God’s words are hard to figure out, aren’t they? If He would only speak clearly, we could understand what He means. Some people say that He doesn’t want us to understand Scripture, so that’s why He makes it so difficult. Here are some examples of how hard He makes it for us. Let’s start at the beginning.

“In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).

I know that sounds as if Scripture says that evolution is wrong, but that just can’t be true. Darwin had a theory that everything evolved over millions of years. Or was it billions of years? Doesn’t matter; the proof is that finches have different-sized beaks. We know that somehow through the fantastical process of evolution, amoeba (I’m not sure where they came from) developed into fish with gills and fins. Some fish began the process of changing into land animals, and over time grew teeth, a digestive tract (very different from fish), and lost their scales. Those animals began changing, and some grew fur, some grew feathers, some grew hooves, some grew paws, while others grew fingers and toes. Each has a respiratory system, digestive system, and reproductive system specific to its kind.

Why wasn’t God specific when He described creation? His Word says it took six literal days with no evolution involved. Scripture even tells us exactly who the Creator was.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:1-3).

Jesus is “the Word.” The first chapter of Romans even makes it clear what happens when people reject God as the Creator.

“Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen” (Romans 1:21-25).

It goes on from there, describing some very perverted sexual acts. Evolution is taught in schools as fact rather than fiction, and we can see that Paul, writing by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, describes what’s happening today. Maybe God does speak clearly, but we don’t believe Him.

Let’s look at another example. The Garden of Eden. What a beautiful place that must have been. Birds chirping, flowers blooming, and the topmost of all of Creation, Adam. The only “problem” is God had a rule.

“And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:16).

What a cryptic message! Adam hadn’t been around very long, but now God warned of him dying. What could God possibly mean by “die”? Very cryptic. God seemed to have thought it wasn’t a good thing to die, so that should have been enough of a warning for Adam to stay away from that fruit.

Adam was lonely, so God gave him a blessing. Eve. Adam loved her. He did tell her not to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge, but she made a big mistake. She talked to Satan. Instead of believing God, she believed that liar. She told him that they weren’t to even touch the fruit or else they would die. It seems pretty clear to me what God said, but then I try not to question God even if I don’t fully understand. Right away, Satan became the authority, and God was made out to be the liar.

“And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:4-5).

Boy, oh boy, did she come to understand the difference between good and evil… God is good, and Satan is evil. By then, it was too late. She had died. Oh, not physically, but spiritually. She was separated from God. So, Adam joined her in death. Why would he do that? Because he loved her. He joined her in sin rather than be parted from her forever.

Eventually, humanity was saved from this curse. Jesus Christ, God incarnate, loved mankind enough to become sin in our place and shed His blood, thereby giving us the only way to live with Him forever. If only God had been clear in the beginning and told Adam not to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge. Wait a minute. Let me go back and read that again.

“And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:16).

Actually, God’s words are crystal clear. It’s Satan’s words that muddled the meaning.

Maybe that wasn’t a good example. God was clear about what He meant by disobedience and death. It’s just that Adam and Eve didn’t believe Him by faith. So, let’s look at another example of God not being at all clear about what He means.

After Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden, they began to have children. Lots of children. That can happen when you live hundreds and hundreds of years. Those children had lots of children, and so on. Because of Adam’s sin, people began to turn away from God, and sin was rampant. Bad sin.

“And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose” (Genesis 6:1-2).

Somehow, through the ages, people had again stopped believing God. The Holy Spirit told the men who wrote Scripture what to say. God said that angels began mating with human women, but humans have corrupted the meaning to say Seth’s sons married Cain’s daughters, and that’s why God destroyed all of creation in a flood. God is depicted as mean for destroying people, but they weren’t fully human. Much of Scripture cannot be understood unless the truth of Genesis 6 is seen as the fallen angels mating with humans. All of creation was corrupted by their evil doing. The only way God could keep His creation from being utterly corrupted was to send judgment. Noah and his family were genetically pure and honored God. So, God told Noah what to do.

“And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch” (Genesis 6:13-14).

