How to Live a Holy Life VIII: It’s One or the Other, Not Both

In Matthew 5:24, Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” “He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters,” Jesus remarked in Matthew 12:30. You’re either with Him or against Him. There is no middle ground.

“Do not be deceived,” Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:33, “‘Bad company corrupts good morals.’”  As Christians, we are not to flirt with the devil.  We are to be the salt and light of the world and we are to display the fruits of the spirit if we are saved.  But Paul also tells us in 1 Corinthians 10:21:  ”You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.”

Make no mistake here.  Paul specifically warns Christians that we run the risk of having others extinguish our light if we hang around the wrong crowd.  Church is a great place of fellowship for like-minded believers and also helps to prop-up Christians struggling in their personal lives and in their faith. Does that mean we shouldn’t reach out to the lost and share the good news of Jesus’ triumph over death? Absolutely not. In fact, Paul specifically addressed this in 1 Corinthians 5:9-13 when he said:

I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolators, for then you would have to go out of the world.  But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler — not even to eat with such a one.  For what have I to do with judging outsiders?  Do you not judge those who are within the church?  But those who are outside, God judges.  Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.

Paul discusses this topic further in 2 Corinthians 6:14:  ”Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?”  We are not of this world, and we should not be bound with unbelievers.  I believe the word “bound” here means marriage, and I make that conclusion based on 1 Corinthians 7:39, when Paul discusses a wife being bound to her husband for as long as he is alive.

Even in 1 Peter 2:12, as Christians we are to maintain “behavior excellent among the Gentiles…”  As Christians, we are already hated by the world.  We’re seen as judgmental and intolerant of other beliefs.  Instead of joining the rest of the world in acceptance and understanding of sins, we stand firmly with the absolute truth of the Bible and refuse to compromise.  But we’re not of this world and this is not our home.  We have a permanent residence in the kingdom of heaven.

So who are you going to serve today?  The God of the Bible that created all things visible and invisible or something else?  Are you still skating by with those sins you still haven’t turned over to the Lord?  Are you going to be lukewarm when it comes to Jesus or are you going to be on fire for the Lord, choosing to follow Him and spread His good news of eternal salvation through Jesus Christ?  Don’t be lukewarm for Christ.  God would rather you be hot or cold than lukewarm.  It’s in Revelation 3:15-16.  Go look it up.

Anti-Christian Extremists Stop Church Building

It’s very sad that in many places around the world, the freedom to be a follower of Christ is denied or severely limited.  Take, for example, Sarak Dubey, a Gospel for Asia-supported missionary arrested and jailed for building a church.  On October 15th, some anti-Christians complained to police about the followers of Christ and their new church building construction project.  Police arrested and jailed Sarak and several members of his congregation.  They are unable to resume construction until the village head drops the charges and grants permission.

[Link:www.assistnews.net]

Toronto Lands 2014 “World Pride” Event

Toronto, Canada, has landed the World Pride event, a pro-homosexual festival, in 2014. Mark Singh, chairman of the Toronto World Pride committee remarked, “the advent of a festival like this is an opportunity to highlight the acceptance of the queer community by Canadians.” This is the fourth scheduled World Pride event, but only one has actually taken place – in Rome in 2000. A scheduled event in Jerusalem in 2006 was cancelled after uproar from Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders. A London-based event is scheduled for 2012 just prior to the olympics. Regardless of its location, the event further demonstrates the depravity of a segment of the world’s population as they go after their own fleshly lusts rather than believing in the unchangeable word of God.

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/oct/09101905.html

Polio Outbreak in Swat Region, Pakistan

A polio outbreak has occurred in the Swat village in Pakistan as 13 cases have been confirmed in the last four months, with 62 cases in the entire country. Immunization efforts in the region have failed until recently due to Taliban control, whose leaders’ propaganda insists that polio vaccinations can make children infertile. On Monday, a fast-track anti-polio drive began in the area. Polio has been eradicated in most of the world, but residents of Pakistan, Nigeria, Afghanistan and India contract it regularly, according to the World Health Organization.

http://www.soschildrensvillages.org.uk/charity-news/polioswatchildren.htm

Islam on Capitol Hill on September 25th

Organizers hope to bring thousands of Muslims to Capitol Hill this coming Friday for a day of “Islamic unity.” But who is behind the effort to bring members of the world’s second largest religion to this nation’s capital? A lawyer who represented the terrorists accused in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. Let’s hope the religion of peace doesn’t harm any American soldiers for drinking water during the event.

http://michellemalkin.com/2009/09/21/whos-behind-islam-on-capitol-hill/

UN: Swine Flu Could Kill Millions

A United Nations report last Thursday indicated that the swine flu pandemic could kill millions around the world, especially in the poorest nations, unless the richest nations raise enough money to pay for vaccines. Many countries in the western world have promised 10% of their vaccinations for the cause, but the U.N. fears this is not enough to stave off infections of the H1N1 virus.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/20/swine-flu-costs-un-report