Headship in the Home

(Written by Joseph Chambers)
No man can be successful as the head of his home until he first makes Jesus Christ the true head of his own life. Jesus Christ gave us the perfect example by carefully maintaining His Father’s headship in His every word and deed. Remember, He said, “For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak” (St. John 12:49-50). This is our perfect example for every man and woman. Our homes and our churches are suffering calamity because our culture has utterly forsaken true authority from God that is only known by submission.

The Holy Ghost is the author of all Scripture. When the Spirit spoke on this subject, He began by speaking to men because they hold the first line in obedience after Christ. “But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God” (I Corinthians 11:3).

When a Godly man genuinely humbles himself to walk and live in the sweet lordship of Jesus Christ, that man becomes a dynamo for the gospel. There are few women that will not submit to such a good man. His love for his woman will be so beautiful and tender that every crisis of authority will be quickly settled. Listen to the Spirit of God, “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it” (Ephesians 5:25). What an example to challenge a man to be His best. To love our wives like Jesus Christ loved His church is a powerful directive.

The world’s fallen culture is perfectly described in the Book of Revelation chapters two and three. The Spirit guided John in expressing what Jesus was saying to the church, “Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols” (Revelation 2:20). Our world is being quickly destroyed by the “Spirit of Jezebel.” There are several expressions of this unclean spirit gripping the world and the church.
- Effeminate (wimpy) men that act, dress, or live without masculine characteristics.

- Masculine women that have forsaken the beautiful life of feminine purity.

- A society that has no sense of the God-ordained differences between male and female.

- A younger generation that is so confused about their physical person and role that they are like lost sheep.

- A world that is literally moving toward a value stripped culture that hates the name of Jesus Christ and the authority of the Bible.

Does God punish the sinner?

(Written by Tassos Kioulachoglou)
Many have created in their minds - with the help of religion - the image of an angry God, a God that is ready to throw fire from heaven and burn the sinners, punishing them for their sins. Similarly others, if something bad happens in the world, in their lives or in the life of somebody they know, attribute this to God with such words as: “the judgment of God fell on him”, “he did something bad and God punishes him”, “this evil is the punishment of God for their sins”. In other words they more or less attribute to God the evil that is happening in this world with the justification that this allegedly is the judgment, the punishment of God for the sin that is in the world. Is however this view right? Τhe answer is NO! I believe that in the age of grace in which we live, God does not condemn, punish the sinners. Be careful, I’m not saying that it is right for somebody to sin. I’m not saying that sin is not actually sin. I’m not saying that we do not need to confess our sins to the Lord and repent. What I’m saying is that the Lord does not condemn, does not punish people for sin, at least not in the age of grace we are living in. This of course does not mean that whoever sins will not also receive the respective awful results. The wages, the results, of sin is death (Romans 6:23) says the Word! However, these awful results are NOT the judgment, the punishment of God in the life of the sinner but the results, the fruit, of his own acts, of his sin. For example, let’s assume that somebody is an alcoholic, he does not get rid of his addiction, he is diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver and dies. Is this the judgment, the punishment of God in his life? Did God cause this, punishing him for his doings? NO! He caused this to himself. Presenting this as punishment, as judgment of God for the acts of this man and attributing his death to God has no relation whatsoever to reality. God never did this and never wanted this!

But let us see the above with an example from the Bible. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the perfect representation of the Father. He is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15). Whoever saw Him saw the Father (John 14:9) and He only did what He saw the Father doing (John 5:19). What therefore we will see Jesus doing, God would be doing the same today too. Let’s go then to John 8. There we see the Pharisees bringing to Jesus a woman that was caught during the act of adultery and asking Him what they should do to this woman. According to the law of Moses, this woman should have been stoned to death for her act. Her sin was punishable by death, no exceptions. But see here what answer Jesus gave to them:

John 8:7, 9-11
“So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first." Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, "Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?" She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more."

“Free Grace,” The Devil’s Joke

(Written by Joseph R. Chambers)
Free grace does not exist, but the free gift of grace does. Ask the Father if grace was free and He will answer, “It wasn’t for me!” Ask the Son what the price of grace was and His answer will be, “It cost Me My life!” The modern church has stripped the cross of Jesus Christ of all of its pain and suffering for those who will embrace it. The people that embrace this new compromise are as spiritually dead as the theologians that preach it.

A cross that costs nothing means nothing. The faith that shook the world during church history was always a faith that costs the followers everything — the deeper the embrace and the greater the sacrifice, the greater the impact. Find any adherent that is a part of this “free grace” mentality and you will find a spineless and soft religion. Nothing but a religious club of giddy worldliness can result from such cheap grace.

Grace costs the Father His only Son! What a price that Heaven had to pay to purchase man back to the family of God! Sin did not just separate man from God; it defiled and robbed Him of his very God-like character. Sin is as vile as the serpent that was its first mouthpiece. The Jewel of Heaven was the Father’s Only Son. He alone speaks the perfect revelations. When God created light, the Son of God was the light bearer. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Our God paid the ultimate price for grace through the gift of His Son.

The price of grace for the Son of God was beyond words. To leave His Father sitting on His majestic throne must have filled this great Heavenly temple with utter sadness. The Son could not come to earth as the Prince He was, but He humbled Himself to be stripped of His divine robe. From birth to death, someone was constantly seeking His destruction.