Tonto Dikeh’s Double Down on Faith: How Fake? -By Ugochukwu Ugwuanyi

“Please do not stop sharing my testimony. Let the world feel Jesus. Let the world behold the canvas of God’s mercy, love, deliverance, restoration, healing, peace, and anointing.”

With this passionate appeal and subsequent postings on her social media wall, popular Nigerian actress, Tonto Dikeh is proving that her new life in Christ isn’t a circus. With the fervor of her repentance and the no-turning-back resolve, she is apparently not out to impress anyone nor douse doubts about her actual deliverance from the kingdom of darkness. She also cares less about those who think she’s only re-enacting the September 2013 theatrics between Actor Jim Iyke and the late Prophet TB Joshua.

Tonto has, in the past few days, carried on like someone hit by a power way superior to what had been her driving force. That was how she could take to the podium at Streams of Joy International Church, Abuja, to celebrate her deliverance from disgusting behaviours and addictions she was yoked with for the past 27 years. After Christ freed her from masturbating, smoking, excessive drinking and demonic anger, she contended with satanic manipulations not to let the world know about the wonders of God in her life. “The devil tried to tell me that I was supposed to protect my image,” she said. That, of course, is the devil’s strategy to ensure that she returned to her vomit.

Tonto’s victory over that devilish dissuasion should answer those waiting for her to backslide. What such people are ignorant of is that the actress has used her testimony to seal her deliverance. Revelation 12:11 makes it clear that the devil, who instigates people to sin, is defeated by the blood of the Lamb and the word of the brethren’s testimony. On a lighter note, Tonto has been doubling down in her walk with God in appreciation of the double dose of healing received. Apart from being healed from debauchery and satanic anger, she has equally obtained healing for her soul.

We say this based on Jesus’ interaction with the cleansed leper who returned to give thanks, while the other nine went their way after being healed. Luke 17:19, “And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.” Looking at how he attended to those in need of miracles but lacked faith in him, the Master did no more than offer the intervention they needed.

Interventions people receive from the Lord usually cater to bodily needs, such as deliverance from masturbation, drinking, smoking, demonic afflictions, etc. It is our faith, expressed in diverse ways, including words of testimony that delivers the healing of the soul. Here’s how the iconoclastic Pastor Femi Aribisala aptly explains it: “In the wilderness, Jesus healed the Israelites bodily. In 40 years, nobody fell sick:

(He) brought His people safely out from Egypt, loaded with silver and gold; there were no sick and feeble folk among them.” (Psalm 105:37).

But He did not heal their souls. The psalmist says:

He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul.” (Psalm 106:15).

They all died in the wilderness without reaching the Promised Land.

The same pattern was repeated in Jesus’ earthly ministry:

He healed their bodies, but since they did not believe in Him, their souls were not saved.”

That 1/10 cleansed leper brought himself into wholeness through his testimony.  The teachable principle then is that when we adequately thank God for taking care of our physical needs, we make ourselves whole. Wholeness in this instance refers to the spirit, soul, and body. Here’s how they are all involved: when the body is healed, with the spirit responding appropriately through thanksgiving, the soul gets saved. For this to happen, we have to fervidly share our testimonies.

Anyone who watched the clip of Tonto testifying in Church could tell it was from her depth (spirit). Her inner man was so involved that she would later plead for what she revealed to go viral. Given the gusto, what then is nudging naysayers to reject or suspect her conversion? These doubters may be agents used by the devil to pull down our sister in the Lord, after losing the battle to stop her from testifying. Think about it for a sec: Can the kingdom of darkness lose a big fish like Tonto Dikeh without putting up a fight?

The good news is that she has defeated them already in Christ Jesus. Tonto Dikeh and every born-again Christian were spiritually carried along when Christ disarmed the rulers and authorities [those supernatural forces of evil operating against us], made a public example of them [exhibiting them as captives in His triumphal procession], having triumphed over them through the cross. (Colossians 2:15 MSG). When a child of God has this consciousness, the devil has nothing on him or her!

Some of the backlashes to Tonto’s newfound faith may be tied to the feeling that she’s getting off too easily despite her supposed despicable past and sordid behaviors. These are people who believe that someone shouldn’t spend their prime enjoying themselves, then claim renewal at sunset. Even among fellow Christians, such entitled persons are like the brother to the prodigal son who was upset over their father’s acceptance and celebration of the one who had gone profligate, warts and all.

Writing in caps on her Facebook wall, Tonto emphatically replies, “I am fully occupied with the preparation of this vessel, me, for the Esther mandate.

The love and the noise may be loud, but this vessel is too deeply rooted in God to be distracted.

My eyes are fixed on the prize, Jesus.

I am completely yielded, fully sold out, and irrevocably committed.” What a way to go!

Now, those who think she had gone too far in notoriety to enjoy the gift of Salvation should rather see her transformation as a lesson that there is no sinner beyond redemption. Jesus, during his earthly ministry, cast out seven demons from Mary Magdalene, turning the celebrity hooker into a veritable vessel. Even if more than seven vices vanished from Tonto post-deliverance, that doesn’t make her a lost cause. The referenced Mary was so popular that she became synonymous with the coastal city of Magdala, hence her surname. If she were a present-day Lagosian, she would probably have been named Mary Lasgidi. The Lord who gave her life meaning is still in business.

Unlike humans, God doesn’t know the Tonto Dikeh that the critics are fixated on. As it is, that personality doesn’t exist anymore. Who God sees now is a whole new creature. Her past has been erased. That’s why the pivotal 2 Corinthians 5:17 assures that: “if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

What has passed away can’t possibly be subsisting. So, let bygones be bygone for Tonto Dikeh. Those wondering if she can keep up with the demands of righteousness fail to realise that righteousness isn’t a burden but bliss. Jesus is our righteousness, and she’s already on the right track by focusing on Jesus Christ as the ultimate prize.

If not the Gospel, let puritans and the self-righteous who emphasise works over faith defer to the hymn: “My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less” as written by Edward Mote in 1834. The stanza below stands out:

“When He shall come with trumpet sound

Oh may I then in Him be found

Dressed in his righteousness alone

Faultless to stand before the throne.”

This 19th-century illumination of God’s word means that whoever clothes themselves with Jesus’ righteousness (not theirs) will be deemed to be without sin when they come before the Throne of Judgment. While man’s righteousness is likened in Scripture to a filthy rag, the believer is the righteousness of God in Christ! (2 Corinthians 5:21)

VIS Ugochukwu, a sage, poet and essayist, can be reached on X via @sylvesugwuanyi