Category: Timothy

Paulos I know, Apollos I know; But who is Jesus?

Fr Dr Saji K Mathew6 Comments

This blog is based on 1 Corinthians 3:4 where St Paul sadly comments on the worldly nature of the church in Corinth that he founded, quarreling in the name of human leaders creating a kind of cultic personalities out of God’s servants. And we see in this chapter, Paul struggling to put the church back on the foundation of Jesus Christ. Hence, the sarcastic question in the second part of the title.

Corinth was evangelized during the latter half of St. Paul’s second missionary journey. As usual, Paul first preached to the Jews in Corinth, but upon being rejected, turned to the Gentiles. Apollos was an Alexandrian Jew who was well versed in the scripture and testified Jesus Christ as the Messiah. However, he knew only the baptism of John the Baptist (Acts 18:25), of that of repentance (Acts 19:4). Apollos first came to know about the baptism of the Holy Spirit when Priscilla and Aquila instructed him (Acts 18:26). After supposedly receiving the baptism of Holy Spirit, he was further charged spiritually and went to Corinth to preach Jesus Christ (Acts 18:27).

Corinth had the double blessing of hearing about and knowing Jesus Christ, first from Paul, followed by Apollos. The division or rather fragmentation in the Church of Corinth reflects that the teaching and preaching of two spiritual giants (Paul and Apollos) yet had not made inroads into the spirit of the people of Corinth. This suggests that they received Jesus Christ only superficially, but still were unmoved in their heart and spirit.

A doubt arise as to what actually the Corinthians were hearing when Saints Paul and Apollos spoke to them. It could be assumed that the people of Corinth were more attracted to the personalities of Saints Paul and Apollos over the gospel and its essence, the salvation. They might have been impressed on St. Paul as a learned and rich man, as well as a former Jewish authority who had close connections with the hierarchy in Jerusalem (see Acts 22:3-5). Moreover, his wisdom and knowledge were up to a level of high intellect that the common mass often failed to understand (1 Peter 3:16). St. Apollos too was a learned man, well versed in the scripture, and more importantly eloquent (Acts 18:24). Being from Alexandria, historians are also of the view that he followed the Philo style of allegoric interpretation in his teachings. In short, the people of Corinth were more blessed to have two great personalities from the Christian world, when compared to other disciples who were mostly uneducated and ordinary men (Acts 4:13). But the primary and sole focus on the physical qualities proved miserable as the Corinthian church missed the key message that there is salvation in none but only in Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12). St. Paul himself did not consider any of his worldly qualifications as worthy but counted them as rubbish (Philippians 3:8 &11).

Poor believers of Corinth were in a situation as quoted by Jesus Christ, ‘……hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand’ (Matthew 13:13). The primary reason for this cognitive disability is due to the unwillingness to detach from the comfort zone of worldly glories. The word of God will only enter a person when s/he is separated from this worldly thoughts and deeds. As we read in Numbers 8:6, Moses was instructed by God to separate the Levites from the rest of the Israelites, so that they could serve Him. In order to hear God and serve Him, we need to detach from worldly things. Unfortunately, it appears that the believers of Corinth were not detached but continued in the worldly comfort even after becoming the followers of Christ, a trend that we see existing even today.

The two factors that St. Paul identified as the cause of division in the Church are jealousy and quarreling (1 Corinthians 3:3). Diagnosing jealousy, the root cause could be attributed to the absence of self-confidence and feeling of insecurity due to the lack of contentment. Jesus said, Do not let your heart be troubled (John 14:1); and ……….take courage, I have conquered the world (John 16:34). St. Paul said that God has not given us a spirit of cowardice but a spirit of power, love, and self-discipline (1Timothy 1:7). The absence of the discernment of gospel leaves us devoid of power, love, and self-discipline, leading to a sense of insecurity.

God has given us His power (Acts 1:8), but we do not recognize it nor do we try to exercise that power. God is love (1 John 4:16) and Jesus gave us a new commandment, to love one another (John 13:34). The uniqueness of God’s love is that it is patient, kind, not envious or arrogant or boastful or rude (1 Corinthians 13:4). These qualities only make us self-confident and secure, and not otherwise.

