Death to Self, the Path to Change and the Power of God

by ERJ Publicaciones (Contributor)

It is of no surprise to anyone that we live in wicked times in which the worth of human life has been lost, where moral integrity has crumbled, and where innocence is trampled in a seemingly cultural way. We live in times where the innocence of children is no longer protected, the moral integrity of our adolescents is not defended, and social responsibility of adults is not expected. What is bad we call ?good,? and what is good we call ?bad.? We live in an era in which Christianity is persecuted more each day. We have gone from religious freedom and tolerance to a time of open persecution and aggression towards anyone who confesses Christ as the Lord of his or her life. All Christian values today are being questioned and rejected by a society that only seeks not to hear that its conduct is displeasing to God. This generation only wants to hear what aligns with its carnal, selfish, and egocentric desires. It lives for instant gratification of ?self? and refuses to accept limitations or restrictions. This is the reason why homosexuality is the right of each individual to decide how he or she chooses to live; why abortion is the right of women to choose what happens to their bodies; why divorce is the right to seek personal happiness; why the love of money is the right of every individual to achieve great accomplishments and to have anything that is desired; why false doctrines in the Church are the result of the right each individual has to interpret the Word of God according personal o benefit. We live in a time in which the slogan: ?If it is good for you, and it feels good, do it? is practiced regardless of the harm it might cause, the destruction it might leave in its path, or the inheritance of curses it might leave behind.

93 pages, Paperback

First published October 6, 2015

Reviews

[Cheri · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are so many scriptures to support this book. I’m posting this because of the person who put the negative rating and comments. Do not be led astray by scoffers, wolves in sheeps clothing, etc. Yeshua HaMashiach Himself led by example and gave clear instructions that we must die to our self.
How can any follower of Yeshua say they walk in the light as He is in the light, if they haven’t truly died to their self.
If you haven’t already, I encourage you to read the book, pray, ask the Holy Spirit to open your eyes to what He wants to reveal to you and pursue everything The Holy One of Israel has for you.

Romans 8:17
and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.
1 Peter 2:21
For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps...

One of the counterintuitive truths about suffering is that it prepares Christians for more glory. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:17–18, “This light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”

Galatians 2:20
"I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Luke 9:23-24
And He was saying to them all, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.

John 12:24
"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

[Arthur Tepichin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Are you seeking Guillermo Maldonado or God?

My heart hurts as I think of people who are seeking God and stumble upon Guillermo Maldonado’s book, Death to Self, the Path to Change and the Power of God. I was hesitant to write a review, however after praying and thinking about it, I decided that other people might appreciate an honest assessment of Maldonado’s book. There are numerous issues we could discuss, but I will only touch upon a few of Maldonado’s claims and compare them to God’s word.

Maldonado makes many claims not rooted in scripture. In Chapter 4, “The Double Exchange that took place at the cross,” Guillermo makes the following claim: “The Kingdom also has laws, one being the Law of Exchange” (38). He goes on to declare that God living in us is dependent on our actions: “How much He lives in us will depend on how much of our selfish nature dies” (38). To refute Maldonado’s claims, we only need to look to the Bible. For example, “…the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). Salvation is not an exchange; it is “the free gift of God.” Instead of just believing in God’s free gift, Maldonado adds his law-of-exchange stipulation. He offers no Biblical reference, as there is none to back his claim. In fact, the exact opposite to this law-of-exchange idea is found in the gospel. Consider John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Certainly, nothing here even hints that our eternal life depends on “how much of our selfish nature dies.”

Maldonado goes so far as to claim we can gain resurrection power by purchasing his books. He tells the story of someone who bought all of his books and then through prayer raised someone from the dead, “I purchased all the books written by Apostle Maldonado. I read them and heard his preachings to learn to walk in the supernatural. I went to the hospital, prayed for her and declared life over her mother. The woman who had been declared dead two hours prior came back to life. She resurrected!” (58). The audacious attempt to correlate the power of resurrection with purchasing not just one but all of his books and listening to his preachings is an astonishing low.

Maldonado also claims, “The only thing that authorizes Satan to attack our lives is our disobedience and our lack of death to our old ways” (20). Again, all we need to do is look to the Bible to refute this claim. The Bible gives us an example of the exact opposite of Maldonado’s claim in the book of Job. “Then the LORD asked Satan, ‘Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless--a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil’" (Job 1:8). Job is attacked by Satan not because of his disobedience but because of his obedience. God’s word makes very clear that Maldonado’s claim is categorically false.

Throughout this book, Maldonado shows a lack of understanding of Christianity and our personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Consider Maldonado’s example of a man who haggled with God; “Lord, I want you to heal me. If you do it, I will surrender my tennis career and will dedicate my life to serving you” (29). He offers no Biblical reference to show we are to haggle or deal-make with God, If-You-do-this-then-I’ll-do-that scenario. Deal making with God in order to get what we want is not what the Bible teaches. This haggling scenario gets even worse; the man thought he had to give up his tennis career in order to serve God. What happened to doing everything for the Glory of God? “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). Maldonado is leading people to give up using their God-given gifts, as if this were a prerequisite to serving God. In 1 Peter, we see that God actually wants us to use the gifts He has given us, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms” (1 Peter 3:8).

Guillermo Maldonado is a self-proclaimed prophet (page 30). He actually claims to have a new message that was “revealed” to him (page 8). The answers we seek are not going to be found through this self-proclaimed prophet or through his supposed revelations that contradict the Bible. Does Maldonado think God got it wrong the first time? He claims to be a prophet with a revealed message and wants to change and add to the word of God. Again, I would simply point to God’s word, "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves” (Matthew 7:15).

[Booklover213 · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for every Christian ✝️