| From the TeachingtheWord Bible Knowledgebase |
Part five (final) of a series. Read part four.
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The Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul gives us the great safeguard against all forms of spiritual compromise.
In this brief series we have examined three areas of the greatest temptations to fall into sin through compromise with this present evil world. Let me conclude by asking you to examine yourself, and to seek God's resources for deliverance in areas in which you have failed Him.
How Is It With You?
Dear reader, how is it with you? Are you spiritually compromised in the area of relationships? Are you or your church involved in relationships that are displeasing to God and that are damaging you or your church spiritually?
Are you or your church spiritually compromised in the area of resources? Are you making compromises in your life and thinking because you have been deceived into believing that those compromises are necessary in order to have the success you seek? Are you compromising in the area of resources because you think that worldly resources are necessary in order to accomplish godly objectives?
Are you compromising in the area of religion because you think it is necessary in order for you or your church to be acceptable in the eyes of the world?
Satan wants to deceive us in these things. The Destroyer, the Father of Lies, wants to create the spiritual vacuum in our lives, homes, and churches into which he can rush with all of his evils. Those who are truly God's people must repent of and flee from these sins, and guard themselves against them.
The Great Safeguard Against Compromise
In Deuteronomy chapter 17, God gave the kings of Israel the great safeguard against evil compromises in the areas of relationships, resources, and religion: Holy Scripture. He told the kings of Israel that it was their responsibility to make their very own written copy of the Word of God from the master copy that was kept by the Levites.
Now we are not told that we are to make our own personal handwritten copy of the Word of God. But we are told, in Colossians chapter 3, that the Word of God, the Word of Christ, must dwell richly within us if we are to be separated from this present evil world and separated unto our holy and living God.
Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. (Colossians 3:16-17)
Nothing could be more Christ-exalting, and nothing could be more practical. Those two considerations are inseparable. The essence of a life lived without spiritual compromise is for Christ to be exalted in every area of your thinking and living. But to exalt Christ you must know Christ, and there is only one way to know Him - by feasting on His Word.
"Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom" (Colossians 3:16). Literally, the Holy Spirit is saying through Paul, let the Word of Christ be completely at home in you. Let God's Word live within you. Let the Word of Christ inhabit you. Let your relationship with the Word of God be that kind of intimate, continual relationship that you would desire to have with the person who is closest to you in your own home. Make God's Word, and thereby Christ himself, your closest companion.
Furthermore, Paul says, let the Word of Christ dwell in you "richly". In great abundance. Feast upon it. Take in everything that God's Word has for you. Don't put yourself on a spiritual starvation diet. Don't starve to death in a house full of the best food available. Feast upon the Bread of Life.
Finally, Paul says, let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly "in all wisdom." Literally, "in every kind of wisdom." Every area of life. Every area of knowledge. View everything through the lens of Scripture. That is the way you will see things clearly. This is the way you will recognize the temptations of compromise and avoid them. Paul tells the Colossians in chapter 1, verse 9, I "do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power."
Dear reader, that is also my prayer for you.
Are you in the Word, dear friend? Are you submitting to the Word? Are you willing for the Word of God to point the finger at those places in your life in which you are living and thinking in spiritual compromise, and you need to separate yourself in submission to your holy God? That is your responsibility. And if you humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, He will lead you and enable you to live the spiritually uncompromised and uncompromising life that pleases Him and will be used by Him for His glory.
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