts 13:15,
“And after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on”. (KJV).

The usage of the law and the prophet will be the writings of Moses and the writings of the prophets. In their writings, we have the promise, prophecies, typologies, symbols and various modes of communication about Christ's sufferings and glorifications. Therefore, the saying of Jesus that he did not come to abolish the law or the prophets but to fulfil them will be referring to the writings of Moses and the prophets about himself.

The fulfilment of the law and the prophets will be about his death and resurrection. All that Jesus went through from his death and resurrection is the fulfilment of the law and the prophets.

On the cross, Jesus said in

John 19:30,
“When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost”. (KJV).

The phrase, it is finished means it is fulfilled. This means that what the law and the prophets said has come to pass. Jesus then fulfilled everything the prophets wrote about him without setting anything aside. The law and the prophets have been fulfilled.

Jesus did not come to abolish what Moses and the prophets wrote about him but to bring them to pass.

CONFESSION: It is finished. Jesus has fulfilled the law and the prophets.

Additional Studies:
Matthew 5:17-19,
John 1:45,
Acts 28:23-24

EPIGNOSIS OF GRACE
Tuesday, November 18, 2025

MOSES

LUKE 24:25-27
Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: 26 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? 27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. (KJV)

We said that the Old Testament books and its message are still relevant. The message of the prophets in the Old Testament books were the sufferings of Christ and the glory that will follow which is about the death and resurrection of Christ. The prophets used different modes of communication to express the message of Christ. It is the same message of the death and the resurrection of Christ and the realities of the man in Christ which was preached by the apostles in the epistles.

We said that Jesus Christ and the apostles preached from the Old Testament books. Every mature believer should be able to preach Christ and the realities of the believer from the Old Testament books. However, what we are no more under is the old covenant or Old Testament in the context of the relationship with God based on the efforts of man, the laws of Moses and the blood of animals.

Therefore, in studying the Old Testament, we must look for the message which is Christ and not to make doctrine from the various modes of communication used to communicate the message of Christ.

Another context of the use of words we must understand is the use of the name “Moses”. We sometimes hear some believers saying that we are not to follow Moses, we are to follow Christ or Moses is dead and other phrases that try to make Moses obsolete.

From our opening text, Jesus taught his disciples from Moses. in this context, Moses was used to represent his writings. Jesus was referring to the book of Genesis to Deuteronomy. As we said, these books are the foundation for the Christian doctrine. These books contain the message of Christ. Jesus therefore rightly divided, excavated or mined the message of Himself from these books.

The teachings of the apostles were also from how Jesus taught from these books. To say that we are not to follow Moses will mean we are not to follow the teachings of Christ.

Jesus also said in

John 5:46-47,
“For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. 47 But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words? (KJV).

This means that Moses wrote of Jesus. Also, in

Luke 24:44,
“And he said unto them, these are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. (KJV)

Here, we can also see that the phrase law of Moses is in reference to the message of Christ communicated through the writings of Moses. This means that the law of Moses in this context will mean the writings of Moses. Therefore, to say that we are not under the law of Moses must be explained in the right context. We have Moses as a person, Moses in reference to his writings and the law of Moses in the context of his writing.

CONFESSION: I teach Christ from the writings of Moses.

Additional Studies:
Luke 24:44-46,
Luke 16:27-31,
John 1:45,

THE LAND OF PROMISE

DEUTERONOMY 1:34-35
And the Lord heard the voice of your words, and was wroth, and sware, saying, Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see that good land, which I sware to give unto your fathers, (KJV)

We taught that the preaching of the gospel of Christ for the salvation of man, which is the offering of eternal life to man through the resurrection of Christ, has been the plan of God before man was created. It is not a new age message because of the sin of man. It is not a New Testament message. We explained how Moses began preaching this message to his audience, who were the Israelites from Egypt. Moses used a different mode of communication. Popular in his days, items, events, and experiences are narrated to communicate a message.

Moses used the creation story, historical events, their experiences and various miraculous acts in the wilderness to communicate the gospel of Christ. Therefore, in reading Moses’ writings, we must look beyond the stories and events and look for the message of Christ as explained by Jesus and the apostles. Jesus and the apostles explained the writings of Moses and their explanations must be our explanations. Jesus taught the gospel from the writings of Moses to His disciples (Luke 24:25-27). Moses was not writing a history of events but was preaching the gospel using the history of events.