Why would this ark be necessary? Noah couldn’t really understand why God wanted this, but God clearly told him to build it. There was a river, but the ark was huge! It wouldn’t float on the river, but since God said to build an ark, Noah built an ark. The people all around saw the ark but saw it as foolishness. Did they think it was just a new style of architecture? Any of the people who were genetically pure could have entered the ark and been saved, but only Noah and his family believed God. Noah entered the ark along with his family and the animals which God had sent. Then it rained. God said it would, but only Noah had trusted God even though he couldn’t have understood at the time what rain was. Because he believed God and obeyed, people and animals got a new start.

Jesus said that at the end of time, it would be like the days of Noah. Have you studied “transhumanism” and genetic manipulation? Once again, this isn’t a good example of God not speaking clearly. Even though Noah couldn’t intellectually understand about rains and flood, he didn’t try to out-think God. Noah knew that when God said, “Build an ark,” it was time to start building. Because Noah was obedient, creation was saved. Maybe we should be more like Noah and believe what God says, not what man interprets.

There are many accounts in Scripture of men not totally understanding what God meant, but because they didn’t act by their own understanding, wonderful things resulted.

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report” (Hebrews 11:1-2).

God clearly told Abraham that he and Sarah (who was past child-bearing age) would have a child in their old age. Instead of trusting God, they acted on their own understanding, and Ishmael was born. But God meant Abraham and Sarah would have a son. Eventually, just as God clearly said, they did; Isaac was that son. And because of him, we have the nation of Israel, and Jesus Christ was born through his lineage.

Moses spoke to a burning bush and was told to lead the Children of Israel out of captivity. Did he know how that was to be accomplished? Not really. But he obeyed and reluctantly approached Pharaoh. Eventually, the Israelites were set free and headed to the land which God promised to Abraham. The point is, God does speak clearly. It’s people who confuse things when they try to put their own human understanding into play. Chapter 11 of the letter to the Hebrews is a roll call of people who believed God and acted in faith to accomplish great things.

Scripture also is filled with prophecy. Sometimes it’s hard to understand, but it’s always accurate. For instance, when God spoke through the prophet Isaiah and said a virgin would give birth, that was hard to understand. Actually, to my human understanding, it would be impossible. When the time was right, a young virgin named Mary became pregnant by the Holy Spirit, and Jesus was born. Jesus is fully God because He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and He is fully human because Mary was human. Why is that important?

When Eve had been confused by listening to Satan’s lies, she convinced Adam to eat the fruit. God had clearly told Adam not to eat it or else he would die. Eve was deceived, but Adam knew full well what he was doing when he ate the forbidden fruit. In that one act of disobedience, the entire creation fell. Adam’s blood was no longer untainted by sin. From that point on, sin was passed on genetically through the blood. All humans are descendants from Adam, so all human blood is corrupted.

When Gabriel told Mary she would bear a child, she didn’t understand how but was obedient. “Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:34-35).

The Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary, and a human became pregnant with God’s Son. Because Mary was willing to believe God, she gave birth to the Messiah… the Saviour of the world. All who believe in Him gain eternal life.

Jesus grew into manhood and began His ministry on earth. Twelve men were chosen to follow him and learn to spread the Gospel to the whole world. These men followed Him for three years and saw miracles, and heard His teachings. They should have been experts in the Gospel! So, at their final meal together, they should have understood when Jesus told them He would soon leave them. He was going to prepare a place for them.

“And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know” (John 14:4).

After three years, they should have understood exactly what the Lord meant. It was Thomas who spoke up and wanted to know what Jesus was talking about. They should have believed all they heard and saw, but they needed to have it spelled out clearly.

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).

Does that clear things up for you? Only faith in Jesus Christ will bring eternal life. Mormonism won’t bring salvation, Buddhism won’t save, Mohammed cannot save, works won’t save, baptism won’t save, no denomination can save. Only Jesus can give eternal life. He made that very clear. It’s people who are confused by Satan and his lies. Only Faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ will bring salvation. God made that very clear many times in Scripture.

God included prophecy in Scripture in order to let us know how close we are to the end of time. Today, many prophecies are being fulfilled, and it’s amazing to see God’s words being made clear.

