Continuing in Christ’S Teaching

By Moffat D. Ngalande

My increasing desire is to see Christians that have a holistic view of the
Christian faith, being fi rmly grounded in the truths of Gods Word.

Continuing in Christs Teaching takes you on a journey in which the
fundamental Christian doctrines are explored so that we may grasp them and
not only grasp them, but also apply and continue in them in practical day to
day living.

-Moff at Ngalande.

Many of the books and papers in almost all fi elds of study are normally written by so-called
giants and heavyweights in their fi eld. Yet many times, because of this very fact, much of what
is written tends to be very intellectual. It seems to be out of touch with the normal day to day
hassles of life that the average human being has to face. Many of the other books written by
lightweights in the fi eld seem to lack orderliness and the depth of thought that is required.
Yet in this book Continuing in Christs teaching, Moff at works out a unique combination
of the best of both worlds.

I thus proudly recommend this book to Christians of all denominations.

-Reverend Reynold Mmangisa - Church of Central Africa Presbyterian

A very good and well researched eff ort. Th e fact that this is done by a young lay and
professional person should be both encouraging and challenging. Encouraging because its a
very good sign in the midst of the (diff erent) extremes in teachings and doctrines. Challenging
because it shows that there is a quiet which must be recognized and addressed

-Pastor Jeremiah Chikhwaza - Bible Faith Ministries

Th is is an excellent work which elaborates the biblical doctrines herein discussed. Many
readers, both growing and mature Christians would fi nd this book both informative and
helpful in attaining a deeper understanding of the fundamentals of the Christian faith.

-Bishop Geoff rey Matoga -Faith of God Ministries International.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jan 31, 2012
• ISBN: 9781467098069

Moffat D. Ngalande

Moffat Ngalande is an accountant by profession. He is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Accountancy Degree. He has been and is still involved in the interdenominational ministry of (the) ‘Student Christian Organisation of Malawi (SCOM)’. His involvement in this ministry has greatly influenced the conception of this book, the scope of which has been broadened to Christians of all denominations and ages.

Book preview

Contents

DEDICATION

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

The Prayer of Salvation

Abbreviations

DEDICATION

To Dad and Mum

For bringing me up in the fear of the lord,

And for your unconditional love

Dad your fatherhood has helped me to know God as father

I love you both

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Reverend Stewart Lane, Pastor Chikhwaza, Bishop Matoga, thank you for your comprehensive review and constructive and enlightening comments. Reverend M’mangisa, . . . . that you could put pen to paper and beautifully preface my book is a wonderful gift.

Mr. and Mrs John and Jane Msosa, thanks for the wonderful cover. Constantly accommodating and sacrificial in your effort,

you are a true work of art.

My wife Debbie, my brother Frank,

my friends Steve Luwanda and Mphatso Kasalika,

thanks for your encouragement.

PREFACE

I count it a great privilege to write these few words in preface to this book. Many of the books and papers in almost all fields of study are normally written by so-called giants and heavyweights in their field. Yet many times, because of this very fact much of what is written tends to be very intellectual. It seems to be out of touch with the normal day to day hassles of life that the average human being has to face. Many of the other books written by lightweights in the field seem to lack orderliness and the depth of thought that is required.

Yet in this book continuing in Christ’s teaching, Moffat Ngalande works out a unique combination of the best of both worlds. The subject matter at hand is presented in a systematic format, as is normally the case in a professionally done work of Systematic Theology. Systems have their way of appealing to the mind. The human mind has its way of taking in easily things that have been systematized, no matter how simple or complicated the system may be. Chaotic arrangement is generally abhorrent to the mind. And yet the mind is the gateway to the heart, hence necessitating the need to appeal to it.

Yet at the same time Moffat has been able to handle his material with the language of the average person. He has also not been afraid to bear out his convictions on the issues he tackles. This, in a way, will help the reader to grapple with the fact that decisions have to be made on the subject matters at hand.

I thus proudly recommend this book to Christians of all denominations.

Reynolds M’mangisa (Rev)

INTRODUCTION

While on this earth one of the most important things that the Lord taught was that those who follow Him must hold on to his teaching. This was something of very great importance to him as it has great implications for the believing soul. For, to him, holding on and living by his doctrine are inseparable with discipleship.

In no uncompromising terms therefore, to hold on to his teaching is what determines, to a large extent, the quality and consequently proves our discipleship, and none other.