We also taught that the various miraculous acts Moses demonstrated in the wilderness were for the Israelites to believe in God’s faithfulness to fulfill His promise in Christ. Their journey was from Egypt to the promised land. It would therefore be expected of them to believe in God’s faithfulness to take them to the promised land. The arrival at the promised land would be the result of faith. Despite the preaching of God’s faithfulness by Moses in their journey using various miraculous acts, they did not believe.

The promised land would therefore be symbolic of salvation in Christ.

Hebrews 3:8-11,
“Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest”.

They were destroyed because of unbelief in God’s faithfulness.

It was only two people who believed in the message preached by Moses. They were Joshua and Caleb,

Numbers 32:11-12,
“Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me: Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua the son of Nun: for they have wholly followed the Lord”.

Moses, therefore, used their journey to preach the gospel and the result of faith and unbelief in the gospel. Faith in God’s promise led Joshua and Caleb to reach the promised land, and unbelief resulted in judgment of destruction. This is the same gospel preached by Jesus and the apostles. Leaving Egypt was not salvation but rather the beginning of Moses' preaching of the gospel of God’s faithfulness to His promise.

CONFESSION: I have believed in God’s faithfulness; I am saved from destruction.

Additional Studies:
Genesis 50:24,
Numbers 14:20-24,
Numbers 26:65,

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SERMONS IN THE WILDERNESS

ACTS 7:38
This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us: (KJV)

The plan of God to offer man eternal life would be through preaching for man to hear and receive. It was not to be imposed on man. Man was to express his will either to accept or reject this life. We said that this plan was a promise. This means eternal life was preached as a promise before it became available. Before the promise was fulfilled by the resurrection of Christ, nobody had eternal life. Those who believed in the promise were given eternal life in a promissory note. We have been going through the preaching notes of Moses. We said that the writings of Moses were about Christ.

John 5:46-47,
“For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?”.

We have taught that Moses did not write as a scientist, archeologist, historian, or politician. Moses wrote as a preacher of the gospel of Christ. This means, in reading the writings of Moses, you must have the mindset of looking for the gospel being communicated instead of looking for scientific or archeological facts. The historic and archeological facts were narrated to communicate the message of the gospel of Christ.

From our opening text, the Israelites who were called out from Egypt were called the church. Throughout their journey in the wilderness, Moses preached the gospel of the promise of God to them. He used past events, their experiences then and various miraculous acts to preach the gospel of God’s promise of life in Christ. The response expected from the hearing of the gospel is faith or seeing God as faithful in fulfilling His promise. Faithfulness of God is faith. Before the promise was fulfilled, men were required to believe God as faithful to fulfill His promise. Men expressed their belief in God’s faithfulness by what they did.

In Hebrews 11, the phrase “By faith” means that the activities they carried out were done because of the promise of the resurrection of Christ. They did what they did because they saw God as faithful to fulfill His promise of life in Christ. Faith in the promise of God was called faith in the Old Testament. Moses in the wilderness also preached God’s faithfulness to fulfill His promise of life in Christ.

He preached this message through the various miraculous acts. The miraculous provision of water from the rock, the miraculous provision of manna from the sky, the crossing of the Red Sea, the bronze serpent on the tree, and the fall of the wall of Jericho were all the preaching of God’s faithfulness to fulfill His promise.

Their responses all the time were unbelief through the various grumblings and murmurings. Moses used those miraculous provisions and deliverance to teach them God’s faithfulness to take them to the promised land, but they were always expressing unbelief by their acts and confessions. The miraculous acts were Moses’ sermons in demonstration to the church in the wilderness. They were not just a demonstration of power but a mode of preaching the gospel of Christ to them.

CONFESSION: I believe God has fulfilled His promise of life in Christ Jesus.

Additional Studies:
Acts 7:32-46,
1Corinthians 10:1-11,
Hebrews 3:14-18

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WAS JUDAS ISCARIOT SAVED?

EPHESIANS 1:13
In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise. (KJV)

The salvation of man from sin is the main reason Jesus was born,

Matthew 1:21,
“And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins”.