Some ill-informed people would have us believe that Christians have replaced Israel in God’s eyes. Wrong. Yet another example of God speaking clearly and people misinterpreting His truth. God said Israel would be re-established as a nation in their God-given land, and they are. God says there will be seven years of tribulation prior to the end of time. He also says Christians will be Raptured prior to the Time of Jacob’s Trouble, the final seven years. The events of Revelation, beginning in chapter 6, are being put in place today. Jesus gave a detailed description of the events leading to the end. He began by warning against deception.

“And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you” (Matthew 24:4).

The only way to avoid deception is to believe what God clearly said, as recorded in Scriptures. Believe what He says, and don’t misinterpret them using human understanding.

The stage is being set and is almost ready for the Anti-Christ to place himself in leadership of the world. He will set himself above all gods; he will put an abomination in the Jewish temple (which will be rebuilt) and cause everyone to take his mark… the Mark of the Beast. It’s all being set in place now.

God clearly says that Christians will be called Home prior to His wrath. “And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:10).

Believe God, and you’ll find hope and peace in these troubling times.

Study God’s word because He does speak clearly. The problem is people don’t hear clearly.

God bless you all,

Nathele Graham

twotug@embarqmail.com

ron@straitandnarrowministry.com

PLEASE NOTE: Friends, I am having some troubles with my email. For some reason, my Inbox is not allowing any emails to come in. If you have written to me in the last few weeks and I haven’t responded, I apologize. Until I get this problem solved, please email me at nathele@embarqmail.com.

All original scripture is “theopneustos,” God-breathed.

If you’d like to be on my mailing list to receive the commentaries, just drop me an email and let me know.

“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God” (Romans 3:10-11).

What is righteousness? It describes someone who is innocent and without fault. It’s used to describe a person who thinks, feels, and acts wholly to conform to the will of God. Does that describe you? I’d like it to describe me, but I fall short. The only one who ever was fully righteous was Jesus Christ. Only through Him can we sinners be righteous before God.

I’m sure that, at times, you have angry thoughts toward other people. I know I’m guilty of unreasonable anger on occasion. That’s only human, right? Should we condone our own thoughts and actions by comparing ourselves to other humans? No. Jesus is our example. He was fully human and tempted in every way that we are tempted, but He never sinned. He was also fully God; His blood was pure in order to take our sin away. His righteousness is imparted to believers by faith in spite of our failures.

In Chapters 1 and 2 of the letter to Romans, the Apostle Paul makes a strong point that nobody is righteous enough to stand before God. All of creation points to the fact that God exists and has rules to live by. Because mankind needed guidance, God gave us that guidance.

Abraham was told to circumcise all males. That established a covenant between the Jewish people and God but isn’t a means of salvation any more than being baptized is a means of salvation. Many years later, God gave the Law to Moses, which established rituals and works that never could bring salvation. Does this mean the Jewish people were more righteous than Gentiles? It means they were entrusted with the Law, which ultimately was fulfilled by the Messiah, Jesus the Christ.

“What advantage then hath the Jew? Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God” (Romans 3:1-2).

The Jewish people were chosen by God for a very special purpose. He called them out of the pagan culture around them and gave them the Law, which wasn’t humanly possible to keep perfectly. It provided a long list of dos and don’ts and sacrifices. It was a guide, but even if a person was able to keep it perfectly, it was works-based, and works can never bring salvation. Keeping the Law was based upon rites and religion. The proper rituals had to be done in the proper way. These laws helped to separate the Jewish people from the rest of the world, but only faith in the coming Messiah could bring salvation.

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8).

Chapter 11 of the letter to the Hebrews gives a “roll call” of Old Testament believers who acted on faith and accomplished great things because of their faith, not their works. It was through the Jewish people that the Messiah would be born. And today, salvation is offered to anyone who will believe in the finished work of Christ on the cross.

The Law was a schoolmaster, and Christians need to study it to understand what God deems as sin. By human standards, most of us are pretty good people. We might gossip about a friend, but doesn’t everybody? We all get angry, but our anger is always justified, right? Instead of judging our actions by how other people act, Jesus is our standard. Some things we accept today as “normal” were punishable by death according to the Law. For instance, sexual encounters outside of a one man/one woman marriage was a capital offense. Exodus chapter 18 and Deuteronomy chapter 22 tell of sexual sin and the penalty.

