WHO IS AN UNBELIEVER?
This is something that has been on my mind for quite sometime now. I've been thinking of how christians (so-called) have been using the term "unbeliever." We need to understand the origin of that word. I'm particularly disturbed by how virtually the whole of so-called "born-again" "christendom" in Nigeria (and whose views and beliefs virtually control the rest of "christendom" in the country, by reason of its sheer size, ever-growing exponential influence, power and spread - - and we thank God for that - - especially since the beginning of the Faith Movement in the early 1980's;) l'm disturbed by how that "dominant" arm of the church has been using the term "unbeliever." We seem to think that that word means "someone who can finish a carton of beer at one sitting (or who even drinks alcohol in any amount at all), or someone who maintains five girlfriends at a go, or just someone who is not known to be a" committed" member of any so-called "pentecostal" or "new-generation" church, etc., or any combination of these." But this is not so at all. Like I've said, we need to understand the origin of that word.
Permit me, please, to take you to the beginning of the use of that word. In the beginning (that is, the beginning of the Church), the message of Christ was not known to any nation, city, or people, unless and until any of Christ's apostles or disciples took that message there. Let's take Paul as an example, for he was, indeed, the one that actually brought that terminology "unbeliever" into our lexicon. Before the coming of Christ, we simply had "lsrael" and "the Nations," or, "Israel" and "the Gentiles," or, if you like, "Israel" and "the Heathens." That is, those who believe that Jehovah (the God who revealed Himself to Moses) is God (that is, talking of the people of Israel), and those who did not believe in Jehovah but in other "gods" (that is, the other nations, e.g. the Philistines.) Even then, there were INDIVIDUALS in some of those other nations who believed in Jehovah, even if their nation (as a NATION) did not worship Jehovah as Israel did, e.g. the Roman ruler, Jairus, or the Centurion who prayed to the true God (to whom Peter later preached), or even Balaam in the Old Testament who was in fact a Prophet. Apart from such individuals, the Old Testament period was basically that of "Israel" and the "Nations," otherwise known as "the Gentiles" or "the Heathen." Any use of the word "unbeliever" at that time would simply refer to such people or Nations, or even simply to individuals within Israel who sometimes stubbornly refused the message of Jehovah and even questioned His existence. Of course, such people were an inconsequential minority in Israel.
Now, let's go back to Paul, the one who, like I said, brought the term "unbeliever" into our lexicon in terms of the New Testament. Remember that at that time no city or nation knew anything about Christ until an apostle or disciple of Jesus brought the message. Paul, for instance, would go into a city, and would either find his way into a Synagogue (if the Jews in that city had a Synagogue where they met, though it be a Gentile city), or simply went to any public place, open-air or indoors (e.g. the Amphitheatre in Athens, or the place called Areopagus, or even the sea-side in Phillipi) - - anywhere that he felt led to go and/or where he felt he would have or find an audience. No matter the place or circumstance, he seemed to always have a way of bringing attention to himself (I believe it was a special grace or skill given to him by God) and also presenting his message in any kind of numerous uncanny ways! At the end of the day (which could sometimes be a whole week of preaching in the same place, and usually with ever-growing interest, for or against, and also at which time virtually the whole city would have become his audience), at the end of the day the message would have gone out in no ambiguous terms - - LOUD and CLEAR - - and with no impurities or contaminations or "excess baggage" or "addendum" of the Law (any law) mixed with it at all - - the message would have gone out under the anointing and unction of the Almighty Holy Spirit, that the otherwise invisible God, the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth, has in these times manifested Himself in HUMAN FLESH on the Earth, and that this manifestation of Him is JESUS of NAZARETH, and that God now enjoins all men (human beings) everywhere to recognise and to BELIEVE that this Jesus (the manifestation of God in the flesh) is the one whom God has sent to be the propitiation for our sins, through his death on the cross, and that by His Resurrection those who BELIEVE are JUSTIFIED from ALL THINGS