Paul was an apostle of Jesus Christ through whom the message of the gospel of Christ was revealed, not only to the Jews, but also to the Gentiles. And through faith in Jesus Christ both Jew and Gentile were made into one people, by God. Therefore, if we belong to Christ, by genuine faith in him, we are Abraham’s seed, and fellow heirs according to the promise. So, we Gentiles by physical birth, through faith in Christ, now belong to Israel.
[John 8:18-19,38-47; Romans 9:4-8; Romans 11:17-25; Galatians 3:16,26-29; Galatians 4:22-31; Ephesians 2:14-18; Ephesians 3:6; 1 John 2:22]
Ephesians 3:14-19 ESV
“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
Paul, as a minister of the gospel of our salvation, suffered much for his testimony for Jesus Christ and for his gospel, and also because he exposed the lies of the enemy for what they were, and he called out false apostles and prophets and teachers for who they were and for the false messages they were proclaiming. And this is the reason he bowed his knees before the Father and he prayed for the spiritual strengthening of these Ephesian believers in Jesus Christ, that they might be filled with the fullness of God.
Now, I am no apostle, and I am no prophet, but the Lord has called me to be a teacher of his word, and to be a minister of his gospel message, and to call out false teachers and their false teachings and to expose them so that the body of Christ will not be led astray from their pure devotion to Christ to follow after the lies of Satan. And one of the biggest ways in which these lies are being communicated today is via misimpressions (indirect lies). And these appear occasionally on social media. I read this one today:
“We all have our own free will. We can make decisions, do what we want, go where we want to go. It’s easy to think that our life is based on what we’re choosing. And to a point, that’s true, but that’s not the only factor. God has a conditional will. These are things He does based on whether or not we make good choices. We determine the course our life will take. But God also has a sovereign will. These are things He’s going to do regardless of our decisions. God has already planned ahead of time a purpose for you to fulfill. It says in Ephesians, “You were chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything according to His will.” Long before you got here, God laid out the plan and purpose for your life. His sovereign will is unstoppable. There’s nothing you can do or not do to keep His sovereign will from coming to pass.” Joel Osteen June 9, 2023 https://www.facebook.com/JoelOsteen
So, what is this saying, in reality? Yes, we do have a free will to choose God or to not choose God, to choose to obey him or not (see Romans 1:18-32). But those choices all have consequences, which Joel does not mention. He also talks as though everyone is chosen of God, and that is not true. But it is true that none of us can thwart God’s plans and purposes. But what is also true is that we can’t just live however we want and that God is still going to hold up his end that he promised to those who love and obey him.
Now Joel doesn’t mention what God’s sovereign will and purpose for our lives is, but his suggestion is that it will be accomplished in our lives regardless of how we live. This is a twisting of the Scriptures. For what he is suggesting here, which is part of this “misimpression,” is that we, as the chosen of God, can go our own way, do our own thing, live however we want, but God will still save us from our sins, and we will still have eternal life in him, and heaven will still be our destiny, regardless of what we do. Please see this!
But in a twisted sort of way what he is saying is the truth, for yes, we can live however we want, and God’s will and purpose will still be accomplished. Yet, God’s will and purpose for us requires that we live holy lives, separate from the world, because we, as his followers, are to be being conformed to the likeness of Jesus Christ. And God’s will and purpose requires that we live righteous and godly lives in obedience to his commands (New Covenant) and that we no longer walk in sin, or heaven is not our eternal destiny.
And here is another twist. Yes, we cannot do anything to keep God’s sovereign will from coming to pass. But the misimpression here is that we can live however we want and God’s promises to those who claim to believe in him will still come to pass. And so many people are teaching this today, that a mere profession of faith in Jesus is enough to secure heaven and salvation from sin for us, but regardless of how we live. And that is a lie. So what clever Joel Osteen leaves out is the consequences of our actions.
But that isn’t the only thing he leaves out. He doesn’t explain God’s will and purposes for our lives, or who the chosen of God actually are, or the consequences of wrong choices if we should decide to not obey the Lord and to not do his will and to not serve his purposes for our lives. For all of God’s promises have conditions. But just like most misimpressions, this is willful, I believe, and the purpose is to deceive in very clever ways which are difficult to discern and to prove, actually. So, this is where we need to stick to the Scriptures and not listen to those who are misrepresenting the Scriptures.
[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:10; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Pet 1:17-21; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
Pray, Pray, Pray
An Original Work / September 6, 2012
Based off Various Scriptures
Pray that eyes may enlightened be,
So they may know Christ.
Pray that they may Him better know,
Strengthened by His pow’r.
Pray that they may grasp
How wide and long
And high and deep
Is Christ’s love.
Pray that they may be filled
To the fullness of God’s love.
Pray with thanksgiving.
Pray for an open door for me,
So I may share Christ.
Pray when the gospel is proclaimed –
Shared with clarity.
Pray words are given me so
I declare the gospel fearlessly.
I pray for you to be active
Sharing your faith, too.
Pray continually.
We oft not know for what to pray,
So we ask for help.
The Spirit intercedes for us –
Words cannot express.
Just keep on praying for the saints
With all kinds of requests to God.
Pray they may have faith to
Please their God in ev’ry way.
Pray with joyfulness.
https://vimeo.com/119259373
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