Shabach Gospel Ministries International

25/03/2025

“As you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him” (Col. 2:6).

How did you receive him? By faith. How should you continue to live in him? By faith. It’s faith in God’s grace from start to finish. The believer starts their Christian walk in faith. The challenge is to continue in the faith and not be seduced into dead works and unbelief (Col. 1:23).

A married person who continues to act like a single person is going to miss out on many of the blessings of marriage. Similarly, a Christian who fails to draw from their union with Christ is going to miss many of the blessings of that union.

New life is meant to be lived; it’s meant to be expressed and enjoyed and worked out to such a degree that it results in praise to the Father.

16/01/2025

29/04/2024

The day you were placed into Christ, you became a brand new citizen of the kingdom of God, with all the rights and privileges that entails. But you may not be enjoying all the benefits of your citizenship. In Christ you have received forgiveness, righteousness, and holiness, but you may not know that you are forgiven, righteous, and holy. This is why the scriptures exhort us to be renewed in the spirit of our minds. That’s another way of saying, “Change your thinking. Discover who you truly are. See yourself as heaven sees you, as a beloved child of God.”

09/04/2024

Here are five reasons to be wary of manmade religion:

1. Religion is based on a lie

At the heart of religion is the belief that we can make ourselves good. It’s the serpent saying, “Do this and you will be like God.” We think Adam and Eve were fools for listening, but we repeat their mistake whenever we look to ourselves as our source of security and joy. Religion is a temple built with human hands.

2. Religion prostitutes the love of God

Religion perpetuates lies about the character of God. “God is mad at you. He’s keeping score. He may reject you.” These lies feed the fiction that God can be bought. “But if you do A, B, and C, you can appease an angry God. If you are faithful and good, he will bless you.” What a villainous distortion of our Father’s unconditional love!

3. Religion alienates you from grace

Religion offers a pathway to God that perversely leads away from him. “Keep these rules, heed these principles, do what you’re told, and you’ll be acceptable to God.” Nope. The highway of religious pride does goes nowhere near the throne of grace.

4. Religion is idolatry

Forget Baal, Molech, and television. The biggest idol is the one called Self. This idol utters two words again and again: I will, as in “I will make things right; I will do better; I will never fall away; I will follow Jesus anywhere; I will do great things; I will ascend to the heavens; I will be like the Most High.” Religion runs on will power and speaks the language of Satan (Is 14:12-14).

5. Religion rewrites the Bible

Since religion is false, while God’s Word is true, it has to redefine words like repentance (penance), faith (works), hope (wishful thinking), obedience (rule-keeping), and grace (grease for the gears of self-effort), lest it be exposed for the sham that it is. Christ said following him was meant to be easy, but religion makes it hard. The gospel is meant to be good news, but religion makes it bad.

03/11/2023

Preaching the red letters of Jesus is a bit like drinking whatever you find in the laundry. Fail to distinguish his life-giving words of grace from his death-dealing words of law, and you could really hurt yourself.

Consider these red letters: “If you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins” (Matt 6:14-15).

This is one of the most-quoted passages in the Bible and it is vintage law. It is a killer scripture. It is not good news. This verse should make us shudder for it says that our forgiveness hinges on our ability to forgive others and we are poor forgivers indeed.

Men sin against us repeatedly. Have we honestly forgiven them all? What if we miss one?

And what do we say to those who have been r***d and abused? What do you say to a young child who has been molested? “Sweetie, you need to forgive that evil man otherwise God won’t forgive you.”

That’s not grace. That’s the condemning ministry of the law in full bloom. How do you forgive the unforgiveable? You can’t! Then you’re in trouble. The law condemns you as an unforgiver. Now you’re beginning to recognize your need for grace.

Any time you read a conditional statement from Jesus, you should interpret it as law. “Do not judge and you will not be judged” (Luke 6:37). That’s good advice but it’s also law. To avoid something (judgment) you have to do something (don’t judge). It’s a blessing you have to pay for.

And anytime Jesus makes a threat, you should interpret that as law as well. “Anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment” (Matt 5:22). That’s bad news for anyone with a brother!

Jesus came to reveal grace but those who are confident of their own righteousness are incapable of receiving it. They don’t see their need. What they need is the law and Jesus gave it to them in spades.

But Jesus’ larger purpose was to give us his life and his righteousness. So he also told stories about God justifying sinners and shepherds finding lost sheep. Then he went to the cross fulfilling the law on our behalf that he might be the end of the law for all who believe (Rom 10:4).

Jesus’ came to set the captives free and give sight to the blind. The law sets nobody free. But it does reveal your need for a Great Deliverer.

15/08/2023

5 Ways to Make Your Dreams a Reality

God wants you to have great expectations. He wants you to dream big, Word-based, Holy Spirit-inspired dreams, and He wants to make those dreams come true. For Him to do so, however, you must stay with the faith program and be patient. You must keep believing and refuse to quit on your dreams, no matter how long they take to come to pass. Here are a few points to help you:

1) Make it your heart’s desire first and foremost to please God.
1 Thessalonians 4:1: “Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to live in a way that pleases God, as we have taught you. You live this way already, and we encourage you to do so even more.” (New Living Translation)

2) Spend daily time in the Word to strengthen your faith.
Romans 10:17: “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

3) Act on that Word in every area of your life.
Deuteronomy 30:14: “The word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.”
4) When the Holy Spirit shows you the next step, take it.
Romans 8:14: “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”
5) Refuse to be discouraged.
Hebrews 6:12: “Do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” (New King James Version)

- Dr David O. Oyedepo