The Corinthian church boasted more on its human leaders than the true leader, Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 3:21). Thus, the eternal Lord, the author and perfecter of faith (Hebrew 12:2), Jesus Christ is sidelined or even forgotten in most instances. Jesus said you can do nothing without me (John 15:5). Yet, people boast and rely on human leaders hoping that flesh can feed and make them content. It is similar to what happened when the prophets of Baal prayed at the top of their voice O Baal answer us (1 Kings 18: 26) and Elijah taunting them Cry aloud…….he is either meditating, or he has wandered away, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep….. (1 Kings 18: 27). In the following verses, we read that Baal never answered. Any image made by or statuses attributed to human beings according to human designs and skills (Acts 17:29) is idol worship. And God said you shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol (Exodus 20:3-4).

As a result of idolizing their human leaders, Paul and Apollos, there erupted quarrel among them. The focus of the people drifted away from Jesus Christ, to the question of who is more powerful, Paul or Apollos. As one group pitched for Paul another set claim on Appolos. It is to be noted here that the Galatians were also affected by a similar kind of distraction, and St Paul rebukes them saying I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ (Galatians 1:6). In both the churches, the deception of Satan is evident that they had not completely thrown out the gospel but kept it as a pretext to win human arguments. St. Paul calls the Galatians ‘fools’ and asked them who has bewitched you? (Galatians 3:1).

Contentment is the key to success in Christian life. This is achieved when we have confidence in Christ which in turn provides us with a sense of security. St. Paul said, I can do all things through him who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13). The extreme sense of confidence is testified by St. Paul when he said, Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? (Romans 8:35); and he goes on to answer, For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38). St. John said, this is the confidence that we have in him…..(1 John 5:14). The Word of God tells us to be content (Hebrew 13:5), and say with confidence that the Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid (Hebrews 13:6).

Our confidence in Christ will help us to love each other rather than quarreling with our brethren. A human question comes, what shall we do when somebody tries to snatch what is genuinely ours? Well, the answer is, show to them who you are in Christ. Jesus said, Do not resist an evildoer…..if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well (Matthew 5:39-40). The assurance is blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely (Matthew 5:11). Are these impractical and ornamental words? Not at all, because Jesus would not have said this if he himself could not practice it, as he himself was tested by what he suffered (Hebrews 2:18), and succeeded. Therefore, to weed out such evils of the flesh, jealousy, and quarreling is possible with the help of Christ, and Christ only (Acts 4:12).     

In order to achieve this status, we need to transform ourselves from flesh to the spirit (Romans 12:2). In order to achieve this, one needs to submit his/her flesh/body as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God (Romans 12:1). By doing this, we are able to align our body and spirit so that both could glorify God (1 Corinthians 6:20). If we fail to achieve this alignment, we are then hypocrites, as our body does one thing which may be contrary to our spirit. We may pray, but our prayers may not be answered, we may be churchgoers, and physical followers, but as long as we are not aligned within ourselves, Jesus will say, I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers (Matthew 7:23). The underlying reason for jealousy and quarreling among the people of Corinth was that they were still in flesh and were not completely transformed in Spirit. Our relationship with God is established only when we identify with Him. God is Spirit (John 4:24) and those who want to identify with Him must transform themselves into the status that God is. This is testified by St. Paul, and it is no longer I who live but it is Christ who lives in me (Galatians 2:20); because if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).

In conclusion, it is none of the human leaders but God that matters (1 Corinthians 3:6). It is not by human might and power that the Church is sustained but by the Spirit of the Lord (Zechariah 4:6). We read in Psalms (118:8), it is better to take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in mortals. David prayed, what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them? (Psalms 8:4). Indeed we have no identity outside Christ, for we are what He has given us.

Therefore, let us testify:

I was a sinner but by His blood, my sins are cleansed off (1 John 1:7&9); I was deformed and my sins resulted in all kind of diseases in my body, but Jesus took all my infirmities and bore my diseases (Matthew 8:17). And, by His stripes, I am healed (Isaiah 53:4). Therefore, I do not want myself to be identified outside and above Christ because He is my identity. As St. Paul quoted Jeremiah 9:24 Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord (1 Corinthians 1:31; 2 Corinthians 10:17).

