LOST IN THE CHURCH: [BEING LOST IN CHURCH] Part Five Measuring Holiness There has been a great deception among many people who assume that holiness is measured by comparing a person’s good deeds with their bad deeds. When the scale of good deeds appears to outweigh the bad, they conclude that the person is holy. In this way, many have continued to measure Christianity by looking at what they have done and what they have not done. This kind of holiness focuses heavily on measuring sin according to the “Don’ts” found in Scripture. And this has become the interpretation of religion throughout history. It has continued to damage the Church and has contributed to leading many people to hell. Holiness or sin is not merely an action—not simply what a person does or does not do—but a condition of the heart. God is deeply concerned with the condition of our hearts. Actions are only the results of what is already inside the heart. Many have measured holiness by good deeds, yet the Lord does not look at things in that way. He looks at the spirit or intention behind every action, examining the manner and motive with which it was done. Therefore, the Lord is not simply looking for people who perform good deeds on earth, but for people who do what is right! There is a great difference between doing a good thing and doing the right thing. Sometimes the right thing may appear to be evil in the eyes of people. When the Lord commanded Israel to destroy the nations of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, as stated in Deuteronomy 20:17, could the world have called Him good? Yet we know without doubt that the Lord was doing what was right, because He does not make mistakes, and His works are always without error. Understand that sin is a condition of the heart, and there is One who examines the deepest intentions of the heart. A person can perform good deeds with an evil motive, while another can perform something that appears bad with a good intention. Therefore, it is very easy for a person to be deceived if they place their confidence in goodness or in their works. Indeed, evil kills; however, goodness can be responsible for deceiving and destroying even more people in the world than evil itself. One of Satan’s most powerful weapons for bringing destruction into the world comes through what appears to be good. There is hardly a greater deception Satan can use than coming to us dressed as an angel of light. 2 Corinthians 11:14 Because sin is a condition of the heart, a person can be a murderer even if they have never physically killed anyone. Likewise, someone can be an adulterer before God even if they have never slept with a woman. For example, even if a lemon tree refuses to produce fruit, perhaps in an attempt to hide its nature, it cannot change and become a mango tree. We cannot remove sin from within ourselves by keeping the Law or by trying to be good. We must be transformed in our hearts as we hold firmly to the Cross. Otherwise, even if a person never commits an outward act of sin, that does not necessarily mean they are without guilt. Remember: even if a lemon tree does not produce fruit, that does not mean it will be counted as an orange tree. Circumcision of the Heart Essentially, there is no action a person can perform that can change their inner nature. Things such as religion and the Law can change the outward appearance, but they cannot transform the inner person. Christianity does not begin from the outside and move inward; rather, it begins from within and moves outward. Therefore, through religion, the Law, happiness, habits, the desire for praise, and so forth, it is entirely possible for a person to do good outwardly while not actually being good in their heart. That is why the Lord used circumcision as an illustration of removing the outward covering of hypocrisy, so that what is inside would correspond with what is outside. This was the foundation of the circumcision commanded by the Lord in the house of Israel, when He instructed them to circumcise the foreskin of their bodies. And was this not a prophecy concerning the circumcision of the heart in our present age, when we look to Christ, as it is written in Philippians 3:3: > “For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and put no confidence in the flesh.” If you are in church and have not been born again, understand that your nature has not been transformed. Therefore, even if you pretend to do good, fast extensively, keep all the Laws, observe all the ancient festivals, new moons, or Sabbaths, understand that hell awaits you! And these are words of truth. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. Amen! #ToBeContinued... Mwl. Ernest Nyalula #LostInTheChurch #CircumcisionOfTheHeart #TrueHoliness #BornAgain #HeartTransformation #ChristAlone #GraceAndTruth #Christianity #FaithInChrist #TheGospel #JesusChrist #KingdomOfGod #LordBook #SpiritualGrowth #TruthOfTheGospel🙏