This, initially, entails that we understand the Lord’s doctrine, his whole doctrine. It therefore does not suffice to simply hear about the Lord from others. Rather, we must personally take an initiative to know the Lord. In actual fact, it is the Lord’s will that we have a personal revelation of him, both his nature and character, and of the power of his resurrection. For it is then that we will see the outworking of his power in our lives. Indeed the Kingdom of God progresses from words to power, since God’s kingdom is not only a matter of speech but outworking.

So we see that it is the Lord’s will for him to operate in every single area in our lives, and the extent to which he can do this is that to which we hold on to his teaching; finding pleasure in knowing it and in assimilating its deep truths.

And then, holding to Christ’s teaching means obeying his teaching. To know Christ’s teaching is not enough but more so to obey it. And to obey Christ’s teaching is to practice it, to be encouraged by it and, similarly, to be rebuked so as to have a change of character and attitude.

This, I believe, is the crux of the matter, for true discipleship is shown in one’s lifestyle. Through our thoughts, speech and actions.

This, however, is not of our own making. It is more of surrender than our own ability. If we surrender our lives daily to the Lord he will show his power in and through us so that we, like Paul, may say ‘I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.’

So, effectively, Christ was saying that those who commit themselves to finding out his teaching and, more importantly, who proceed to practice it in obedience and daily surrender to me are true disciples.

Indeed we can love the Lord no more than we can obey him, and if we don’t obey him we don’t love him. It doesn’t get any simpler than that.

The essence of all this is that Christianity is, in every way, practical. It is so practical that if we are true disciples, holding on to and living by God’s word, we basically have God as the very essence of our lives. He becomes the hub on which our whole lives revolve. In essence we become friends with God so that whatever we do emanates from our love for, and surrender to God.

My heart’s desire is that Christ’s people understand His teaching and more so that they surrender daily to their Lord obediently allowing him to live through them.

Moffat D. Ngalande, CISA, ACCA, CPA (MW), BACC

"But as for you continue in what you have learned and become convinced of, because you know those from whom you’ve learnt it, and how . . . you have known the holy scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus"

2 Timothy 3:14,15

Watch your life and doctrine closely, 1 Timothy 4:16

1

The Doctrine of God

God’s Nature and Character

Man has always been fascinated with the idea that there is a higher being in the universe, which he has decided to call God. Through the ages the notion of God has been strongly held on to, greatly questioned and reverently adhered to in many forms of racial and cultural diversity. This may be due to man’s general sense of inadequacy and limitation that affect all forms of his nature, or it can be one of the mysteries of our world, which like many other things cannot simply be explained. But what is this drive to seek and worship a superior being and where does it come from? Can it be that man simply and truly senses the reality of this higher being? Can it be that the world he lives in testifies to the fact that such a being exists? Well, whatever man’s persuasion is, and whether this notion is true or not, it seems to have certainly had an immense impact on today’s societies. For we see that whole nations and cultures adhere, even today, to certain notions of God. Nations like the United States of America had great leaders like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson who founded it on Christian principles. The Islamic nations too are founded on Islamic religious principles. So we see that nations and governments all over the world also recognize this superior being, they inaugurate their leaders using religious oaths, seeking help from this great God. He is also echoed in the legal systems of the world as we seek his help and invite him in our courtrooms when we make an oath to tell the truth.

One of the most fascinating people, that have been equally intrigued with this notion are the Greeks. It is known from history and recorded in the most popular book in the world, the Bible, that they worshipped in various forms and developed different gods for all aspects of their life. This culture of having multiple gods was true to many other cultures in the world. The Egyptian culture also had different gods and so do other cultures even in the modern world. The reason for this might be due to the diverse aspects of man’s life which it was thought that a specific god had sole responsibility over, or it might simply be because man, in ignorance of whether only one or more god’s exist, does not want to miss out the true god(s).