Jesus was never jealous, how could I be?

Jesus never quarreled? How can I?

Jesus never boasted about Himself, but always glorified His Father, and gave thanks to Him. How could I then claim a worldly status for myself?

Amen.

 

Jesus and the fox: declaration of an all-out war (Luke 13:31-33).

Fr Dr Saji K Mathew4 Comments

This blog is based on Jesus’ reply to the Pharisees who brought seemingly important information- ‘Herod wants to kill you’. A second reading of verse 31 reveals that it is not only the plain information that they brought to Jesus, but an advice coated with friendly overtures-‘get away from here’.

It does not require a great deal of intelligence to discern the intention of Pharisees. Before getting into this, let us have a quick look at Herod. Setting aside historical facts, from the very own words of Jesus, he is a ‘fox’. The first thing that comes to our mind about a fox is its cunning nature. Foxes are a nightmare for farmers for they steal their livestock and causes severe environmental damages. It is reported that foxes inflict an economic loss of around 100 million dollars to Australian economy each year.

It is interesting to see the way Jesus exposes the Pharisees that pretended good will to Him. It is like killing two birds with a stone when Jesus replied ‘go and tell that fox’ (Luke 13:32), for it implies that Herod is a fox, and hence is primarily unclean; and secondly, that they though being Pharisees are in league with the unclean. Let us have a look at these two points in detail:

  1. Herod equated to fox

Leviticus 11:27 says, ‘All that walk on their paws, among the animals that walk on all fours, are unclean’. Accordingly, fox is an unclean animal. The uncleanness of Herod is clearly visible from his life history. For instance, Herod built a city to honour his Roman overlords, named Tiberius. This city was built on top an old Jewish cemetery, and hence was unclean for a pious Jew to enter. Only the gentiles lived in the city of Tiberius. The sly nature of Herod is also evident from the above act when he pretended to be a friend of the Jews.

Herod was dirty with his personal life as well, as is evident from the immoral life he lead. His relationship with Herodias, wife of his brother Philip (Matthew 14:3-4)was against the social norms. Moreover, the dance which culminated in the martyrdom of John the Baptist was performed by none other than his own step-daughter, before the company (Matthew 13:6). No noble family would allow their daughters to dance in public in those days, as it was a shameful thing. The dirt of Herod and more of Herodias is visible here when their daughter is not only allowed to dance in public but also offered a reward (Matthew 13:7).

  1. Pharisees in league with the unclean (Herod)

The word Pharisee means one who is set apart (for God). Being the strict custodians of Lord’s law, the Pharisees are meant to keep themselves immaculately pure, with no physical contact or association with impure and unclean. For instance, in Luke 11:38 we read that the Pharisees were amazed at to see that Jesus did not wash before dinner. At another instance, they questioned Jesus about His disciples not washing their hands before eating, and thereby breaking the tradition of elders (Mark 7:5).

The corruption and degradation of ‘the separated’ (Pharisees) is exposed by Jesus when they brought the news about the (so called) plan of an unclean person, Herod(Luke 13:31). Without having close proximity to Herod it would have been impossible for the Pharisees to spy out such a sensitive information, more importantly because Herod always feared political unrest as is evident from the case of John the Baptist (Matthew 14:5).

Further, we read that Jesus asks the Pharisees who brought the news of his destruction to go back to Herod and convey His message (Luke 13:32). Thus, Jesus returns the unclean (Pharisees) to the unclean (Herod). This act of Jesus could be linked to Deuteronomy (23:14) where it says, ‘Because the Lord your God travels along with your camp, to save you and hand over your enemies to you, therefore, your camp must be holy…’. Jesus as God our saviour came to rescue the mankind from its enemy, Satan, the lord of impurities. Thus the act of Jesus is to keep His camp clean and safe from all impurities. This is further evident from Jesus’ swift action inside the Jerusalem temple where He drove out the sheep, cattle and dove sellers, and the money changers (John 2:14-16), and thereby reasserting that ‘my house shall be called a house of prayer’ (Matthew 21:13 cited from Isiah 56:7c).