LOST IN THE CHURCH [GETTING LOST IN CHURCH] Part Four Keeping the Law No one will enter Heaven by keeping the Law. For no one can keep all the Law without stumbling even in one point. And whenever you break one law, you have broken all of it. Essentially, the Law was not given to the world to save people. It was given to reveal the sin that exists in the hearts of human beings and then show them that humanity needs a Savior—Jesus Christ! So, it is strange that Jesus has come, yet people have refused to go to Him and instead have gone back to the Law. If the Law could save, then what was the purpose of Jesus dying on the cross? It would have been enough simply to send the Law into the world, and it would have accomplished everything. My brothers and sisters, sin is not merely an action; sin is a condition of the heart. For example, when someone steals, people immediately judge the action. But they may fail to understand that the action has only revealed the sin that already existed within that person's heart. Therefore, before God, that person is a thief even before the actual act of stealing, because God looks at the heart. For instance, if you give a person a law that says, “Do not steal,” and that law succeeds in preventing him from stealing 100% of the time, you have only succeeded in controlling his body from expressing sin outwardly. You have not removed the sin from his heart. Therefore, at its very best, the Law cannot make a person's heart pure. And Scripture clearly says that no one will see God without a pure heart. Matthew 5:8 Therefore, anyone who approaches the Law in order to become holy has been seriously deceived. I compare such a person to someone who goes to a traditional healer to have a demon removed. What the healer may do is not remove the demon but merely suppress it—controlling it so that it does not cause trouble while it remains inside. Jesus alone is able to transform you when you come to Him. He can change your very nature. My brothers and sisters, the Lord did not come into the world looking for good people, perfect people, people who never sin, or people who are capable of perfectly keeping the Law. He came looking for people who recognize their need for His help, who will believe in Him, and above all, who will love Him. Keeping the Law Under the New Covenant Whenever people hear about keeping the Law, the first thing that often comes to mind is the Old Covenant and certain churches that emphasize the Law. Because they consider themselves churches of salvation, they may think this message does not apply to them. But from the perspective of “Getting Lost in Church,” this message may actually apply even more to spiritual churches than to others. There is a great danger in reading the New Covenant through the mindset of the Old Covenant. Someone may think that perhaps praying for a long time, fasting frequently, or performing many religious activities will make God accept them. Someone may think that because they attend church every day, do not commit adultery, do not lie, give generously to God, help the needy, serve in church, sing in the choir, preach, or have a good relationship with the pastor, they will automatically be allowed into Heaven on the last day. Many people in church have been deceived by these things. They even look down on others because they believe they themselves are safe. Now, I am not saying that doing these things is wrong or unnecessary. Not at all. Rather, a person should do these things after they have already encountered the Lord. Keeping the Law without encountering the Lord or being born again is an insult to the cross of Calvary. If someone could enter Heaven simply by doing all these things, then why did Jesus have to die on the cross? So, salvation is not primarily about what we have done, but about what the Lord Jesus has already done on the cross. Outside the cross of Jesus, there is no true love, no holiness, no righteousness, no relationship with God, no Christianity, and no salvation. Therefore, when we look at the cross with grateful hearts and connect it to everything we do, we enter into His love and develop a relationship with Him. And we know that the life of every relationship is communication. Without communication, there can be no genuine love or meaningful relationship. Have you ever had a relationship with someone you love who was far away from you, while the two of you stopped communicating? Even in English, we say: “The more the communication, the stronger the relationship—and vice versa.” This means that the degree to which a person hears from God and communicates with Him determines the closeness of that person's relationship with God. For the Word says: “My sheep hear my voice.” John 10:27 #ToBeContinued... Sir. Ernest Nyalula LostInTheChurch #JesusChrist #GraceNotWorks #TheCrossOfChrist #NewCovenant #SalvationByGrace #BornAgain #ChristianTruth #BiblicalTruth #KnowTheWord #FaithInChrist #KingdomOfGod #LordBook #Christianity #SpiritualGrowth

LOST IN THE CHURCH Part Three CIVILIZATION / RESPECTABILITY One of the greatest things religion could achieve at its highest level is to try to make a person extremely good and civilized. However, being civilized is not a fruit of the Spirit, it is not holiness, and it is not Christianity. A civilized person may be someone who believes that he can calm God's anger through good behavior and by keeping religious laws. The origin of this kind of civilization is the attempt to please God by conforming to the spirit of this world—by obeying human expectations more than the will of God. Many people assume that being loved and accepted by the world is the same as being loved by God. But Jesus Himself was not "civilized" according to the standards people often use today. How could He be, when He called Herod, the ruler of His country, "that fox"? (Luke 13:32) Where have you ever seen a "civilized" person make a whip of cords, drive people out of the Temple, overturn the tables and chairs of the merchants, and scatter their money? (John 2:15) Tell me, where have you ever seen a civilized person behave like that? It amazes me that today civilization and politeness are sometimes mistaken for Christianity. THE