E toatele Kerisiano, who do their best and try everything they can to make the world love them. Because the world hates Christians. Sometimes it’s just too embarrassing to watch how far Christians go and eventually say or do things, that damage the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God. Only because they want to be liked and accepted by the world and become friends with the world. They compromise and think they are some big shot. While in reality they succumbed and are defeated by the pressure of the world. They may be liked and accepted by the world, but in God’s eyes, they are shameful. Because they were not able to stand on the Word and didn’t stay faithful and obedient to the will of God. Nai lo lena, ua latou denied Jesus Christ by watering down the gospel and compromise with the world. All because they were not prepared to die to ‘self’ and lay down their own lives ma mulimuli ia Iesu.
O se atalii o le Atua
But if you decide to mulimuli ia Iesu, you have crucified your flesh (Mata 16:24, O le 7 8:34, Lu 9:23). E ala i le toe fafagaina, which means that you’ve died to the flesh and your spirit is raised from the dead, Ua avea oe a foafoaga fou i le malo faaleagaga.
E te le o toe o se atalii o le tiapolo, who has the spirit of the world; the spirit of the antichrist and you don’t belong to the devil and the world anymore.
But through regeneration, Ua avea oe ma atalii o le Atua, in whom the Holy Spirit dwells. Now you belong to God and His Kingdom.
What happened in the spiritual realm will become visible in the natural realm. Therefore there shall be a change in your life.
If you won’t experience a change in your life, you might ask yourself if you are truly toe fanauina and have become a new creation and if the Holy Spirit dwells in you.
Pe a avea oe ma atalii o le Atua, you don’t belong to the world anymore and therefore the world will no longer welcome and receive you. Except if you compromise and stay carnal and keep living the life you’ve always lived.
If you live like the world and say and do the same things as the world, then it shows that you are not born again and don’t walk after the Spirit. Since the flesh is still alive and has the highest authority in your life.
The Word of God is quick and powerful
Mo le upu a le Atua e vave, ma mamana, ma steper nai lo ni pefu, tuia e oo lava i le vaeluaina o le agaga ma le agaga, ma le sooga ma le mapu, ma o le le fiafia o mafaufauga ma lagona o le loto. E leai foʻi se meaola e le faʻaalia i lana vaʻai: ae o mea uma e le lavalava ma tatalaina i mata o ia ma o ai tatou te faia (Eperu 4:12-13)
A e toe fanau mai, it’s crucial to faafou lou mafaufau Faatasi ai ma le afioga a le Atua. Because when you don’t renew your mind with the Word of God, you shall keep your carnal mind and keep walking after the flesh and say and do what the world says and do. You shall not get to know the finagalo o le Atua and therefore you shall not tuu ese le toeaina ae leai ofu le tagata fou.
Le Agaga Paia, Who dwells in you shall help you and guide and teach you. A o e avea ma tuai foafoaga you maybe didn’t understand the Bible. The reason why you didn’t understand the Bible is that your spirit was dead and therefore your mind was darkened and couldn’t understand the spiritual things of God.
Ae ina ua avea oe ma se foafoaga fou, your spirit was raised from the dead and by the baptism with the Holy Spirit, you received the Holy Spirit and therefore you shall be able to understand the spiritual things of God and His Kingdom.
The Holy Spirit knows the depths of God, which are hidden in His Word.
By studying the Word of God, you shall not only get to know Jesus, but you shall also get to know God and His will. You shall get to know Ona mafaufauga ma Ona ala.
Taimi uma, when you find out a truth in the Word of God that contradicts your former carnal mind and what the world says, you shall have to make a choice, to believe and obey the Word of God and walk in faith after the Spirit or to believe and obey the words of the world and your carnal mind and what your senses tell you and walk after the flesh.
You can only walk in faith if you believe that the words of God are the truth and obey them and do the words of God in your life.
When you are born again and start walking after the Word and the Spirit and therefore walk in faith, then one of the consequences will be that you won’t be so loved anymore, but rather be hated by those, O ai e auai i le lalolagi, live in sin and are not willing to repent.
Because just like the Word divides spirit and soul, so shall the Word also divide soulish people, who walk after the flesh and spiritual people, o e savavali i le Agaga.
You shall not be received and welcomed everywhere you go. Not even among your fellow brothers and sisters, who are worldly-minded. Ia, if you say what they want to hear and don’t say anything that might offend them and as long as you do what they expect of you, then there won’t be any problems.