In league with the fox, the Pharisees themselves have turned into the ways of the fox. The Pharisees, instead of leading and guiding Lord’s people have turned into exploiting and killing God’s children as is evident from the following:

  • They tied up heavy burdens on the shoulder of others but they themselves did not lift a finger to move them (Matthew 23:4),
  • They locked people out of the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 23:13,
  • The manipulated the Law of Moses (Matthew 23:16, 23, 25 & 27),
  • They were the killers of prophets, sages, and scribes (Matthew 23:30-35).

Binding the two actors, Herod and Pharisees, we see a league of foxes, as enemies out to destroy Jesus’ ministry. Unveiling the foxes brings forth Satan and his army; with Satan in place of Herod as the lead, and the demons in place of the Pharisees that follows Herod instead of Lord God. Let us again have a look at these two actors bit more in detail, this time with Satan in place of Herod the fox, and demons in place of the Pharisees:

Satan’s work through Herod-

The justification for drawing the parallel between Herodand his fox-ways could be linked to Jesus’ statement exposing the nature of Satan as ‘a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him……..for he is a liar and the father of lies’ (John 8:44). Further, in Genesis (3:1) Satan (appeared in the form of serpent) is identified as ‘crafty’. The crafty nature of Satan could further be discerned from his way of using Pharisees to convey the information instead of going directly to Jesus. Remember, Satan was defeated thrice attempting to fail Jesus with temptations (Luke 4:1-13); and he won’t dare to go directly as Jesus had already exposed and defeated him in the tests.

The Pharisees in league with Satan

The Pharisees are in violation of the first commandment (Exodus 20:2-3), as they are following Satan instead of Lord the God. This violation is exposed by Jesus in his statement to the Jews, ‘You are from your father the devil’ (John 8:44).Thus, the Pharisees, instead of supporting Lord’s ministry are seen throughout as spoilers of the kingdom of God. Neither do they enter nor they allow anyone to enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 23:13-14). The information coated in kindness was actually to dissuade Jesus from doing Lord’s work (see John 9:7 & 10:37).Satan was trying to destroy the vineyard that Jesus was planting, or rather re-planting (see Luke 20:9), using the Pharisees, as could be linked toSong of Songs (2:15) and Ezekiel (13:4)- foxes ruining the vineyard and false prophets as jackals.

The distractive and destructive forces of Satan and his allies are ever active in this world. Hence, Saint Peter cautions that Satan is like a prowling lion always looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). Let us have a brief look at this with reference to Lord’s ministry during the early churchdays:

  1. Thessalonians 2:18: ‘For we wanted to come to you……but Satan blocked our way’. We could see even today so many people wanting to do Lord’s work but are blocked by many worldly forces.
  2. 2 Thessalonians 2:9– Satan will use all power signs, lying wonders, and every kind of deception. This is evident from many pseudo ministries commercialising the gift of Holy Spirit, so as to fulfil selfish motives rather than the will of God.
  3. 1 Timothy 1:19– It is also not uncommon to see many enthusiastically stepping into Lord’s ministry but eventually failing to keep the true faith intact and work in good conscience. This especially happens when the ministry start prospering with money and fame. 1 Peter 5:9 advises to resist Satan and remain steadfast in faith. We should always be aware of the schemes of Satan (2 Corinthians 2:11).
  4. 1 Timothy 5:15: ‘For some have already turned away to follow Satan’. These are the kind of people that jumps into the ministry without adequate preparation and entrenchment in the word of God, and gets carried away by Satan. Hence the advice of Saint Peter for self-discipline and remaining alert is very important (1 Peter 5:8). Jesus said, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God’ (Luke 9:62).

Now, let us place ourselves in the situation Jesus was when the Pharisees brought the distractive information. Let us ask ourselves as to how we would react and respond to such a situation if it happens today. The distraction from Satan comes in various different ways in our lives. It could be through family pressures, time constraints, social standing and reputation, adverse societal conditions, risk of losing friendship and relationships, fear of creating disharmony, and all that we can think of. This is where the challenge of living in comfort overcomes true life in Christ. Unfortunately many or most prefer a gospel of worldly comfort and are averse to sufferings which entails Lord’s ministry in this world. Jesus said, ‘Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth’ (Matthew 10:34). He also said, ‘those who want to follow me must deny themselves, take up their cross and follow me’ (Mark 8:34). The spiritual attitude and determination of Saint Paul is articulated in his declaration, ‘neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (Romans 8:38-39).