However, there has been an unending debate about how a person is saved and the security of the salvation a person receives. In recent times, one of the major disagreements going on is "a believer can go to hell" and the major point of reference is Judas Iscariot. The disagreement is Judas Iscariot got saved but because he betrayed Jesus and did not show signs of remorse or repentance and died, he went to hell. One of the things you should know is, that the Bible doesn't have YES or NO answers, rather the bible has explanations, this means that the Bible is a book of explanations.

Therefore, to be able to answer the above question, we have to find out when is a man saved. Was salvation possible when Jesus was physically on earth? Or salvation became possible after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ? We also need to find out whether Judas Iscariot was saved.

In our opening text, Paul the apostle who is the writer told us that, when a man hears the gospel of salvation and believes, that man is sealed with the Holy Spirit. That is a man receives the Spirit of God when he hears the gospel of Christ and believes, meaning the Holy Spirit is the mark of salvation. Paul again in his letter to the church in Rome said this, Romans 8:9, “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his”. Paul here told us that if any man has not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his, that is what guarantees that a man belongs to Christ or is saved, is the Spirit of God. Now, what we need to find out is, was Judas there when the Holy Spirit filled the apostles? Did Judas have the Holy Spirit? To answer these questions, let us hear Jesus himself,

John 17:12,
“While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled”.

Here Jesus called him the "son of perdition" and Jesus said he is lost. And again,

Luke 22:3,
“Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve".

Here we were told that Satan entered Judas so if he has the Holy Spirit, Satan cannot enter him, so clearly, Judas Iscariot didn’t have the Spirit of God and he was not saved. The disciples of Jesus got saved after his resurrection when he opened their understanding to understand the scriptures, Luke 24:36-48, John 20:19-23. That was when they believed in the resurrection according to the scriptures. Judas Iscariot was not part of them. Judas, therefore, was not saved when he died.

A person is not saved because he walked with Jesus and did miracles. A person is saved because he has believed in the resurrection of Christ as a promise before the resurrection or as a reality.

CONFESSION: I have the Spirit of God; therefore, I am saved.

Additional Studies:
Romans 10:8-10,
1Corinthians 15:1-5,
John 17:12

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EPIGNOSIS OF GRACE
Thursday, June 26, 2025

TREE OF KNOWLEDGE, GOOD AND EVIL

GENESIS 2:9
And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. (KJV)

We have been teaching the verbiage of Moses in his communication. Moses used a lot of figures of speech in his writings, which means the writings of Moses need to be paid attention to very seriously. That also means that the scriptures were communicated in dark sayings which need interpretation. The writer of Hebrew gave us a lead to this,

Hebrews 1:1-3,
“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds. Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high”.

This means in Jesus we have clarity of what the prophets communicated to the Father. Now Jesus in communication with his disciples, taught with this understanding.

We said in previous studies, that life is not found in a tree, the same way there is no tree in the scriptures or history which is called the "tree of good, knowledge and evil. Meaning evil is not found in a tree but in a person. The question is who is this person where evil can be found? Let's listen to Jesus.

Matthew 15:16-20,
“And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding? Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man”.

Clearly, in this text, Jesus let us know that not what goes in the mouth defiles a man, but what comes out of a man, that to say if Adam in the garden ate something, it will not defile him, therefore it is not that Adam ate something. Again, Jesus in the above text made it clear that evil and good are found in a man (heart).

Therefore, when God asked Adam not to eat from the tree of knowledge good and evil, meant that Adam should not follow his own way but to believe in Christ who is the tree of life. Therefore, we can safely say that the sin of Adam is not that he (Adam) ate something, but a rejection of Christ who was the tree of life in the garden. To take everything Moses wrote literally will cause you to be in error. Moses’ verbiage must be understood as explained by Jesus and the apostle.

CONFESSION: I believed in Christ Jesus, therefore, I have eaten the Tree of Life.

Additional Studies
Matthew 15:16-20,
Mathew 7:11,
Matthew 7 18:22

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THE WORD OF GOD

JOHN 1:1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (KJV)

The Bible is the authority and standard of all that we believe as Christians. Every practice and experience in the Christian faith must be judged by the bible. It is therefore, very important for the believer in Christ to understand what the bible is, why was the bible written, how to read the bible and where was the bible written. To understand the bible, there are many things to consider. The Bible is the word of God. The word "word" means the mind, thought, idea, or logic behind the message.