GRACE OF GOD > "For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." John 1:17 Jesus did not come to establish salvation through the Mosaic Law. And if the Law given through Moses could not accomplish God's ultimate purpose of restoring humanity to Him, then holiness cannot be achieved merely by keeping laws. Rather, it is through the grace of God, freely given to the person who looks to the Lord. However, I am not saying that there is no law under grace. What I mean is that the law operating within grace is the law of love. Love must come first, and obedience follows. To put law before love is slavery. And the Lord clearly said that God's children are free. (Matthew 17:26) Therefore, we do not obey God's commandments in order to create love within ourselves. We obey because we have already begun to love God. Remember what the Word says in John 14:15: > "If ye love me, keep my commandments." Notice the order of the words. The order matters. Love comes first. He loved us first. (1 John 4:19) Therefore, when we obey His commandments, His laws, or His truth, it should be because His love has taken root in our hearts. Otherwise, we risk falling into the very spirit of deception and error that has existed throughout history—the spirit of religion. If you read 1 Corinthians 13, beginning from verse 1 onward, you will see the Apostle Paul explaining how empty it is for a person to perform even something apparently spiritual or divine when there is no love in his heart. SALVATION: GRACE AND WORKS Salvation is by grace, and it is freely given because of the finished work of the Cross of Jesus Christ. Therefore, any attempt to offer our own achievements as payment for acceptance before God is essentially an insult to the Cross, because it suggests that Christ's sacrifice was insufficient. And the Lord will not accept anyone who attempts to approach Him on such a basis. GRACE VS. WORKS Today, a large number of believers are lost in the Church because they have failed to properly distinguish between these two concepts: works and grace. The way of life often passes through truths that appear to be in tension. I do not mean grace alone while completely rejecting obedience. Neither do I mean works alone while ignoring grace. It is not everything done by God, nor is it everything done by us. Some have gone too far into the direction of legalistic works. Others, after thinking they have understood grace, have been pushed to the opposite extreme and become lost in a distorted understanding of grace. If you approach Scripture with a distorted "grace-only" mindset, you can become lost in that extreme. Likewise, if you approach Scripture entirely through the lens of works, you can also become lost. The Bible clearly says: > "Faith without works is dead." Yet it is also a great deception to perform works merely so that you can be considered a person of faith. Yes, the Lord carried the Cross for us, and that is grace. But have you ever asked yourself why He also told us to take up our own cross and follow Him? (Luke 9:23) That is where we discover that we also have a part to fulfill. Once you understand that it is not grace without responsibility, do not overreact and jump with both feet into legalism. If you do, you will fall into another dangerous deception: believing that God can be found through human effort. Some people believe that if they pray for extremely long periods, jump up and down, give this or that offering, perform certain religious activities, or do particular things, then God will finally hear them. Sadly, such ideas have become widespread in the house of God today. I have often wondered about the prophets of Baal and how they cut themselves with swords and knives until blood flowed while calling upon their god in the days of the prophet Elijah. Could that not also be a picture of people who would arise in our generation, believing that God's goodness can be obtained through religious effort and works of the law? May God bless you greatly. #ToBeContinued... Mwl. Ernest Nyalula +255 616 609 885 #LostInTheChurch #GraceVsWorks #GraceOfGod #Christianity #ChristianFaith #BiblicalTruth #BibleStudy #JesusChrist #ChristianLife #SpiritualGrowth #GodsGrace #FaithAndWorks #TheWordOfGod #KingdomOfGod #ChurchLife #ChristianTeaching #KnowTheTruth #WalkWithChrist #Holiness #FaithInJesus

LOST IN THE CHURCH Part Three CIVILIZATION / RESPECTABILITY One of the greatest things religion could achieve at its highest level is to try to make a person extremely good and civilized. However, being civilized is not a fruit of the Spirit, it is not holiness, and it is not Christianity. A civilized person may be someone who believes that he can calm God's anger through good behavior and by keeping religious laws. The origin of this kind of civilization is the attempt to please God by conforming to the spirit of this world—by obeying human expectations more than the will of God. Many people assume that being loved and accepted by the world is the same as being loved by God. But Jesus Himself was not "civilized" according to the standards people often use today. How could He be, when He called Herod, the ruler of His country, "that fox"? (Luke 13:32) Where have you ever seen a "civilized" person make a whip of cords, drive people out of the Temple, overturn the tables and chairs of the merchants, and scatter their money? (John 2:15) Tell me, where have you ever seen a civilized person behave like that? It amazes me that today civilization and politeness are sometimes mistaken for Christianity. THE GRACE OF GOD > "For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." John 1:17 Jesus did not come to establish salvation through the Mosaic Law. And if the Law given through Moses could not accomplish God's ultimate purpose of restoring humanity to Him, then holiness cannot be achieved merely by keeping laws. Rather, it is through the grace of God, freely given to the person who looks to the Lord. However, I am not saying that there is no law under grace. What I mean is that the law operating within grace is the law of love. Love must come first, and obedience follows. To put law before love is slavery. And the Lord clearly said that God's children are free. (Matthew 17:26) Therefore, we do not obey God's commandments in order to create love within ourselves. We obey because we have already begun to love God. Remember what the Word says in John 14:15: > "If ye love me, keep my commandments." Notice the order of the words. The order matters. Love comes first. He loved us first. (1 John 4:19) Therefore, when we obey His commandments, His laws, or His truth, it should be because His love has taken root in our hearts. Otherwise, we risk falling into the very spirit of deception and error that has existed throughout history—the spirit of religion. If you read 1 Corinthians 13, beginning from verse 1 onward, you will see the Apostle Paul explaining how empty it is for a person to perform even something apparently spiritual or divine when there is no love in his heart. SALVATION: GRACE AND WORKS Salvation is by grace, and it is freely given because of the finished work of the Cross of Jesus Christ. Therefore, any attempt to offer our own achievements as payment for acceptance before God is essentially an insult to the Cross, because it suggests that Christ's sacrifice was insufficient. And the Lord will not accept anyone who attempts to approach Him on such a basis. GRACE VS. WORKS Today, a large number of believers are lost in the Church because they have failed to properly distinguish between these two concepts: works and grace. The way of life often passes through truths that appear to be in tension. I do not mean grace alone while completely rejecting obedience. Neither do I mean works alone while ignoring grace. It is not everything done by God, nor is it everything done by us. Some have gone too far into the direction of legalistic works. Others, after thinking they have understood grace, have been pushed to the opposite extreme and become lost in a distorted understanding of grace. If you approach Scripture with a distorted "grace-only" mindset, you can become lost in that extreme. Likewise, if you approach Scripture entirely through the lens of works, you can also become lost. The Bible clearly says: > "Faith without works is dead." Yet it is also a great deception to perform works merely so that you can be considered a person of faith. Yes, the Lord carried the Cross for us, and that is grace. But have you ever asked yourself why He also told us to take up our own cross and follow Him? (Luke 9:23) That is where we discover that we also have a part to fulfill. Once you understand that it is not grace without responsibility, do not overreact and jump with both feet into legalism. If you do, you will fall into another dangerous deception: believing that God can be found through human effort. Some people believe that if they pray for extremely long periods, jump up and down, give this or that offering, perform certain religious activities, or do particular things, then God will finally hear them. Sadly, such ideas have become widespread in the house of God today. I have often wondered about the prophets of Baal and how they cut themselves with swords and knives until blood flowed while calling upon their god in the days of the prophet Elijah. Could that not also be a picture of people who would arise in our generation, believing that God's goodness can be obtained through religious effort and works of the law? May God bless you greatly. #ToBeContinued... Mwl. Ernest Nyalula +255 616 609 885 #LostInTheChurch #GraceVsWorks #GraceOfGod #Christianity #ChristianFaith #BiblicalTruth #BibleStudy #JesusChrist #ChristianLife #SpiritualGrowth #GodsGrace #FaithAndWorks #TheWordOfGod #KingdomOfGod #ChurchLife #ChristianTeaching #KnowTheTruth #WalkWithChrist #Holiness #FaithInJesus

LOST IN THE CHURCH "[PART TWO]" THE CHURCH The Church is a very important instrument in the hands of the Lord. However, that does not mean that by simply looking to or depending on the Church, a person can be saved. The Church cannot heal a person, lead them into all truth, or even baptize them with the Holy Spirit. THE LORD alone is able to do all these things! Going to church every day of worship does not make someone a Christian. It is like taking a wheelbarrow to a garage every day and expecting it to be called a car. Reading the Word of God, preaching, or knowing some of the mysteries of salvation does not make someone a Christian either. If it were that easy, Lucifer would have been the number-one Christian! Therefore, Christianity is having a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus. And this relationship cannot exist unless a person is born again by the Holy Spirit. Being born again is not a secret matter. First, you yourself will know it, and everyone around you will see its fruits. Nevertheless, the Lord did not leave us in darkness. He gave us certain signs that would accompany His children wherever they go. There are many of these signs, and some of them can be read in Mark 16:17–18. Therefore, it is