Category: human viewpoint / human wisdom / philosophy

Zealously Affected #21

Wednesday, March 11, 2026

“They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them. But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you” (Galatians 4:17,18 KJV).

Let us see if we can identify and comprehend the dangers of relying on emotions….

Originating in the emotion-driven Charismatic Movement during the 1960s and 1970s, “contemporary Christian music” has now become a regular feature of “worship” services in nearly all local churches. Upon hearing these sounds, people report having “chills” or goosebumps (the technical term is “frisson”). With adrenaline released, an emotional spark or tingly feeling prompts physical reactions—lifting hands, tapping toes, swaying hips, waving arms, jumping, dancing, running, and uttering ecstatically. Although offered as “evidence of the filling of the Spirit,” we are not convinced… for we observe the same movements at nightclubs, worldly concerts, and sporting events (where patrons are “filled with the spirits”). Furthermore, compared to traditional hymns, the lyrics of contemporary Christian music tend to be shallow, the doctrine foolish and false. That means no Holy Spirit is working and God cannot possibly be glorified. Another spirit is at work, and emotions have tricked individuals yet again (“zealously affected, but not well”).

Christendom’s “scholarly elite” further threatens our spiritual welfare. Members of this party have emotional attachments to “church fathers,” seminary professors, and textual critics. They exalt the opinions of men and change the Bible text to agree with what they “think” God meant. Supposedly, God Himself sent them to recover/reconstruct His Bible that He “lost” over the centuries due to an accumulation of manuscript errors. After all, they heard this skeptic’s viewpoint in their “Christian” university classes for years. Now that they have graduated with their humanistic degrees, they pass on such error to us the naïve Christian community (programmed to worship “scholarship” too!). What unbelief (“zealously affected, but not well”)! “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works” (2 Corinthians 11:13-15).

These emotional individuals are in leadership positions in our churches and schools, so indeed be on the lookout for them and promptly flee….

Zealously Affected #14

Wednesday, March 4, 2026

“They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them. But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you” (Galatians 4:17,18 KJV).

Let us see if we can identify and comprehend the dangers of relying on emotions….

“Buyer’s remorse” happens when the consumer regrets the purchase of a good or service. Perhaps it was cheaply made or poorly rendered, too expensive, or unnecessary. Emotions obscured the truth; to wit, that which is obvious to a thinking person is less clear to an emotional one. The salesperson made the customer feel happy, sad, or whatever, and, impulsively, the deal was closed. In hindsight, once emotions have subsided and rationality prevails, it is evident the transaction should have never taken place. What initially “felt good” is now a major disappointment, for expectations were not met! Again, emotions and feelings are fickle, and they are a primary reason for financial debt.

Something similar to “buyer’s remorse” is in the realm of religion. Deep down inside, everyone knows they have a sin problem, and each person copes differently with this realization. Some outright ignore it, pretending it is not there and deceiving themselves to the point of asserting they are “without sin.” Others hide behind “intellectualism” and “science,” natural-world phenomena and natural-man thinking—having no regard for anything supernatural and focusing exclusively on what can be seen, touched, heard, tasted, smelled, and reasoned via human intelligence.

The vast majority, however, will join this denomination, or that religion, or this cult, or that sect. Recognizing there is someone or something beyond themselves, they will experiment with a ceremony, ritual, or rite in an attempt to get in touch with the “spiritual realm.” All will learn, sooner or later, that religion is nothing more than man using his own feeble efforts to try to re-connect with God. They had hoped “church” would help them, make them joyful, give them peace, and bring them to Heaven. However, how many hundreds upon hundreds of millions have been sorely dissatisfied because Satan has “slipped them a counterfeit?!” They have religion, but they have no life in Christ. Yes, they are smug in their “goodness,” yet they are dead in their trespasses and sins. They sing about Heaven, but they are on their way to Hell….

Zealously Affected #4

Sunday, February 22, 2026

“They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them. But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you” (Galatians 4:17,18 KJV).

Let us see if we can identify and comprehend the dangers of relying on emotions….

Today’s Scripture expresses how the believers in Christ of central Turkey were vacillating, having no grounding in sound Bible doctrine (despite having access to it). Though the Apostle Paul referred to them as “brethren” several times in his epistle to them, their thinking and conduct were those of unbelievers because they never continued with the principles of grace that they had learned from him. It was almost like they were not saints at all… which was also the pitiful description of the Corinthians! At least they heard and believed a pure Gospel of Grace at first (“Christ died for our sins, He was buried, and He rose again the third day;” 1 Corinthians 15:3,4).