Coming back to the conversation between Jesus and the Pharisees:

Jesus’s response is extremely audacious amidst a politically volatile context, as it involved direct confrontation with the rulers. Jesus said, ‘go and tell that fox…., and detailed what He planned to do- two days of ministry in this world and one final blow on the third day.

The two days of ministry is Jesus’ war with the demonic forces in this world. On the third day He will be captured and killed. But, after His death, as we read, Jesus went straight into the Sheol, the core dwelling place of Satan and handed him the final deadly blow by liberating the souls through the proclamation of gospel to them(1 Peter 3:19).

In short, Jesus’ response to Pharisees should not be viewed as just a human interaction but a spiritual communication. He is in-fact talking to the demons hidden within the Pharisees, who would take the report back to their boss, Satan. This style of communication is seen in another instance, in the case of the Gerasene demoniac. There, we can see that Jesus is not talking to the man but directly to the demons (Mark 5:1-13).

I wish to conclude here with a note that foxes are everywhere around a committed Christian. Those who are in league with Satan won’t have much trouble and their ministries and Christian lives are smooth, popular in the worldly sense, andmaterially prosperous. This is because the lovers of this world are loved in return (John 15:19).Every word, deed and act of commitment (to Jesus) is provocative to Satan and his army, upon which he will initiate attacks. This is the reason why Jesus said, ‘In the world you face persecution, but take courage; I have conquered the world” (John 16:33).Genuine followers of Christ are hated by this world because they do not belong to this world (see John 15:18).

When we make all kind of excuses (no matter whether it is for missing family prayers, fellowships or Sunday worships, or for not being proactive with Lord’s ministry), we should, for a moment, think about the lives of Jesus’s disciples. Most of them had family, parents, siblings, wife and children. But we do not know who took care of them or what happened to them as the disciples travelled around the world and were martyred in foreign countries. The Bible is silent about this subject. But we know that the ‘crown of righteousness’(2 Timothy 4:7) is on their heads, and they are sitting on their thrones (Matthew 19:28).

We must not make excuses because it is not by our might or power, but by the spirit of the Lord (Zechariah 4:6)that we work for Jesus Christ.

Lord be kind and have mercy upon us. Amen.

Possessions and Eternal Life: A study of the conversation between Jesus Christ and the rich man (Part 1)

Fr Dr Saji K Mathew4 Comments

This blog is about the conversation between Jesus and a rich man inquiring about eternal life as reported in Matthew 19:16-21; Mark 10:17-22; and Luke 18:18-23.

The primary focus of this blog on Matthew 19:21 and Mark 10:22 which states that the man was shocked and went away grieving, for he had ‘many possessions’. The Greek word for possession means property, land, estate and so on. Webster dictionary defines possession as having control (over something).

The man in the above scenario is obviously rich and had many possessions. In legal terms possession is a title of ownership with full liberty to exercise the right over someone or something. For the purpose of this study I identify three types of possessions as discussed below:

  1. Inherited possession: Inheritance could be defined as an extension of the past. For instance, we inherit many biological characteristics (even diseases as modern science identifies) from our parents. These are genealogical in nature as it is through the genes that such characteristics and traits are transferred. In my previous blog I discussed in detail about generational curses which is relevant in this context as well. In Psalms 51: 5 King David grieves about been conceived in sin. This clearly means that no one is born in this world without sin and everyone (by default) inherits sin, because of the fall of Adam and Eve. Jesus Christ is the only exception to this inheritance as Mary was conceived by Holy Spirit, and hence born without sin. Through Adam and Eve humanity has inherited sin as a possession. Lord looks up from heaven for an exception to this inheritance but finds none (Psalms 14:2-3). Job (15: 14-16) in his righteous spirit admits that no one is pure but in a sinful state. By inheritance one is legally the natural heir of a possession. Saint Paul figures this out that one is by nature children of wrath which means sinner by nature (Ephesians 2:3). We can see this in the nature of Cain that he inherited the spirit of deception (Genesis 4:7) which was passed on from Satan to Adam through Eve Genesis 3: 4-6; 1 John 3:12). In Romans 5:12 Saint Paul reinstates the nature of sin as being inherited that even though sin entered through one man, Adam, death, as the wages of sin (Romans 6:23)  spread to all because all have sinned. This shows that sin has spread across the generation due to one man, Adam. No one can deny the fact that we are sinners or we have inherited sins. 1 John 1:8 says ‘If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves…’ and as stated above deception belongs to Satan.