But as soon as you speak the truth and confront them with the truth of the Word, instead of giving them your own opinion, that derives from your flesh; your carnal mind and your carnal wisdom, malamalama, lagona, ma lagona, then you shall experience resistance.
The world hated Jesus
Jesus is our Lord and if He was hated and persecuted by the world and was banned by His people from the temple, Ona soo, who are His followers, shall experience the same thing. Jesus spoke about it and said, na na, who love Him and obey Ana poloaiga, shall be hated and even persecuted.
And ye shall be hated of all men for My Name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved (Mata 10:22, O le 7 13:13, Luka 21:17)
Ona latou tuuina atu lea o outou ia puapuagatia, ma o le a fasiotia outou: e ‘inosia fo‘i ‘outou e nu‘u uma ‘ona o lo‘u igoa. Ona tausuai ai lea o le toatele, e faalataina foi e le tasi le tasi, e feitagai foi le tasi i le tasi (Mataio 24:9-10)
Amuia outou, A ita tagata ia te oe, Ma o le a latou vavaeeseina oe mai a latou kamupani, ma e le mafai ona tusia oe, ma lafo lou igoa o le leaga, mo le atalii o le tagata. Olioli i lena aso, ma oso mo le fiafia: mo, faauta, O lau taui e sili i le lagi: aua e faapena foi a latou tama i perofeta (Luka 6:22)
Afai e ita le lalolagi ia te oe, ‘ua ‘outou iloa na ‘ino‘ino mai ‘iā te a‘u a o le‘i ‘ino‘ino ‘iā te ‘outou. Afai o ni tagata o le lalolagi outou, e alofa le lalolagi i ona tagata: a e le ni o le lalolagi outou, a ua ou filifilia outou nai le lalolagi, o le mea lea e ita ai le lalolagi ia te outou. Ia outou manatua le upu na ou fai atu ai ia te outou, E le sili le auauna i lona alii. Afai ua latou sauaina au, latou te fa‘asauā fo‘i ‘iā te ‘outou; Afai ua latou tausia laʻu tala, latou te tausia fo‘i a ‘outou. Ae o nei mea uma o le a latou faia ia te oe mo le igoa o loʻu igoa, aua latou te le iloa o ia na auina mai au (Ioane 15:18-21)
Ana ou le sau ma tautala ia i latou, Sa leai se agasala: ae o lenei ua latou leai se nuke mo la latou agasala. O lē e ʻinoʻino mai iā te aʻu, e ʻinoʻino foʻi o ia i loʻu Tamā. Afai ou te leʻi faia i totonu o latou galuega e leai se isi tagata na faia, Sa leai se agasala: a o lenei ua latou vaai mai, ma ua latou inoino mai ia te au atoa ma lo'u Tama. Ae o lenei e sau, ina ia mafai ona faataunuuina le upu ua tusia i la latou tulafono, Ua latou ʻinoʻino fua iā te aʻu (Ioane 15:22-25)
Ua ou avatu ia te latou lau upu; ma ua ita le lalolagi ia i latou, Aua e le o latou o le lalolagi, Tusa lava pe ou te le o le lalolagi (Ioane 17:14)
Why the world hates Jesus?
E le mafai e le lalolagi ona inoino ia te oe; Ae o aʻu e 'inoʻino, Aua ou te molimau atu i ai, o le galuega o loo tupu (Ioane 7:7)
Jesus gave us the reason, why the world hated Him. Jesus testified that the works of the world were evil, which means that He confronted the people, o le a le lalolagi, with their sin. When Jesus said these words to His disciples, His disciples were still the old creation. They were still carnal and belonged to the unfaithful generation that belongs to the world. But when they were born again and received the Holy Spirit, they were also hated and persecuted by the world. Because they testified that the works of the world were evil.
When the Holy Spirit dwells in you and you walk in obedience to God after the Word in righteousness, the Holy Spirit will reprove the world a.o. o le agasala.
O lea la, you shouldn’t marvel and be surprised when people, whom you’ve never met and with whom you have never spoken with, hate you for no reason.
That’s because the one, O ai e nofo i latou, hates the One, O ai e nofo i totonu ia te oe.
Le Tiapolo, who lives in them hates Jesus Christ, Who lives in you. Na fetalai Iesu, that you shall be hated because of Lona Suafa.
Ona o le mea moni, that you have died in Christ, you have laid down your own life and therefore it’s no longer you that lives, but through the resurrection of your spirit from the dead and by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, Christ lives in you. When Christ lives in you, you shall speak and do His words and walk in the will of God.
