Excerpts of Q and A with GSW (PSSBC School 23) 

Excerpts of Q and A with GSW (PSSBC School 23) 

Student: How do we know we are free? It is one thing to hear that we are free; it is another to come to the knowledge and then believe. What is eternal life? When the physical body will one day go, if it is the spirit, what is eternal life then when it's our spirit, or probably our spirit will only make an impact in the spirit realm?

 For as many as believe, they he made the sons of God,  what of the Gentiles?  I know the Samaria woman was a Gentile and was saved but I  feel she was seen differently even in the eyes of Jesus as not a freeborn like the Jews.

Sir, please where does my black skin fall under? A Gentile? 

GSW: Good morning. I am happy you are asking these questions. The terms Jew and Gentile belong to the Old Testament, not the New Testament.

GSW: In the Old Testament, God told Abraham to set himself apart from His family, friends, and folks and go on a journey in a separate direction.
Abraham was the first Jew, the mark of the Jew was later given to Him when God told him to circumcise all the men under his sphere of influence, Abraham pioneered circumcision and it became the mark through which a Jew is differentiated from a non-Jew. Non-Jews in those days worshiped idols, and Jews were told to worship only Jehovah therefore the Jews do not have anything in common with the non-Jews.

 GSW: According to the law of Moses, when a Jew comes in contact with an idol or an idolator, he becomes defiled. The power of the idols was so strong that they contaminated the consecration of the Jew.

 GSW: All Non-Jews are Gentiles, It has nothing to do with skin colour as long as you were not born to Jewish parents, you are considered a gentile, which was according to the Old Testament. In the New Testament, everything changed.

 Student: Thank you. Ephesians 2:14-18 
14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility
 15 by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace
 16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility
 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near
 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit

Student: Is it safe to say that whatever we know or have learned from the Old Testament should be discarded? 

GSW: Yes, The Old Testament and its realities do not apply to the saints in Christ Jesus, Jesus by his death became our peace bringing down the wall of separation between Jews and Gentiles.

GSW: Making us one nation Revelations 5: 9 And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.
 10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign[b] on the earth.” 
1 Peter 2: 9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 

GSW: You are now a saint. In the New Testament, the power of the Holy Spirit is so powerful in the saint that the saint is the one who corrupts and destroys all the works of the enemy. In the Old Testament, Idols defile the Jew. In the New Testament, the saint destroys the power of Idols and we also cast out demons effortlessly.

 GSW: The name of the nation of Jesus is the Church, Jesus is the Head of this Nation. The Holy Spirit is the constitution of this Nation, Believers are the assembly of saints in light of this nation.

 Please read Acts 10 Twice the Lord showed Peter a vision, instructing Him that what he has called clean, Peter should not call unclean. The Holy Spirit came upon the Gentiles without any discrimination
the same way he came upon the Jews in Acts 2.

Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 
29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. 

GSW: The term gentile as we see in the Bible was applicable only to the non-Jews and those who still follow the law of Moses. These people can use it because they are not Christians, all Christians are saints there is no term like gentile or heathen or black or white in Christ.

Student: I just read that, but was it not just for that moment and because of the good deeds of Cornelius? 

GSW: No please, let me bring it here

 GSW: Cornelius Calls for Peter 
Acts 10:1 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. 
2 He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.
 3 One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!”
 4 Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked. The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. 
5 Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. 
6 He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.” 
GSW: Look at verse 4 Cornelius was praying the Jewish way 
GSW: An angel appeared to him and told him all his good deeds and prayers have been noticed 

Student: So he adopted the Jews' way?

 GSW: Yes Cornelius embraced Judaism and was praying to the God of Israel even though he was a gentile he also did many good deeds but they were not enough to save him

 Student: Oh ok The angel then told him to send for Peter. Peter was the one with the word of salvation and the power of the Holy Spirit.

 Student: Let me go and read the book of Acts. Thank you, Sir.

GSW: If his good works could save him, he would not need to be told to send for Peter 

Student: Hmmm 

GSW: He would just be told to keep it up but good works were not enough, Jesus is the key to salvation and eternal life. The Jews at the time didn't want to share the good news with non-Jews.

