The Coordinator of Student Affairs and Lecturer at the Pentecost Theological Seminary (PTS), Pastor Joshua Yirenkyi-Smart, has bemoaned recent contemporary happenings which he said substantiate man’s depravity.
Addressing participants of the 2018 All Officers’ Retreat of the La Area held at the Dome of Pentecost International Worship Centre (PIWC) at Kokomlemle, Pastor Yirenkyi-Smart touched on one of the tenets of the Church, “Man’s Depraved Nature.”
He recounted how the Church settled on its current tenets which underpin its belief systems.
He noted that Palladius among others in the Bible taught many false doctrines to deceive believers. “It is for this reason that the tenets of the Church help streamline our belief systems to be rooted and conform to the standards set by the Bible,” he explained.
Quoting Romans 3:23 and Romans 5:12, he explained that the depraved man is corrupt, evil, fraudulently oriented, deceitful, an imposter, greedy and one who peddles falsehood.
He stated that man is not worthy of God’s love, because even after man had fallen, instead of accepting his fault he was rather playing the blame game; but the serpent did not have anyone to blame.
He cited characters like Abraham, who introduced his wife as his sister even though he was the father of faith; Absalom, who had to chase his own father out of the kingdom and Gehazi who lied to collect items from Naaman and had to lie to his master Elijah, which resulted in him contracting of leprosy, to buttress his point.
“The contemporary world happenings like homosexuality and lesbianism all reflect man’s depraved nature and is all due to permissive society and the world’s ideology based on relativism, where what is not permissible to some individuals and societies is permissible to some individuals and societies,” he bemoaned.
Using Philippians 2:12, he asked believers to work at their own salvation with fear and trembling to enable them enjoy the benefits of salvation.
Pastor Joshua Yirenkyi-Smart in his concluding remarks stressed on three types of sanctification (instantaneous, gradual and final), which are all aimed at moulding the believer to become the perfect vessel desired by God.
In attendance was Apostle Dr Daniel Walker (Rector of Pentecost University College and Associate Pastor of PIWC, Kokomlemle).
Report By: La Area Media and Publicity Team
