Hebrews 3:12-15 Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called Today, so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end, read more.while it is said, TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS, AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME. The World It is vitally clear that a Christian must not become a friend of the world. Since that is fact, the devil will certainly tempt Christians through loneliness especially, to become friends with unsaved people. Such can be a subtle and innocent-appearing temptation, which could lead to the aforementioned lethal snare. Few seem to be aware of this. The term world can have various meanings, but here it refers to lost mankind. If a Christian becomes a friend of an unsaved person, from a Cornelius type to the God-hating, Christian-persecuting, idol-loving, flesh-indulging, deceived people serving the devil, then he will become like one of them to God! Here is a good verse describing the world, who Peter calls pagans: For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they heap abuse on you. (1 Pet 4:3,4) That truth in James 4:4 should strike terror in Christians who are thinking about trying to buddy up and fellowship with unsaved people at work, in their neighborhood, etc. This should also grab the attention of Christian singles, who are looking for life’s mate! Because the world rejects God and his truths, they have incompatible goals and ambitions. They are serving the devil, even though they probably don’t know it. Therefore, they must be avoided by us as far as seeking friendship or fellowship: Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. (2 Cor 6:14,17,18) WARNING: We must not jeopardize our relationship with God by becoming a friend of the world. Such is a salvation issue. As important as that is, it clearly is not saying we shouldn’t try to evangelize the unsaved, for we should. We MUST, however, not become their friend or we in turn will become enemies of God. We can give them God’s word and express Christian love and yet not become too close to them. Hopefully, they will accept the truth and become a Christians. They need to change and become like us, rather than the reverse. How Does God View Unsaved People Another passage related to enemies of God is from Hebrews 10. It also powerfully disproves the teaching of eternal security: If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Heb 10:26-31) That passage is about enemies of God (lost people), who were previously sanctified by the blood of Jesus! Once when sharing this devastating passage about enemies of God with a once saved always saved proponent, he said to me that it wasnt the blood of Jesus but the blood of bulls and goats that sanctified them! That statement is erroneous in two ways: (1) The contrast in Heb.10:26-31 is between the law of Moses and the new covenant. Hence, Jesus blood is the means whereby the people are sanctified, and not the blood of bulls and goats. (2) Just three chapters later it is very clearly stated that Jesus blood sanctifies: Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate (Heb 13:12, NASB). (The same Greek word for sanctify is used at Heb. 10:29 and Heb. 13:12.) Also, notice that the same ones who were sanctified [past tense] also trampled the Son of God under foot. This again shows we are not talking about the old covenant, but the new. Those same people became enemies of God from their former condition of being sanctified and that was because of sin. Clearly, their future sins were not forgiven even before they were committed like some dangerously teach. Neither were they viewed by God as the righteousness of Christ when in those sins, as taught under the doctrine of imputed righteousness! They became enemies of God. Moreover, neither the seal of the Holy Spirit, nor anything else offered as an unconditional protection by the oncve saved always saved advocates prevented this horrible spiritual reversal. Those who were once sanctified by Jesus blood were now enemies of God and headed for raging fire. Since there was no eternal security for them, there is no eternal security for us. The sooner we accept this fact, the sooner we can walk in a more guarded manner in this world, which has claimed many spiritual casualties among those who were once truly Gods children. Take these warnings to heart and keep yourself pure (1 Tim. 5:22). It is up to you to resist the devil and crucify the flesh. God isn’t going to do it for you. Pass this teaching about enemies of God on to a person you care about.
Posted on: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 04:17:00 +0000
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