Out of This World

When we become Christians we are called to repent of our sins and follow Christ. We are instructed to forsake our former ways and to no longer conform to the ways of the world. In the words of Charles Spurgeon, “Conversion is a turning onto the right road. The next thing to do is to walk on it.” And the apostle Paul wrote, “For you were once in darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8). Matthew 16:24 records Jesus telling His disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

Today popular Christian leaders such as Andrew Farley tell us, “Christians don’t need to die to self. You’ve already been crucified with Christ.” and “Our salvation is not secured by our ability to keep faith in God.” or “If the Lord were to come back in this moment, you are as righteous as you’ll ever be. We’re heaven ready in any moment.”

Not only do these statements imply that God accepts believers just as they are, sin and all, but that there is no need for Christians to surrender to the Holy Spirit since being saved is not about what we do but what Jesus did for us. Therefore, it is perfectly fine to carry on living with one foot firmly entrenched in secular society and the other with one toe simply dipping into the waters of God’s kingdom. These half truths conveniently neglect to acknowledge that as the bride of Christ, the church is obligated to be loyal to Him. The Bible says we are saved by grace – through faith (Ephesians 2:8).

Called To Be Different

1 Peter 2:9 informs us, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.” Furthermore, Paul wrote, “Do you not know that the body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you received from God? You are not your own; You were bought at a price.” (1 Corinthians 6:20).

The reality that grace theologians fail to recognize is that believers are prime targets for spiritual warfare and unless there is a conscious effort to walk in the Spirit they remain vulnerable to spiritual attack. It is an invasion of their thoughts and minds through temptation which is enabled by complacency through superficial faith. This can lead to naively falling into the trap of believing that their ticket to heaven has been punched therefore they can simply coast along the path of least resistance and arrive in God’s kingdom.

The danger is that the broad path with wide gate that many enter through leads to destruction. This is a slippery slope that Christians cannot navigate without surrendering to the Holy Spirit. We must pledge allegiance to Christ and disconnect from worldly values. Paul wrote, “So I say walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do what you want.” (Galatians 5:16-17”).

As believers we must divorce ourselves from the things we once held in high esteem and honor our betrothal to Christ in the way we live. This is the evidence of being born again. In Romans 6:20-22 Paul puts it this way, “When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things lead to death! But now that you have been set free of sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.”

Not Of This World

Scripture teaches us that Christ set us free from the shackles of sin and that believers are not under the law because of salvation. That Jesus paid the price for our sin once, for all. However, scripture does not say that we are free to live as sinners do. We have become slaves to God. We are no longer our own. John 15:19 reminds us, “If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” As the bride of Christ, we belong to Christ!

While modern grace theologians expound on the attributes of grace and only grace, amassing huge followings with their feel good messages, they neglect to inform their followers that they must not continue to indulge in the worship of self. By teaching that God loves you just the way you are and that you can never be more righteous as you already are, there is no call to obedience or holiness in their message. There is no responsibility or obligation required. No relationship can be successful based upon that premise. The result is a dysfunctional fellowship of shallow rooted followers clinging to worldly values without the commitment to withstand trials and tribulations. What the world sees is a faith that is powerless and unviable.

In his letter to the church at Philippi, Paul had this to say, “many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their God is their stomach, and their glory is their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,” (Philippians 3:18b-20). When Jesus prayed for the disciples and for all believers he said, ”I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.” (John 17:14).

John put it this way in 1 John 2:15: “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world – the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does – comes not from the Father but from the world.” And James instructs, “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred towards God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” (James 4:4). If the world doesn’t hate you, have you actually drawn a line in the sand and chosen the side of Christ or do you simply a nominal Christian (Nominal Commitment, Sept 24, 2022)?

There Is No Middle Ground

One comment made to me recently suggested that God is love, therefore anything that is not love must not come from God. Since Jesus came to free us from the shackles of sin, sin must have ceased to exist because of His proclamation on the cross, “It is finished!” Therefore, there is no more sin and we are free to live as we please because grace means unmerited favor, and we are saved by grace. Proponents of grace theology are quick to bring forward Romans 8:1, where Paul wrote, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.”

By blurring the truth of scripture to accommodate “itching ears,” the gospel is portrayed as free candy to the masses regardless of their acceptance of what Jesus taught. So now we have preachers with the gall to say that God loves everyone along with their sin. Sin is glossed over and downplayed while biblical truths such as “sin separates us from God” are denied. One grace-teacher surmises, “There has never been a time that anybody has ever been separated from God. That has been an illusion in your mind placed there by religion” (Don Keathly). 

Based on this rationale, there is no need for repentance. However, personal experience in relationships is evidence that when we wrong someone, we do indeed feel distanced from them, and in order for reconciliation to take place there has to be confession and repentance followed by forgiveness. We can live in the same home with someone, yet be totally separated both spiritually and relationally, such as in a failing marriage. Our relationship with God is no different. It is crucial to our salvation that Jesus knows us and that we are not estranged from Him (Matthew 7:21-23).

Is Your Faith Authentic?

In 2 Corinthians 13:5, Paul writes, “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you – unless, of course, you fail the test?” When we come to the realization that the Creator of the universe actually dwells within us from the point of our submission to Him, our world view changes. As our spirit aligns with the Holy Spirit, His will becomes our will, and we desire what He desires.

It is nonsensical to cling to temporal values as Christians. We have been called out of the world and must have our eyes and hearts fixed on heavenly things. Worldly things must not captivate us. Jesus said not to store up treasures on earth but to store up treasures in heaven because where our treasures are, our hearts also are (Matthew 6:19-21). And Matthew 12:30 records Jesus as saying, “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.”

This is wise advice considering the fate of the earth. True believers value the words of Jesus. “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” (Matthew 24:35). Earlier I cited the words of John regarding not loving the world (1 John 2:15). In verse seventeen he adds, “The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.” May we let go of the world and hang onto heaven with the tightest of grips.