By: Elder Bobby Poe

I Corinthians 3:21-23 “Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; and ye are Christ’s and Christ is God’s.”

If a person can wrap his mind around these verses, receive them by faith and live by them, he will live a victorious life. These verses are not hard to be understood; but they require a God-focused faith to believe them and live in the reality of them.

If the child of God can learn how to rightly possess all things that are his, he can live a victorious life. The first thing Paul mentions that belongs to the believer is the “man of God” – those men whom God has called and sent to preach and teach His word. Believers are to receive them as a gift from God and to give close attention to the word that God sends by them. The next thing that is mentioned that belongs to God’s child is the world; but not the world of the ungodly that the believer is not to love. It is the material world that he is permitted to use for his natural and spiritual good. Luke 16:9 reads, “And I say unto you, make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness.” The word “mammon” used here means material wealth. Material wealth does not have any righteousness in and of itself and may be used for good or evil. For the child of God, he is to make his material wealth to be a friend for his spiritual good by sharing it to promote the cause of Christ. The unbeliever uses the world for his own lustful pleasure that becomes his destruction. True believers are the only people who can use the world in the way God intended it to be used and promote his own spiritual well-being.

The next thing Paul mentions is “life”. For God’s child to possess his life, it must be lived to the glory of God; for only in this way will life bring the joy God intended for his child. Next, Paul mentions “death”. The unbeliever dreads death; but the believer can look upon it as a friend. To view death as a friend, he must look at it with spiritual eyes. For a Christian, death becomes the door through which he passes from this present evil world into the glorious presence of God. The next thing Paul mentions is “ things present and things to come; all are yours”. “Things present” are to be stepping stones that bring a believer closer to God. “Things to come” should encourage him to keep pressing forward in his walk with God. We further read; “and ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s”. GLORY HALLELUJAH !!!