Mayyim Hayyim

I learnt a bitter lesson about eternal salvation and the mindset of those who resist it versus those who embrace it.

I discovered, to my chagrin, that most of those who resist eternal salvation are very poor and helpless people

The rich find it easy to understand and embrace.

The poor do not have enough on their plates, and therefore, they are always looking outward for food and other means of sustenance.

They are programmed to beg for mercy, food, favours, clothes, shoes, drinks, school fees, house rent, and other basic necessities.

It is, therefore, quite hard for them to accept more responsibility or liabilities on the basis of forgiveness and love.

A cook's daughter got pregnant, and when he heard about it, he packed the daughter's bags out of his house and threw her on the street.

Not because he hated the child but because she had "wasted" all the financial investment he had made on her education, dashed his hopes of her finishing school and heading off to the university in a few years, made him a laughing stock among his friends who will believe he didn't have a firm hand in raising his children, embarrassed him in the church where he had a good standing and will be considered a man who cannot rule over his household, he also didn't want the younger sisters of this daughter to follow in her footsteps (He had six girls and a boy).

There were limited resources, and instead of thinking deeply about how she could help him alleviate his poverty, she brought in extra costs in terms of the money he would spend caring for the pregnant mother and child and the baby, fitting everybody into his three-bedroom flat while maintaining his motorcycle, and fulfilling his responsibilities to his parents and other relatives outside of his nuclear family.

His decision to throw her out had very little to do with "sin" and everything to do with poverty

After throwing out the daughter, she returned home a week later with her boyfriend and his family.

The young man was from a very well-to-do family of the Anglican persuasion.

They took responsibility for the 19-year-old girl and promised not only to see her through school but also to marry her formally

They came with several good cars, gifts in terms of food and money for the family and a cheerful disposition

They kept saying they didn't know their son was already having sex, but when the young lady turned up at their doorstep in tears and their son explained what happened to them, they took her in immediately and decided it was best they come to her family to inform them of her whereabouts and do the right thing.

Suddenly, the man's anger disappeared, and he embraced his "in-laws."

He gave them a list, and they didn't negotiate it.

They paid her bride price, and they did an elaborate wedding to which the man invited members of his church, his friends and family members and all his neighbours.

Suddenly, she was a good example to the young ones.

She didn't give herself to a miscreant or street urchin

She had enough sense to pick a responsible family to marry into

The church also didn't cry foul and suspend him or embarrass his family.

She indeed got pregnant outside of wedlock, but she did not become a liability to the community

Nobody bothered to focus on the sin of it.

If she had gotten pregnant by a poor man or a fellow teenager from another struggling family, it would have been a sin

She probably would have had an abortion without even mentioning it to the family.

He probably would have been too scared to tell his family what happened because they would have believed him to be irresponsible and reckless in getting a girl pregnant.

His education would most probably stop as they will insist he has to get a job to care for his pregnant girlfriend and baby.

It had nothing to do with sin.

It has everything to do with lack and poverty.

What is a sin to the poor and what is a sin to the rich are, therefore, not the same thing

The law was supposed to be a leveller.

An instrument of justice that does not care about societal status or social standing

From America to Africa, Antarctica to Europe, Asia to Australia, ladies and gentlemen, the law bows to nobility, social standing, societal status, power and money.

Sin was seriously redefined several times, even in the Bible

David got away with murder; we all claimed it was mercy that he obtained

The law was not meant to know anything called mercy

Achan stole, and not only he but his entire family, including innocent children, were stoned to death

Did the law permit innocent children and family members to be killed for the sin of one man?

Achan was a poor young man of lowly birth, and his family was of no consequence in Israel.

King Saul took an oath before God that any soldier who ate before the battle with the Philistines shall die.

Jonathan saw honey and ate it, then he went on to fight and delivered a great victory for Israel.

At the end of the war, it was determined that somebody had done something wrong against God.

Questions were asked, and it was discovered that it was Jonathan who ate honey against his father's oath.

If it were somebody else, he would surely be killed.

Saul said "I will kill you", the people said "You can't kill him" and Saul agreed!

Wow!

Saul agreed!

Saul chased David about like a mad dog and killed an entire city of Priests because he felt they aided and abetted. David agreed not to kill his own son, who actually committed a "Sin", and was caught by the Urim and Thunnim of the priests.