Jesus spoke the words of His Father and the world wouldn’t receive His words. E pei lava o le Feagaiga Tuai, when the prophets spoke the truth of God and were hated, faasauaina, imprisoned and sometimes even killed.
O lea la, o i latou, who belong to Jesus and speak His words, which are the same words as the Father, shall be hated by the world.
Do you love God or do you love yourself?
As long as you don’t love God with all your heart, mafaufau, soul and strength and haven’t laid down your flesh, ma savavali pea i la le tino, you care what other people think of you because it affects you. O lea la, you shall eventually succumb and compromise with the world.
But when you Alofa i le Atua ma lou loto atoa, mafaufau, soul and strength and have laid down your flesh and walk after the Spirit, then it won’t affect you, because your flesh is dead. You are not surprised that the world hates you because Jesus warned you (Faitau foi: Faitau le tau).
Ae peitai, you will not let that stop you to speak the truth of God and keep preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ on the earth. You shall not stop to preach and establish God’s Kingdom on this earth.
I le sili atu! You shall continue and keep walking after the Word and the Spirit and therefore you shall keep walking in the truth and the love of God.
You shall not compromise with the world. You shall not try so hard to be liked and to be accepted by the world. But you shall stay loyal to Jesus and stand on the Word and not deviate from the words of God.
As long as you keep walking the Spirit and the Word and therefore do the commandments of God, o le a foi le Poloaiga o Iesu, you prove that you love God with all your heart, mafaufau, agaga ma le malosi.
You show that your love for God comes first in your life, Ma o se taunuuga, you keep walking in obedience to Him.
You know the reason, why the people, O ai e auai i le lalolagi, inoino ia te oe, but you shall not be moved by that. You shall neither become mad or angry because you don’t walk after the flesh and therefore you are not led by your feelings and emotions. Nai lo lena, you shall be moved with agaalofa on them.
The world hates Christians, who follow and do the Word
Marvel not, o'u uso, if the world hate you. We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren (1 Ioane 3:13-14)
The hearers of the Word shall not be hated, since they are no threat to the kingdom of darkness. Only the followers and doers of the Word, which means that you believe every word of God and do the words of God, shall be hated by the world, e pei lava o Iesu.
Aisea? Because you testify by doing the truth and righteous works, that the works of the world are evil.
Look at Cain and Abel. Abel wasn’t killed by Cain because they had a disagreement or a fight. But Abel was killed because his works were righteous. The righteous works of Abel testified that the works of Cain were evil (Gen 21:41, 1 Jo 3:12)
This also happened with Jesus. Jesus walked in the truth and did righteous works. That’s why He was hated by the world. Because by doing righteous works Jesus testified that the works of the world were evil.
The Light of the world
Jesus was the Light of the world and through Him, the evil works, which were hidden in darkness were brought into the light.
Atalii o le Tiapolo, who were the workers of iniquity and belonged to the world, hated the Light and therefore they did everything they could to get rid of Jesus and eliminate the Light.
O le e talitonu ia te ia e le faasalaina: ae o le e talitonu e le o le tausalaina ua uma, auā ua le talitonu o ia i le igoa o le Alo na Fanaua e le Atua. Ma o le faasalaina lenei mea, O lena malamalama o loo sau i le lalolagi, Ma e fiafia tagata i le pouliuli nai lo le malamalama, aua o o latou amio na leaga. Auā o i latou uma o ē fai mea leaga e ‘ino‘ino i le malamalama, e le oo mai foi i le malamalama, le au o ana galuega e tatau ona aoaiina. A o lē na te faia le mea moni e sau o ia i le malamalama, o ana galuega e ono faaalia, ua faia i le Atua (Ioane 3:18-21)
And just like Abel, o perofeta, Jesus and the apostles, o le tulaga lea. When Jesus Christ dwells in you and you walk after the will of Jesus and do what He has commanded you to do and walk in righteousness in the truth and the light, then the world shall hate you. Because your righteous works testify that the works fo the world (agasala) e leaga.
Jesus knew this and foretold His disciples. His disciples knew this and foretold their disciples. And we, as His disciples should know this and inform our disciples, so that the truth is revealed and the disciples will know what to expect and become spiritually resilient and are able to stand on the Word and don’t Faamutaina Iesu Keriso. Because whosoever shall deny Jesus, him/her will Jesus also deny before the Father (Mataio 10:33, 2 Timoteo 2:12)
‘Ia fai ma masima o le lalolagi’