Having had 2,000 years of denominational doctrine, the modern professing church is in an even worse predicament. It is still typical to find “religious people” wailing, weeping, kneeling, groveling, “making deals with God,” leaping, singing, dancing, and praying—but they have no change in heart because there is no faith. For the few who are members of the Body of Christ, very little progress is ever made because their emotions take over them instead of God the Holy Spirit. Whether saved or lost, almost every soul has been “zealously affected, but not well” (being obsessed with denominations, man’s wisdom, and personages—which emotional attachments make them subject to further deception and render them more hostile to the truth).

Since the Galatians had been “hot” for his grace doctrine initially, then had hot feelings for false teachers and their bad doctrine, Paul expected the emotional Galatians to be bitter or unfriendly to him for exposing their apostasy (their standing away from sound doctrine). See Galatians 4:16, the verse preceding today’s Scripture: “Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?” Emotions have no logic, so we too should expect emotional people to be unreasonable. It is better to depend upon the sound Bible doctrine to transform our mind (and let emotions follow), than rely upon emotions and then look for verses to confirm what we saw, heard, or felt….

Something in Which to Glory!

Wednesday, February 18, 2026

“As many as desire to make a fair shew in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh. But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world” (Galatians 6:12-14 KJV).

In what shall we glory? About what shall we boast? In what shall we find value?

Religion produces people who enjoy bragging all about their “dedication to God.” “Look what I did—the ceremonies in which I have participated, the many prayers I faithfully recited daily, how much I put in the collection plate, see how many pleasures I gave up to please God! Come, see how much I love Him!” Dear friends, the Apostle Paul found great value in something—but that something was not what he did. All that human flesh can accomplish pales in comparison to the work in today’s Scripture.

As Lent begins, the time when religionists temporarily (a mere 40 days) relinquish some pleasant food or activity, let us remember that our performance is often non-performance. Once we place ourselves on that treadmill of “do, do, do,” we are guaranteed to fail at some point. Human flesh is simply too weak to maintain 100 percent—that is sin! Even concerning one rule, we cannot keep it perfectly. We mess up eventually.

If ever we believe that our puny works are worth bragging about, let us remember the words of the Apostle Paul in today’s Scripture. While some boast in their religiosity (in the passage, the Judaizers applauding their rite of physical circumcision), and such denominationalists today urge us to obey their church’s instructions so they too may boast in our ability, let us eschew such foolishness. Being imperfect, all their works do not measure up to Christ’s finished crosswork. At Calvary, we find the only sacrifice that will ever please the God of the Bible. If we must boast, let us brag that He did what we could never, ever do!

See our archived Bible Q&A: “Should Christians observe Lent?”

Heir by Position, Pauper by Practice #25

Thursday, January 29, 2026

“Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ” (Galatians 4:7 KJV).

Saints, we in Christ are spiritual winners and heirs by position, but we can choose to be spiritual losers and paupers by practice!

While transitioning from denominational doctrine to dispensational Bible study, I heard a grace preacher deliver a sermon wherein he remarked, “You do not have to live like a spiritual pauper!” Having matured in sound Bible doctrine all these years later, I understand precisely what he meant. Whereas I was quite eager to hear and believe the verses he was teaching, a great many have responded the same way Paul expected the Galatians would: “Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?” (Galatians 4:16). Instead of stumbling in Romans, or Corinthians, or Galatians, we can go beyond the basic principles of grace and stand as mature, adult sons of God (the rest of Paul’s epistles). Let us not get angry at those people who expose our denominations for the malarkey and silliness that they really are!

“And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ. Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God” (Philippians 1:9-11). “For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;…” (Colossians 1:9-11). We would do well to believe these grace truths in our heart, for they are our “renewed mind” and “reasonable [sensible, logical] service” (Romans 12:1,2)!

Saints, we in Christ are spiritual winners and heirs by position, but (never, ever, EVER forget!) we can choose to be spiritual losers and paupers by practice (and that will be our fault, not God’s)!

-FINIS!-

Heir by Position, Pauper by Practice #24

Wednesday, January 28, 2026

“Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ” (Galatians 4:7 KJV).