 Student: So yesterday's teaching makes more sense now. About good deeds, they wanted to keep the news of eternal life and Jesus to themselves this was why the Holy Spirit went to Peter in that same scripture and told him that he must not call unclean what God has called clean otherwise Peter would not have gone to Cornelius house. According to the Bible, Peter saw the vision twice then the chariot arrived to pick him up he followed the chariot but he still didn't go into Cornelius' house because he felt Cornelius was unclean as a gentile. Peter stood by the gate Cornelius brought himself and his family and friends to meet Peter, Cornelius told Peter the vision of the angel he saw Peter confirmed that he also saw a vision Peter began to preach about Jesus, the Holy Spirit did not wait for him to finish because the Holy Spirit knew he would not lay hands given that Peter saw Cornelius as unclean and Moses told Jews not to touch nonjews.

 Student: Hmm 

GSW: The Holy Spirit then came upon Cornelius and his entire family without the touch of Peter Peter saw it and said WOW! They received the Holy Spirit just as we did Why should they not be baptised? The law of Moses kept a barrier between followers of Jehovah and the whole world, Jesus tore the veil of the temple from top to bottom and made the Holy of Holies accessible to all. The Holy Spirit does not discriminate in any way.

GSW: So you are a saint, dear student, Born of the Word and full of the Spirit of God.

GSW: You are a born-again Christian, your previous biological birth has no say in your salvation, and your eternal heritage in Christ you have been born into the light and you walk in the light.
 Glory be to God! Hallelujah 

Student: Thank you very much Sir,  I am looking for answers to plenty questions,  I am tired, I want to know what I am doing with my life,  I want to understand for myself. Just in case I am talking too much. Thank you again, sir.

 GSW: You are not talking too much Please feel free to ask questions It took me almost ten years to accept that I am eternally saved I fought and argued and cursed and got confused etc I know the struggle, the battle within. I have walked in those same shoes I didn't know why it was so hard for me to understand it.

 Student: This  GSW: I read the scriptures over and over again But my brain just won't stop condemning me for every fault.

 GSW: I never felt I was good enough or able or worthy, I always judged myself by my own actions and deeds.

Student:  ha ohhhhhh

 GSW: Until I came to accept that my righteousness was not the key, The key was in the righteousness of God that I became through Christ Jesus. The full embrace of Grace Christ paid it all, This is rest. Rest from all struggles and mental torture, Rest from spiritual confusion and artificial warfare, Rest from the feeling of inadequacy and the thought that God was angry with me and punishing me for something I did.

 GSW: It is until we come to this place of rest that we will begin to walk in the light of it and do the supernatural with ease.

Student: Oh my, thank you for these words. Today and Tomorrow,  the end of the week I will work with my head up a little.  Let me keep learning.
 Sir, when Paul talked about women should be quiet in Church,  does that also apply to this, because just from that verse I find that my mind limits me even to question the things in the bible. I swallow my questions. Just think also has this mindset has limited me to stand up for the truth. Was Paul talking to a different set of people?

 GSW: No, please. Apostle Paul didn't write this as a blanket rule for all churches (None of the apostles envisaged that a day would come when all their writings would be compiled into one book called the Bible and read as one unit. They addressed situations based on the peculiarities of the flock they are. There are churches where ladies were prophetesses Acts 21:9 
9 Philip had four unmarried daughters who prophesied. How can they keep quiet when the Spirit of God is bidding them to speak We should not misapply the word of God meant for specific folks by generalizing them. This is a serious issue with today's believers. 

Student: Yes GSW: Someone is suffering from depression, and the pastor while preaching turns to the person and says "The Lord says to tell you to go on a retreat to beach house and pray for three days, he said he will heal you and answer your prayers there" The pastor had no idea what the woman was struggling with Church members have no idea too It is between the woman and God. As soon as some ladies hear this, they too will start packing their bags and going to the beach to pray even though the message was not for them they will say they were doing this by faith. There is a word of instruction for the general assembly and a word for the individual believer in his or her walk with God. The church where women were told to keep quiet had specific issues, which Apostle Paul identified as the cause of unrest in that church. We all know some women can be overbearing some even control their husbands. If you have a pastor whose wife controls, that instruction of Apostle Paul will save you from many sorrows and stings from such a pastor's wife. But where you have a woman like Dorcas, Phoebe, Priscilla, etc they gave good counsel and ministered to the saints, such an instruction for women to keep quiet will not be necessary, so it is not a blanket rule.
I hope we all understand that now. 

Student: Thank God for this liberation