that they could not be justified from under any Law! Halleluiah! At the end of the day, the ENTIRE CITY would have been SPLIT into TWO - - THOSE WHO "BELIEVE" and THOSE WHO "DON'T" BELIEVE! That was how the word "UNBELIEVER" came into the lexicon of the Church! Today, like I said earlier on, we think that the UNBELIEVER is that person who attends a Night Club, or who reads a romance magazine, or even one who wears what you call "skimpy" dress, or one who does not even own a copy of the Bible, etc., etc. But this is not so at all, as I earlier on said. An UNBELIEVER, as far as the Bible is concerned, is that person who has HEARD the message under the anointing, understands that message, that: (1) the otherwise invisible God has MANIFESTED Himself in HUMAN FLESH as JESUS OF NAZARETH; (2) that this JESUS died on Calvary's Cross as THE PROPITIATION for OUR SINS; (3) that God raised Him up on the THIRD DAY for our JUSTIFICATION, and that through Him ALONE and through His Death and Resurrection, we have acceptance with God, remission of our SINS (and of our SIN - - singular); and that so BELIEVING in Him, we are adopted into God's Family through FAITH in the CLEANSING BLOOD that Christ shed on that Cross, and that we should expect His Return, which He promised, to establish His Kingdom, and that, as His believers, we would reign with Him FOREVER! Anybody who has heard this message under the anointing, who understands it, and yet says, "No! I don't believe it! I don't believe that God ever came in HUMAN FLESH, I don't believe that Jesus is the Christ (the Saviour, the Messiah, the Son - - manifestation - - of God); I don't believe that his death has anything to do with my life (etc.) Anybody who says that, and who is OPPOSED, or, at the very least, INDIFFERENT, to that message of CHRIST as THE SON of GOD and THE SAVIOUR OF THE WORLD, after hearing and UNDERSTANDING it, yet REJECTS it, because he DOES NOT BELIEVE IT, or DOES NOT WANT to BELIEVE, is THE UNBELIEVER that the Bible is talking about!
This is something that has been on my mind for quite sometime now. I've been thinking of how christians (so-called) have been using the term "unbeliever." We need to understand the origin of that word. I'm particularly disturbed by how virtually the whole of so-called "born-again" "christendom" in Nigeria (and whose views and beliefs virtually control the rest of "christendom" in the country, by reason of its sheer size, ever-growing exponential influence, power and spread - - and we thank God for that - - especially since the beginning of the Faith Movement in the early 1980's;) l'm disturbed by how that "dominant" arm of the church has been using the term "unbeliever." We seem to think that that word means "someone who can finish a carton of beer at one sitting (or who even drinks alcohol in any amount at all), or someone who maintains five girlfriends at a go, or just someone who is not known to be a" committed" member of any so-called "pentecostal" or "new-generation" church, etc., or any combination of these." But this is not so at all. Like I've said, we need to understand the origin of that word.
Permit me, please, to take you to the beginning of the use of that word. In the beginning (that is, the beginning of the Church), the message of Christ was not known to any nation, city, or people, unless and until any of Christ's apostles or disciples took that message there. Let's take Paul as an example, for he was, indeed, the one that actually brought that terminology "unbeliever" into our lexicon. Before the coming of Christ, we simply had "lsrael" and "the Nations," or, "Israel" and "the Gentiles," or, if you like, "Israel" and "the Heathens." That is, those who believe that Jehovah (the God who revealed Himself to Moses) is God (that is, talking of the people of Israel), and those who did not believe in Jehovah but in other "gods" (that is, the other nations, e.g. the Philistines.) Even then, there were INDIVIDUALS in some of those other nations who believed in Jehovah, even if their nation (as a NATION) did not worship Jehovah as Israel did, e.g. the Roman ruler, Jairus, or the Centurion who prayed to the true God (to whom Peter later preached), or even Balaam in the Old Testament who was in fact a Prophet. Apart from such individuals, the Old Testament period was basically that of "Israel" and the "Nations," otherwise known as "the Gentiles" or "the Heathen." Any use of the word "unbeliever" at that time would simply refer to such people or Nations, or even simply to individuals within Israel who sometimes stubbornly refused the message of Jehovah and even questioned His existence. Of course, such people were an inconsequential minority in Israel.