Saints, we in Christ are spiritual winners and heirs by position, but we can choose to be spiritual losers and paupers by practice!

It truly is a pity—a real shame—that billions of church members, pastors, and teachers actually have no clue concerning God’s will for them. This is not God’s fault! Rather, they have decided to squander their time with nonsense and ignorance instead of opening the Holy Bible to “study… rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). It is not God’s problem when they overlook the answers He has already written in response to anticipated questions.

Here is God’s will! First Timothy 2:4-7: “[God our Saviour] Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not; ) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity.” God wants lost people to be “saved” (place their faith in Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection as sufficient payment for their sins). His will for Christians is they “come unto the knowledge of the truth” (learn why He delivered them from those sins and kept them out of Hell and the Lake of Fire): He purposes to fill them with His Son’s life (not rehabilitate the Adamic life). “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith…” (Ephesians 3:17).

Our inheritance from Father God encompasses not only this temporary earthly life, but reaches into the endless ages to come and all the way into the heavenly places (our eternal destiny, our ultimate inheritance [Ephesians 1:9-11; Ephesians 2:6,7]). As we learn via dispensational Bible study, how marvelous it is that He is forming the Church the Body of Christ with believing Jews and believing Gentiles of Paul’s ministry (Ephesians 2:11-22), a group of former bitter enemies who were hopeless and helpless and Hell-bound, an entity He kept secret until Paul’s salvation and commissioning (Ephesians 3:1-11). We are not sinners, but saints, so let us think and walk according to that.

We (finally!) summarize and conclude this devotionals arc….

Heir by Position, Pauper by Practice #23

Tuesday, January 27, 2026

“Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ” (Galatians 4:7 KJV).

Saints, we in Christ are spiritual winners and heirs by position, but we can choose to be spiritual losers and paupers by practice!

Courtesy of spiritual immaturity—people not letting the Bible define its own vocabulary—there is great misunderstanding about adoption in the Holy Scriptures. Adoption here is not taking a child from his biological family and legally placing him into a foster family: it is not God removing a lost person from Adam and putting him into Christ. Rather, adoption in the Bible is the father declaring his biological son to be mature, full-grown, or an adult (see Galatians 4:1-7). It is someone who has already been trained in the curriculum and can therefore make wise decisions without having to be led by the hand like a little child (cf. Galatians 3:22-26).

Father God has pronounced us Christians as His adopted sons positionally, for the indwelling Holy Spirit enlightens and empowers us to work in the family business of exalting Jesus Christ (Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:5-7). He would like to pronounce us believers as His adopted sons practically, though this cannot come to fruition unless we choose to be filled with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:19)—and this is mature Grace, not immature Law (Galatians 5:16-26). Alas, like Christendom now, the Galatian saints did not walk according to Romans truth. The Christian life will not operate on the basis of ignorance because it cannot operate on the basis of ignorance. We must have a clear understanding of grace living, Romans to Philemon—and precious, precious, precious few souls ever do (this is not God’s fault!).

Thankfully, at the resurrection or redemption of our body, God will ultimately declare us His sons practically (the “adoption” of Romans 8:23 and Ephesians 1:5). Again, adoption is not simply being the sons of God by position, but by practice too. Here is spiritual maturity, being acknowledged as full-grown sons. We do not have to wait until Heaven to grow up: we can grow up now! This is what the Galatians needed to understand in today’s Scripture, and it is what we need to learn even now….

Heir by Position, Pauper by Practice #22

Monday, January 26, 2026

“Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ” (Galatians 4:7 KJV).

Saints, we in Christ are spiritual winners and heirs by position, but we can choose to be spiritual losers and paupers by practice!

Re-read today’s Scripture and context (Galatians 3:22–4:11). Though the Law of Moses had been given to Israel, it was designed to prove to every Jew and every Gentile that man is sinful and therefore can merit nothing but curses from a holy, righteous God (cf. Galatians 3:10-14). Failing to keep the Law perfectly, sinners would be forced to realize they could gain acceptance before God only by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ who did obey the Law completely (Romans 3:19–5:11). The Law pointed sinners to that Saviour of sinners, so, once they trusted Him, their performance in religion would remain insignificant and thus still shut out of the conversation forever.