entirely possible for someone to have no visible faults in the eyes of people, to fit perfectly into a church, and to be highly respected and trusted by the pastor and the entire church, yet not be the same person before the living God. Being known by the church or by a pastor is very different from being known by God! And what will it profit us to be famous on earth if we are unknown in heaven? The truth is that there are many believers of this kind in churches, and I assure you, they are potential inhabitants of the eternal Hell that is so terrifying. As I say this, I remember once seeing the testimony of a certain servant of God who claimed to have been shown Hell. He wrote a shocking message saying: «"HELL IS FULL OF GOOD PEOPLE."» In other words: “Hell is filled with many people who were good on earth!” Christianity is not a religion. Nevertheless, one of the highest results of religion is that it can make a person civilized in the eyes of people and morally good. Yet goodness does not make a person enter heaven! The Scriptures clearly say that no one is good except God alone. Matthew 19:17. My brothers and sisters, the Church was intended to be a place with altars that help a person encounter the Lord Jesus. But if attending church is considered salvation itself, and nothing beyond that is happening, then let me tell you plainly: you are wasting your time. And undoubtedly, you may be on the list of people who are worshipping idols! Every altar must be alive and must connect Heaven with Earth. Otherwise, you are simply gathering as a society of people comforting one another, placing your hope in false expectations. For how can you have no relationship with God now and expect to have a relationship with Him in Heaven later? Heaven, just like Hell, is the continuation of the life a person has known on Earth. I think we should admit that we are entertaining ourselves with religion. Because if we truly encountered the Lord Jesus in our lives, how could we tolerate remaining in a place where the One we encountered is not present? If we have been able to tolerate such things until now, then the simplest explanation is this: we do not know the Lord, nor have we ever encountered Him. That is why we have been able to tolerate fake things, believing that those fake things are real! Water and wine are two different things. What happens when you take water to people who are accustomed to wine? Today, let us say soda and beer. What do you think would happen if you took soda to a wedding of beer drinkers? Surely, they would all leave, and you would remain only with those who had never tasted beer! And for those who have tasted Him, they will agree with me that there is no one as good and addictive as the Lord! Once you taste Him, you will spend the rest of your life here on Earth longing for Him, saying: «“Oh Lord, I need some more of You!”» And is this not the reason the Scriptures say: «“Taste and see that the LORD is good.” Psalm 34:8» And is that not also the reason the Lord said: «“Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” John 6:54» These days, it has become completely normal to enter a certain church and find that not even one person there has ever encountered the Lord—including the pastor himself! You find a pastor preaching about Jesus who appeared to, or was encountered by, other people—but not by him personally. Do you think there can be any spiritual morning in such a place? There are more churches of this kind today than the sand of the sea! My brothers and sisters, by saying these things, I do not mean to despise worship or any particular church. I simply want people to understand that the primary purpose of the Church is to lead people to the Lord. However, if a Church abandons this essential foundation and ends up controlling people, leading them into legalism, directing them toward ministers, programs, or certain religious institutional systems, then that Church can become an extremely dangerous place—perhaps even more dangerous than a drinking club. BABYLON, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS Prophetically, a woman represents a church. If you read about the prostitute woman described in Revelation 17, you will discover that this represents the FALSE CHURCH in the world. Essentially, this church is the greatest enemy of the Church of God. That is why you will see this woman drunk with the blood of the saints. «“I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement.” Revelation 17:6» Many people, when they read this prophecy, end up identifying the Roman Church as the one being referred to. However, this is a spirit of deception that exists everywhere. And this spirit may even be more deeply rooted in spiritual churches than in others. It is very remarkable that the revelation of this “woman” is connected to the revelation of the Tower of Babel when you read Genesis 11. Ultimately, the message here is a revelation of the Church—or any person—who attempts to approach God through human effort or religious zeal while rejecting the grace of the Cross of Jesus. This includes all people who approach a God who has not called them, worshipping God without knowing Him, without encountering Him, while placing their confidence in their works of the law and their own efforts. «“He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”» #ToBeContinued... Sir Ernest Nyalula +255616609885 #LostInTheChurch #Church #Christianity #BiblicalTruth #JesusChrist #KnowGod #BornAgain #HolySpirit #KingdomOfGod #SpiritualAwakening #ChristianTruth #Bible #Faith #JesusIsLord