Wonderful!

I attended a private university in Nigeria, a Christian private university

I saw firsthand how the children of notable men and women would do whatever they wanted and get away with it, while the children of the poor would be expelled for doing the same thing!

One boy slapped a girl and was expelled when I was in 100 level

A boy slapped a BSF leader right in my presence and in front of other witnesses; it was written in the school handbook that this offence is punishable by expulsion.

The rules of the school dictate that this is done immediately, and then a date will be set for the young man who committed this offence to come to school and face the Student Disciplinary Committee

As a BSF leader on campus, we escalated the case.

When we got to the chaplain, he said to us, "He who has no sin should cast the first stone."

When we got the Vice Chancellor, he said, "I know the boy; what he did was wrong, and for this, I am sorry, but we will have to end the matter there."

I was shocked to the marrow.

It was not mercy that spoke; in fact, justice was weeping that day in the middle of the field.

The sin of those who got expelled was poverty

The defence of the young man who got away with it was his parent's money

Money is a defence!

A girl from a rich family goes off to the university, gets pregnant and brings herself and her pregnancy home at the end of the semester.

The parents didn't even ask her who was responsible for the pregnancy

They arranged for her to defer her admission for a year, and off she goes to America to deliver their grandchild.

A party was thrown, and she had love till she returned home to complete her studies.

When she was going back to school, her mother got a governess and a nanny for the baby.

She returned to school and completed her degree in good time.

In her final year, she met a guy who chased her, dated her and married her without any complaints about her being a mother of one.

A girl from a poor family gets pregnant and starts jumping from abortion table to abortion table.

She is the one who knows who can do an abortion with pain and the one who can do it without pain.

She was sleeping around in the first place for money, not for love and getting pregnant for money was not part of the deal.

She has no home to go to if she makes any mistake, but she has a home to go to if she manages to complete her degree without any scandal, even though her body knows how much pain she is hiding under her makeup!

Poverty is a sin that commits sins and encourages more sins

Wealth is a vindication from all wrongdoings under the law

This is why salvation was extended to every one of us for free

The Bible called it the free gift of salvation

Salvation is the true leveller that cannot be bought or bribed

Everything salvation brings, it gives to every one of us for free

The baptism of the Holy Spirit is free

The man who offered to pay money for it in the Bible was punished

Walking in miracles, signs, and wonders is free

Jesus said freely have we received; therefore, we must give freely

Righteousness was given to us freely so that nobody can boast that they paid a dime for it

Heaven was given to us by Jesus freely; he said in my father's house, there are many mansions; I go to prepare a place for you that where I am, you can be there also

This is the same heaven that many people claim they are working hard to make!

The same heaven Jesus declared is for those who are poor in Spirit

He didn't even say those who are a little bit rich in spirit or who are above average in spirit

He said those who are poor in spirit are blessed, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:3)

Those claiming to be fighting hard and working hard to make heaven now are actually very rich in spiritual performance; they want to earn by their own merit what was freely given to someone like me

This has been the undoing of many believers, the secret behind their struggles in life and their walk with the Holy Spirit

They simply can't accept the fact that grace has made all of us mates.

They want to create an imaginary status that will make it seem as if they are better than others and ought to be accorded a special status before God.

The only way they can do this is by holding on to the law

Naturally, the law is a hard taskmaster and rewards hypocrites with the title of its ambassador

This was how the Pharisees gained prominence in Israel

Nicodemus knew nothing, and yet he was a highly regarded scholar of note among the Pharisees

Jesus said "How can you be a teacher of Israel and not understand these things" (John 3:10)

He was prominent in law and celebrated for it, but he didn't even know how to access the Kingdom of God

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, don't let anyone put you in the bondage of works and performance

You are free to live your life as led by the Holy Spirit

Poverty is the sin in this world, so walk in the supernatural and live a blessed life that the world cannot find reproach in not accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour is the sin that can deny you eternal life, and you have already scaled this hurdle

The key to dominion is living this supernatural life on your terms.

Once you can do this, all things will come to you effortlessly, and you will rule and reign as instructed in Revelations 5.

They received the law and killed the messiah with it.

You have received the Holy Spirit; what will you do with him?

Your answer to this determines your tomorrow on this earth; remember, you are already a citizen of Zion.

-GSW-