Believers would then move to spiritual maturity, just as a biological father declares his son to be a man/adult who could be his successor in the family estate (the “adoption” of Romans 8:15-17,23; Galatians 4:5-7; and Ephesians 1:3-6). Therefore, to return to the Law is like going back to spiritual kindergarten—condemned to re-learn the basics like little children starting school at the very beginning (cf. Galatians 4:8-11,19,21). “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage…. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law” (Galatians 5:1,18).

Once Satan corrupts us with bad information, he is victorious because God cannot use us to our full potential! We did not become heirs of God by our works, so it is impossible to lose that position by failing to work. Rather than being servants (who lack the son’s rights and privileges), we believers in Christ are sons of God (today’s Scripture). What belongs to Father God is actually ours through the mediatorship of Christ (the Father’s Primary Heir!). Does it make sense for the heir of the father’s grand estate to live in poverty and squalor, eking out an existence with feeble efforts performed by dirty hands, so pitifully ignorant of whom he really is?! No, it is spiritual madness, craziness….

Heir by Position, Pauper by Practice #21

Sunday, January 25, 2026

“Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ” (Galatians 4:7 KJV).

Saints, we in Christ are spiritual winners and heirs by position, but we can choose to be spiritual losers and paupers by practice!

Instead of resorting to the lame excuse, “This verse does not mean what it says,” we can simply leave it in its dispensational context. Just because we do not see a passage fulfilled today does not prove it to be false; it merely means the verses are not to or about us. We need to be scriptural and dispensational, especially keeping Law/Moses and Grace/Paul separate!

The Devil labors in religion because it is all about self—“I have done this, I have done that” (cf. Exodus 19:5,8). Church members seldom differentiate between this and Christianity, and such bragging demonstrates and reinforces those misunderstandings. “That no flesh should glory in his [God’s] presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:29-31). If we boast, let us brag about what the Lord Jesus Christ is for us and what HE did for us!

Romans is the standard of grace/Christian living. We have total forgiveness of all sins in Christ by grace (Romans 4:6-9 cf. Colossians 2:13) and therefore have joy (Romans 5:11), but religion questions this. Guilt weighs us down, and we stumble over 1 John 1:9 and Israel’s Law system (cf. Galatians 4:15,21)! We hesitate to believe we have complete, permanent, unconditional fellowship with Father God through Christ (1 Corinthians 1:8,9). Forgetting our victory in Christ in Romans chapters 6 and 8, we suppose we must keep laws to make God happy with us! Under the Law, we do not have liberty to do right but bondage to keep doing wrong: self-pity and misery consume us! We believe we cannot help but sin, so sin conquers us just as it did poor, hopelessly defeated Paul in Romans 7:7-25! We wonder if God loves us, doubting He has actually made us accepted in His beloved Son, Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:6). We are not only paupers in religion, but also prisoners….

Heir by Position, Pauper by Practice #20

Saturday, January 24, 2026

“Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ” (Galatians 4:7 KJV).

Saints, we in Christ are spiritual winners and heirs by position, but we can choose to be spiritual losers and paupers by practice!

For many years now, an old adage has circulated amongst dispensational Bible students: “People spiritualize and tell spiritual lies because they do not have spiritual eyes.” One “spiritualizes” verses by thinking they cannot and should not be taken at face-value because they have some “spiritual/figurative/hidden” meaning. This is exactly how false teachers can contradict the Bible and avoid most (or all) suspicion coming from the trusting, vulnerable souls in the pews. They use manmade tradition to explain away whatever Bible verses conflict with their theological system. Minds and hearts are filled with utter nonsense instead of the living words of the living God! Something like this happened in Corinth and in Galatia.

“Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway” (1 Corinthians 9:24-27). The Isthmian Games were similar to the Olympics, and the Corinthians of southern Greece were familiar with both. Runners and boxers/wrestlers carefully trained with specialized diets and exercise plans, aiming for targets and finish lines. Likewise, Paul was “temperate” (practiced self-control), otherwise he would be a “castaway” (his Christian service rejected/unapproved in God’s sight). The Apostle encouraged the Corinthians to follow his example, for (as 1 Corinthians shows) they were thinking poorly and acting improperly.

Chapter 10 of 1 Corinthians itemizes how Christians even now can repeat ancient Israel’s sins by aligning with this present evil world (see verses 1-14). We have overcome sin in Christ, but Satan would have us believe otherwise to reduce us to spiritual “losership” on a daily basis….