Ananias of Damascus and Saul and the Lord Jesus Christ

 

Praise be the the Lord Jesus Christ who through his Prophet Ananias restored the sight of Saint Paul!

Now, Paul before he could become a saint and believer in Jesus Christ was also called Saul. And this Saul was one of the most dangerous persecutors of Christians especially those in Jerusalem and also played part in the murder of the first martyr Stephen. So much was the persecution that the Lord Jesus as mentioned in the Book of Acts of the Apostles Chapter 9 decided to intervene personally on behalf of the Church.

Saul was not just admonished by Jesus Christ but also lost his sight due to the glory of Christ that came as light from Heaven. Then when Saul decided to walk the humble path upon hearing the voice of Jesus, he was told go to Damascus.

 

The Lord Jesus then worked out healing in Saul through Ananias as per the below verses in the Book of Acts:

¹⁰ And there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias. And the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Behold, I am here, Lord.” ¹¹ Then the Lord said to him, “Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight. And look in the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus. For behold, he prays.” ¹² “And in a vision, he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hands on him, so that he might receive his sight.” ¹³ Then Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man; how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. ¹⁴ “Moreover, here he has the authority of the chief priests to bind all that call on Your Name.” ¹⁵ Then the Lord said to him, “Go. For he is a vessel chosen by Me to bear My Name before the Gentiles, and Kings, and the children of Israel.¹⁶ “For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My Name’s sake.”

¹⁷ Then Ananias went, and entered that house, and put his hands on him, and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, Who appeared to you on the way as you came, has sent me, so that you might receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Ghost.”¹⁸ And immediately something like ‘scales’ fell from his eyes. And suddenly he received sight, and arose, and was baptized, ¹⁹ and received food and was strengthened. So, Saul was with the Damascus disciples for some days.

 

A few lessons to learn from this:

1. The Lord Jesus will bless those who follow his Word even those who are the worst of sinners that repent.
2. Like Saul be ready to obey the Lord Jesus to move up to your higher calling in God.
3. Like Ananias keep yourself ready in all prayer, so that when the time comes then you’re able to do great healings and good works towards those whom the Lord leads you to bring salvation and deliverance in their lives.
4. If you have any doubts towards doing any good deed be humble enough to ask the Lord for his good counsel instead of rejecting doing good altogether.
5. The Holy Spirit will work through you if surrender to Will of God.

The heresy of pre-forgiven sin

Galations 1:8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

I pray that you truly understand the meaning of Galatians 1:8. Now I have noticed on those lines a lie that sounds very religious but in fact is a false gospel. Here’s what it is. It says that by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross not only your past and present sins are forgiven but also your future sins. Now for a second this seems legit but that lie further adds that if you live in sin in the future, even that is forgiven without you feeling the need to repent. This is simply a heresy of the highest order.

Such lies make a person who is struggling with sin, to give up and commit more sins in the false hope of being automatically forgiven. We are in Christ called to live in true hope. We are called overcome our weaknessess and failures instead of shirking responsibility. If you know you have sinned be humble and ask for mercy from the Lord Jesus Christ who will pardon you. To say that you never sinned is to deny the truth of Gospel which says Christ came for sinners and not for the righteous. He came to seek and save the lost. Amen, he continues to save people even today if they call upon his holy name.

Now the scripture can be used with amazing effect to fight heresies. The are principles in the Bible that stand the test of time. Like God will always be the ruler of heaven. Also Satan will never ever become a good person! Now coming to the point, the blood of Jesus does not automatically forgive you of your FUTURE sins, as these need to be repentanted off once the sin is done. If someone disagrees, why not consider as to why Ananias and Saphira were NOT pre-forgiven. Their sin is mentioned in the Bible along with God’s judgement on them.

Acts 5:1-11

The Sin of Ananias and Sapphira

A man by the name of Ananias and his wife, Sapphira, sold some land. 2 He kept back part of the money for himself. His wife knew it also. The other part he took to the missionaries. 3 Peter said to Ananias, “Why did you let Satan fill your heart? He made you lie to the Holy Spirit. You kept back part of the money you got from your land. 4 Was not the land yours before you sold it? After it was sold, you could have done what you wanted to do with the money. Why did you allow your heart to do this? You have lied to God, not to men.”
5 When Ananias heard these words, he fell down dead. Much fear came on all those who heard what was done. 6 The young men got up and covered his body and carried him out and buried him.
7 About three hours later his wife came in. She did not know what had happened.
8 Peter said to her, “Tell me, did you sell the land for this amount of money?” She said, “Yes.” 9 Then Peter said to her, “How could you two have talked together about lying to the Holy Spirit? See! Those who buried your husband are standing at the door and they will carry you out also.” 10At once she fell down at his feet and died. When the young men came in, they found that she was dead. They took her out and buried her beside her husband. 11Much fear came on all the church and on all who heard it.

Now there’s more. Why does the Lord through the Bible keep warning of severe judgement if some were to receive the mark of the Beast? The are verses that say that those who recieve it, will never be forgiven. If the Lord knows that some people are going to sin why does he not use the ‘auto forgiven for the future’ stance? Because simply, such a thing does not exist and is wholly inconsistent with the Gospel. You need to repent if you sin. Period.