This fear is what was reflected in the knowledge thirsty and philosophical culture of the Greeks. During the time of a man named Paul who was very learned in the traditional Jewish religion but later converted to worshipping what he found to be the ‘true God’, he found that the Greeks had so many gods and each was given a representing idol (carved image). But as he looked at the many idols erected he came across one fascinating idol that was labeled, ‘TO THE UNKNOWN GOD’. The Greeks certainly were very religious and made provision for the possibility of a God they did not know. Paul then tells them and us that there is indeed a God whom they and we have missed out in our numerous religious attempts. There is a God who is close to us that he may be found. He created the world and everything it contains and has given us breath and life. He tells us that he is the very essence of our existence for ‘in him we live and move and have our being. He explains that this God is not served by human efforts as if needing anything for we ‘spring’ from him as offspring. This True God is not worshipped with crafted man-made images, as do most of the world’s religions. He dismisses all these efforts as ignorance, which God has in the past overlooked but will certainly overlook no more. He says this God is a judge who will hold all people accountable to him for everything they do and, consequently, he commands all people everywhere to repent. The proof of all this is that the man this God has appointed as the judge was killed and raised from the dead¹.

Through Paul the Greeks of his day were introduced to this new and unique God. A God who stood alone as God and who required only one way of worshipping him. A God who demanded that from then on all the other possible avenues and method’s of seeking and worshipping God should be discarded and only his true and revealed way should be adhered to².

It is this God that we attempt to understand. This True God that we seek to discover. He is the God of the Bible, who has revealed himself to the man Abraham, to his descendants the nation of Israel and has furthered his revelation of himself through the Man Jesus Christ.

All in all, as has been seen by our previous discussion of man’s fascination with God and his continuing curiosity, God is obviously a being that cannot be fully comprehended by man’s limited mind. Even great minds like that of Paul and Moses marveled at the being of God.

Paul was a man who received great revelations of God and had very real and sweet communion with Him. Out of this relationship with God he wrote half of the New Testament (NT).

He had a great ministry and experienced God’s mighty power. But in spite of all this, all he could ever want was to know God more; ‘that I may know him and the power of his resurrection’ (Phili. l3: 10; 2Cor. 12: 1, 7).

Moses too was a man who had a very close relationship with God. He spoke face to face with God as a man speaks with a friend (Num. 12: 6-8). He too is generally believed to have written the first five books of the Old Testament (OT) and his hands also worked great and awesome miracles. And yet after all this he cries to God saying ‘teach me your ways show me your glory’ (Exo. 33: 13, 18).

We learn from these two giants of faith, just as they learnt, that the more you know God the more you realize you know so little about him and that he is beyond total human comprehension. We learn to accept that God is simply God because, in Paul’s own words ‘the mystery of godliness is great’ (1Tim. 3: 16).

However in spite of the greatness of his mystery, God in his graciousness has chosen to reveal himself to man. He has done this in a manner that the human mind can understand which is through his word. Apart from his word alone there are other ways in which he has chosen to reveal himself. He has revealed himself through his creation and also through his son Jesus Christ; ‘the heavens declare the glory of God’ . . . ‘Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father’ ‘in the past God spoke through the prophets but in these last days he has spoken to us by his son’ (Psa. 19: 1, Jn. 14: 9, Heb. 1: 1-2).

By looking at the teachings of God’s word, the Bible, we will now have a discussion on God’s nature as is revealed therein.

God is spirit

God goes beyond what is natural to us, beyond the physical. He is spirit. He is invisible and lives in unapproachable light (1 Tim 6:16). This nature determines the level at which we can relate to him, and it is for this reason that Jesus said ‘God is spirit and all who worship him must do so in spirit and in truth’ (Jn. 4:24).

This means we can only worship God if his Spirit gives life to and communicates with our spirit.

The greatness of God

God has revealed himself as Jehovah, or The LORD Almighty. He is the creator and redeemer of all the earth. He is all-powerful, all knowing, and he is present everywhere all the time.

a.    God all-powerful (Omnipotent)

In trying to let Abraham know his power and might, God reveals himself to Abraham as Jehovah the LORD Almighty (Gen. 17:1). We too ought to recognize him as such.

We first see the display of his mighty power in the creation in which he simply speaks the world into existence. His might is so great that he creates the world out of nothing… out of a deep void and darkness. He then gives a child to Abraham in his old age, and delivers the nation of Israel from the grip of Egypt’s slavery. In the process he parts the Red Sea and feeds the Israelites on heavenly food for 40 full years. During this time even their clothes do not wear out, because of the power of God.

In the NT we also learn that nothing is impossible with God; he brings about a virgin birth and through Christ he does many miracles, even raising the dead (Gen. 1:1-2; 17:21; 18; 21:1-3; Exo. 12; 14; Mk. 10: 27; Lk. 1: 37; Jn. 11).

b. God is present everywhere and is ever-present (Omnipresent)

David in the 139th Psalm gives us a very vivid picture of the omnipresence of