“But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster” (Galatians 3:23-25).

God’s Law has never changed but was fulfilled by Jesus. By faith we are forgiven, but we aren’t to continue in sin.

The Law teaches that God values marriage. Jesus values marriage and attended a wedding. In the Gospel of John, we read that the scribes and Pharisees, men who pridefully kept the Law but who had no forgiveness, decided to use the Law to trap Jesus into condemning a woman.

“And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, they say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?” (John 8:3-5).

The Law did allow stoning in such a situation, but it also required that the man also be stoned. Where was he? These men only wanted Jesus to condemn the woman. Instead of condemnation, this woman found grace and mercy. Jesus showed love, compassion, and forgiveness. Jesus ignored her accusers, but they kept after Him to judge her.

“So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her” (John 8:7).

Right at that moment, the woman was probably the most thankful person on earth; her life had been spared. Jesus then stooped down and wrote on the ground, ignoring the accusations.

“And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst” (John 8:9).

Those who accused her were convicted of their own sins. When we act like the Pharisees, wanting to condemn someone, we need to look at our own unrighteousness. When we are praying for mercy and forgiveness from Jesus for our sin, we need to see how Jesus spoke to the woman. Did Jesus say her sin was acceptable and pat her on the back and say ‘Keep doing what you’re doing’? Absolutely not.

“When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers: hath no man condemned thee? She said No man, Lord, And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more” (John 8:10-11).

Jesus showed grace and mercy that day, but He didn’t tell that woman to go ahead and keep sinning. He told her she wasn’t condemned but to stop her prostitution.

“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” (Romans 6:1-2).

We’ve all been forgiven sins that are worthy of condemnation and death, but Jesus has forgiven us. Now we must go and sin no more.

It’s easy for us to sin. Like the forgiven prostitute, we have received grace and mercy from the Lord, but do we submit to Christ, the Master who has forgiven us, or do we submit to sin, which is of Satan?

“Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or obedience unto righteousness?” (Romans 6:16).

Our problem is that we don’t stop sinning. We cannot work to earn our salvation, and only a righteous person can stand before God without condemnation. The law was unable to impart righteousness.

“Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law” (Galatians 3:21).

If we can’t earn our salvation and the law can’t bring salvation, how can we ever hope for eternal life? Righteousness is only through faith in Jesus Christ.

Although salvation is a free gift, it isn’t a cheap gift. It cost Jesus everything. No ritual, no works, no law is able to do what Christ did. He stepped out of Glory and into this sin-infested world. He left the worship of angels and complete oneness with God the Father to enter His creation. He became human to save humans. He did this knowing full well that He would be rejected and crucified.

Why would He do such a thing? He did it because He loves you and me. What a wonderful blessing to know that the Creator of the universe loves us.

“But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all the upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus” (Romans 3:21-26).

“Propitiation” means appeasement. So faith in the shed blood of Christ is the appeasement for our sin. We all sin, and no human being can be good enough to enter Heaven. Only by faith in the blood of Christ – His death, burial, and resurrection – can we be justified and made righteous. Not because we are so righteous, but because He is righteous.

What is it you seek in life? Fame, fortune, and carnal pleasures? It’s not wrong to want comforts in life; however, be sure you don’t gain the whole world but lose your own soul.

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33).

Righteousness only comes through Jesus Christ. Once you’ve met Him, turn away from sin, and as Jesus told the prostitute, “…go, and sin no more” (John 8:11b).

We can’t earn our salvation, but we can thank Jesus for what He did for us by letting go of sin and drawing closer to Him.

“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2).

Our righteousness is not from our own perfection but only through Jesus. Let’s start now to conform to Him rather than the world.

God bless you all,

Nathele Graham

twotug@embarqmail.com

ron@straitandnarrowministry.com

PLEASE NOTE: Friends, I am having some trouble with my email. For some reason, my Inbox is not allowing any emails to come in. If you have written to me in the last few weeks and I haven’t responded, I apologize. Until I get this problem solved, please email me at nathele@embarqmail.com.

All original scripture is “theopneustos,” God-breathed.

If you’d like to be on my mailing list to receive the commentaries, just drop me an email and let me know.