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FROM “VENGEANCE IS MINE” TO “MY DADDY WILL KILL YOU” (PART II)

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“Touch My Wife and My Daddy Will Make Sure You Don’t Wake Up” By Akin Ojumu In Part I, we examined what the Lord Jesus Christ and His Apostles taught about how Christians should respond to those who offend, persecute, mistreat, or seek to harm them. The verdict of Scripture was unmistakable. Love your enemies. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who persecute you. Do good to those who hate you. Repay no one evil for evil. Never avenge yourselves. Overcome evil with good. These are not optional commandments reserved for exceptionally spiritual Christians. They are the moral obligations of everyone who professes allegiance to Jesus Christ. And Christ Himself demonstrated them. When He was reviled, He did not revile in return. When He suffered, He did not threaten. While His executioners nailed Him to a Roman cross, He prayed: Luke 23:34 “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Stephen followed His example while being stoned to death. Paul instructed Christians to ble...
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FROM “VENGEANCE IS MINE” TO “MY DADDY WILL KILL YOU” (PART I)

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“How Christians Are Commanded to Treat Their Enemies” By Akin Ojumu What does the Lord Jesus Christ teach about how His followers should relate to their enemies? How should Christians respond to those who insult them, persecute them, mistreat them, slander them, or do them harm? The answer is not buried somewhere in an obscure corner of Scripture. Jesus was explicit. His Apostles were equally explicit. And their teaching is remarkably consistent. Christians are forbidden to repay personal evil with personal evil.  We are commanded to love our enemies. Pray for those who persecute us. Bless those who curse us. Do good to those who hate us. Forgive those who wrong us. Refuse personal vengeance. And entrust ultimate judgment to God. That does not mean calling evil good. It does not mean refusing to expose wickedness. It does not mean remaining in an abusive or dangerous situation. It does not mean surrendering the right to lawful protection. And it certainly does not mean abandoning j...
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THE PATHOGENESIS OF TEMPTATION

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“An Exposition on James 1:13-15” By Akin Ojumu | Originally Published on December 02, 2021 Recently, I shared a molecular animation showing the astonishing process by which HIV infects a T-cell, hijacks its internal machinery, and turns the very cell designed to defend the body into a factory for producing more viruses. The scientist in me finds the molecular choreography fascinating. It is intricate, efficient, and, from a purely biological standpoint, remarkably sophisticated. But as a Christian watching that animation, my mind wandered somewhere else.  I began thinking about temptation. There was something eerily familiar about the process. HIV does not arrive inside the cell carrying an entire manufacturing plant on its back. It hijacks what is already there. It exploits the cell’s receptors, enzymes, machinery, and resources. It enters, commandeers, replicates, multiplies, and eventually destroys. And although biological infection and moral evil are obviously not identical, th...
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SEE TO IT THAT NO ONE MISLEADS YOU

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By Akin Ojumu | Originally Published on August 19, 2021 Toward the end of His earthly ministry, Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives when His disciples came to Him privately with a question that had evidently been weighing on their minds. They wanted to know what lay ahead. So, t hey asked Him: Matthew 24:3 “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” What Jesus said next is remarkably illuminating. Considering the world in which we now live—and considering what has happened to much of the professing Church—the very first warning Christ gave should arrest our attention. Jesus did not begin with earthquakes. He did not begin with famine. He did not begin with pestilence. He did not even begin with war. He began with deception. Matthew records His words: Matthew 24:4–8   “And Jesus answered and said to them, ‘See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, “I am the Christ,” and they will mislead...
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