The books of the Bible were written documents that give account of God through the ages. Thus, the writers of the books of the Bible had a focus in their intent and writing of the word of God. The word of God is made known and communicated in words. These words are a medium through which intentions, thoughts, and mindsets are expressed. This means, to understand the bible, you must understand the language of the bible, the audience of a particular book, the geography and history of the people of the time, and their culture and traditions. This means that the written documents called the bible cannot be read and understood in isolation. There are things to consider before proper understanding can be achieved.

In our opening text, the writer made us understand that, the word was from the beginning and that the word was God, this means that we cannot separate God from his word or his word from him, they are the same. Peter speaking in his epistle to believers around the world at the time spoke concerning

1 Peter 1:23,
“Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever”.

Peter here said, the word of God is incorruptible and is everlasting, so clearly, he was talking about a person, meaning God's word is himself. David also recorded this fact in the book of

Psalms 119:89,
“For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven”.

That means the study of the Bible is the study of the person of God (Jesus). Jesus speaking in the book of John 5 made us know that the bible is about him and that he is the word of God. Meaning Jesus, is the plan, the idea, the thought, the mindset, the purpose, the focus of God. Jesus is the word means he is the plan, idea, thought and mindset of God. You cannot know God without knowing Jesus.

John 5:39-40,
“Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life”.

The word of God is a person, and Jesus is the word, so we can safely say that, the Bible is Christocentric, meaning the bible is Christ-centered. Christ Jesus is the mind, thought, idea, or logic of God. He is the word made flesh. This means the mind, thought, idea or logic of God took the form of a man. This means that knowing the scriptures is knowing God. Any knowledge of God outside the documented scriptures is false. This means anytime we take the bible to read, we must be sure that we are learning about Christ.

CONFESSION: I believe the word of God and I know that the word is the person of Jesus.

Additional Studies:
John 5:39,40,
Luke 24 :25-27,44-46,
John 1:45

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PRAYER AND BIBLE STUDIES

ACTS 2:42
And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. (KJV)

We have taught that every believer is called into ministry. There is no special call to the work of ministry apart from the call that came with salvation. Any vision or prophecy concerning the call to ministry only confirms the call every believer has. If you are waiting to dream or hear another voice from God before doing ministry, you may wait for years without any voice. God has already spoken. He spoke the day you came into Christ.

We also said that doing ministry does not necessarily opening your own church, stopping secular work, or calling yourself an evangelist and moving from one church to another church. Ministry is preaching, teaching to win souls and building them to grow in the spirit where they also begin to do what you did. This is the whole work of ministry. However, these things can be done in different forms and methods.

Every believer must begin growing and serving in the local church. You must be discipled or raised by a pastor to grow. There are things that we must get involved in to grow. These things are for our personal development and responsibility. These things are signs that we are growing in the work of ministry and responsibility can be handed to us.

Prayer and bible studies are the activities for our growth. Prayer and bible study is for every believer. Every believer is expected to pray and study the bible. There is no spiritual gift called the gift of prayer or bible study. There is no special call to ministry as the ministry of prayer or intercession. In the ministry offices, there are no prayer warriors or intercessors. We are all expected to pray and study our bible. Every believer must take up the responsibility to pray.

Studying the Bible, praying, giving, evangelism etc. are all common responsibilities of every believer. They are not for some selected few in the local church. In the opening text, all the believers were involved in learning from the apostles and in prayer. People say that evangelism is the work of the evangelist. That is not accurate. The evangelist equips us to do the work of evangelism through teaching and practice. The pastor equips us to pray through teaching and practice.

Having a special group in the church called prayer warriors or evangelism groups makes believers think that prayer and evangelism are special calls for some believers. And since they are not called into that ministry they won’t pray or win souls as expected. As pastors, we are to get all believers involved in prayer, bible study and evangelism without making it appear they are for a special group of believers.

CONFESSION: I am involved in prayer, bible studies, evangelism and every duty expected of me as I grow in Christ.

Additional Studies:
Luke 18:1,
Matthew 28:19-20,
2Timothy 2:15

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The work of ministry is winning souls, raising disciples and helping believers to grow. It is not always starting your own Church or calling yourself an Apostle or General Overseer.