Now, let's go back to Paul, the one who, like I said, brought the term "unbeliever" into our lexicon in terms of the New Testament. Remember that at that time no city or nation knew anything about Christ until an apostle or disciple of Jesus brought the message. Paul, for instance, would go into a city, and would either find his way into a Synagogue (if the Jews in that city had a Synagogue where they met, though it be a Gentile city), or simply went to any public place, open-air or indoors (e.g. the Amphitheatre in Athens, or the place called Areopagus, or even the sea-side in Phillipi) - - anywhere that he felt led to go and/or where he felt he would have or find an audience. No matter the place or circumstance, he seemed to always have a way of bringing attention to himself (I believe it was a special grace or skill given to him by God) and also presenting his message in any kind of numerous uncanny ways! At the end of the day (which could sometimes be a whole week of preaching in the same place, and usually with ever-growing interest, for or against, and also at which time virtually the whole city would have become his audience), at the end of the day the message would have gone out in no ambiguous terms - - LOUD and CLEAR - - and with no impurities or contaminations or "excess baggage" or "addendum" of the Law (any law) mixed with it at all - - the message would have gone out under the anointing and unction of the Almighty Holy Spirit, that the otherwise invisible God, the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth, has in these times manifested Himself in HUMAN FLESH on the Earth, and that this manifestation of Him is JESUS of NAZARETH, and that God now enjoins all men (human beings) everywhere to recognise and to BELIEVE that this Jesus (the manifestation of God in the flesh) is the one whom God has sent to be the propitiation for our sins, through his death on the cross, and that by His Resurrection those who BELIEVE are JUSTIFIED from ALL THINGS that they could not be justified from under any Law! Halleluiah! At the end of the day, the ENTIRE CITY would have been SPLIT into TWO - - THOSE WHO "BELIEVE" and THOSE WHO "DON'T" BELIEVE! That was how the word "UNBELIEVER" came into the lexicon of the Church! Today, like I said earlier on, we think that the UNBELIEVER is that person who attends a Night Club, or who reads a romance magazine, or even one who wears what you call "skimpy" dress, or one who does not even own a copy of the Bible, etc., etc. But this is not so at all, as I earlier on said. An UNBELIEVER, as far as the Bible is concerned, is that person who has HEARD the message under the anointing, understands that message, that: (1) the otherwise invisible God has MANIFESTED Himself in HUMAN FLESH as JESUS OF NAZARETH; (2) that this JESUS died on Calvary's Cross as THE PROPITIATION for OUR SINS; (3) that God raised Him up on the THIRD DAY for our JUSTIFICATION, and that through Him ALONE and through His Death and Resurrection, we have acceptance with God, remission of our SINS (and of our SIN - - singular); and that so BELIEVING in Him, we are adopted into God's Family through FAITH in the CLEANSING BLOOD that Christ shed on that Cross, and that we should expect His Return, which He promised, to establish His Kingdom, and that, as His believers, we would reign with Him FOREVER! Anybody who has heard this message under the anointing, who understands it, and yet says, "No! I don't believe it! I don't believe that God ever came in HUMAN FLESH, I don't believe that Jesus is the Christ (the Saviour, the Messiah, the Son - - manifestation - - of God); I don't believe that his death has anything to do with my life (etc.) Anybody who says that, and who is OPPOSED, or, at the very least, INDIFFERENT, to that message of CHRIST as THE SON of GOD and THE SAVIOUR OF THE WORLD, after hearing and UNDERSTANDING it, yet REJECTS it, because he DOES NOT BELIEVE IT, or DOES NOT WANT to BELIEVE, is THE UNBELIEVER that the Bible is talking about!
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