 On the contrary, the rich man tried to justify himself that he had been righteous by following the commandments since his youth. The Greek word for youth actually means the entire former part of the age commencing from birth. This means that the rich man was trying to deny that he has inherited sin. Instead he was just relying on his memory only which dates only so much back.   We should know that Jesus knows not only our present, but our past and future as well, in the light of Hebrews 13:8– ‘Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever’.

 It is important for us to know how curse is inherited. At the outset please be informed that unless we open the gate demons cannot enter inside our lives. The moment we commit a sin we enter into a legal agreement with demons by means of which they obtain the right to enter and dwell in us.  In other words, by committing a sin we rebel against and detach from God and link with Satan. In this way, a sinner is possessed by demonic forces. This demonic possession continues down the genealogical line until the covenant is broken- and the only way to get ransomed is through the precious blood of Christ (see 1 Peter 1:19).

 The rich man in this text certainly had possessions as it says he was rich. His material possession does not seem to be genuine and honest as we could make out from Jesus’ stand against it. Please note Zacchaeus was also rich but his possessions were mostly acquired by fraudulent means (Luke 19:8). This denotes that he simultaneously had demonic possessions. By announcing to give away his wealth Zacchaeus denounces the possessions which withheld him from eternal life, and is delivered from his sinful possession through salvation (see Luke 19:9). It is interesting to note that Zacchaeus did neither ask for eternal life nor was told what to do, but was still granted. Whereas the rich man asked for eternal and was clearly told what to do but still failed to follow Jesus.

It was very important in the life of Zacchaeus to give away his wealth as his wealth entailed demonic possession. James 5:4 states that the cries of the deprived and oppressed have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. Now, who knows how the ancestors of the rich man have accumulated wealth. In the case of Zacchaeus we clearly know that the wealth was inappropriately amassed.

 

We certainly have a divine way to break the generational curses.  Isiah (53:5) says ‘by his stripes we are healed’. Since Jesus is there for us today and forever we ought to be aware that He keeps a tab on our activities. This means that we do have the opportunity to break away and come out from our generational curses- and it is only through the blood of Christ (1 John 1:9), which cleanses us from all sins/unrighteousness. By ‘all sins/unrighteousness’ it means ‘irrespective of past, present or future. This realistic claim also has evidence in the prophecy of Ezekiel (18:14-20) where it says that if the son decides not to follow the sins of his father but walks in righteousness he is promised to be rewarded. Therefore, if we repent our sins as well as the sins of our ancestors we receive deliverance, as promised by God (Leviticus 26:40). We see this in action when Nehemiah prayed and God responded favorably (Nehemiah-7).

It is possible that we may not have heard of or aware of our generational curses. However, our ignorance does not absolve us from those curses. More importantly, even if a person of latter generation resolves to lead a righteous life in God, s/he is prone to be overpowered by the demons within as they have not been cast out. This is where the importance of fellowship and ministry comes. James 5:15-16 should be read in light of this. Besides, Jesus commissioned his disciples to cast out the demons (Mark 3:15). Thus, there are three steps to come out fully from the clutches of curses: 1. Repent our sins, 2. Get the demons cast out (deliverance), and 3. Accept the body and blood of Christ.

Please note, in terms of generational curses, parents are like a protective umbrella for their children. They are responsible for protecting their children from the attack of demons by providing spiritual guidance and protection (see Proverbs 22:6). On the contrary, if the parents get involved in sinful activities they are destroying the protective covering of their kids, as well as passing on the demons to the next generation- thereby being cursed.

By the holy and precious blood of Jesus Christ.

                                                                                                                              to be continued…………….