Dear BPCWA worshipper, Last week, we saw how, though a new creature, the Christian still needs to continue to have their mind renewed and transformed into God’s image. Anyone who denies the need for continued sanctification after salvation is believing a lie. What used to be mainstream values have so permeated our thinking that even Christians get affected by it. What God ordained for mankind right from the beginning in the book of Genesis has been and is continually attacked. What used to be mainstream Christianity’s beliefs as taught in the Bible, such as the 6-day ex-nihilo creation and fall of man into sin (affected by the world’s belief in evolution), the husband-wife role relationships and woman pastors (affected by the women’s liberation movements), and the call to reproduce in marriage so that there may be godly seed (particularly helped in part in some countries by highly successful family planning programs) are just some examples of beliefs that have been sidelined to what some Christians denigrate as only for those who are “conservatives”. Christians who do not adhere to these principles may even think that the literal understanding of what the Bible states is “unfair”, or that one has “misunderstood” things when they take what the Bible states literally. If you look at the differences between society’s thinking and the thinking of popular and progressive Christianity, the differences are narrowing and lines are blurring. Instead of being the light and different from the darkness in the world, Christianity around us has jumped on the world’s bandwagon.

Eph 4:22-24 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; (23) And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; (24) And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

Knowing and living. Knowing the truth does not necessarily mean that we want to live out that truth. Salvation is irresistible grace. Sanctification is progressive and we can choose to resist it and grieve the Holy Spirit.  We can be unwilling to put all on the altar, even if God’s Word says that something is darkness. How many a youth has been unwilling to let go of their pop music and carnal movies which they continue to love, even if they may admit that it is ungodly? Their minds may have been sufficiently renewed through studies in church where they knew that “no man can serve two masters”. Yet they would choose to try to serve two masters, even though they know that Christ said unequivocally that “he will hold to the one, and despise the other” (Mt 6:24). It is no surprise then that in time, God’s ways and things became a boring routine to them, a routine that becomes a burden and despised. Even pastors today openly declare themselves to be pastors but would unashamedly work part-time in the secular world. When the Lord called, the apostles “left their nets” (Mt 4:20), “left the ship” (Mt 4:22), and even Matthew who was in the then lucrative job of “sitting at the receipt of custom” (Mt 9:9), “left all, rose up, and followed him” (Lu 5:28). Is it little wonder then that lay worshippers would serve two masters? Christians may not embrace the world’s thinking “all the way” but when they do not put off the world’s thinking, they end up instead choosing to go halfway by not fully putting on what the Bible says.

We need to live godly. So, the renewing of the mind is but the necessary first step of the battle.  The Christian must be clear that it must not end there. This is because thereafter, we need to make changes in our lives and choices based on the renewed Biblical way of thinking. Changes to how we live must be decisively made! Studying the Word is to help us know what we must put on once we know it. Only when we make the needed changes are we starting to put on righteousness and true holiness. After salvation, we must obey the command to “put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts” (Eph 4:22) and then be renewed in our minds by the study and meditation on the Word daily so that we can know how to “put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Eph 4:24).  Living a life that walks only in the light must be our goal. If we do not take heed seriously to God’s instructions on this, we will end up living our lives, day in and day out, in the way Satan wants us to live after we are saved. This same principle applies to bringing up godly seed – the work does not just stop at ensuring that their child is saved.

Living godly is not easy. Living the Christian life is not an easy life, especially when we are to think and live differently from the ways of the world when they contradict God’s Word. Putting on the new man will inevitably mean that we are different from the world around us. This is because light is different and contrary to darkness. We may want to remain partially in the darkness. Living a godly life will not be easy, as expected. On the one hand, just like in the Garden of Eden, Satan may hiss at how attractive the world’s way is, as compared to the “killjoy” way of God’s light. We will struggle with wanting to enjoy the “pleasures of sin for a season”. We will also find that when we choose not to enjoy these pleasures of sin, we will find ourselves needing to “suffer affliction with the people of God” (Heb 11:25) when we choose to walk purely as children of light.  A Christian may know what is the way of light but instead think “Why do I want to be different and stand out like a sore thumb? After all, others have done so and nothing seems to have gone wrong”. The world pressurises us to conform to its pattern and lifestyle (Ro 12:2) and so we give in and relax our standards. That is an easier way to live. For example, one may know about the sin of unequal yoke through Bible studies but still chooses to disobey because of family pressure. 

Light and darkness must be separate. The advice from those around us, sadly some coming from so-called Christians, may be to convince us to stay in some measure of darkness instead of going all the way in the light. This is because “men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (Jo 3:19). Sin loves company. Simply because the Christian may “run not with them to the same excess of riot” (1Pe 4:4) doesn’t mean that he may not go halfway in compromise of his Christian values. For example, the Christian may not celebrate Halloween, but he may think that there’s nothing wrong with enjoying Harry Potter because he just thinks of it as a story and he won’t dabble in witchcraft. Even worse, instead of telling their children to condemn the Halloween festival and its practices, some Christians believe that there is nothing wrong with celebrating Halloween as long as you warn your children about demonic works. This is the double tongue of Satan speaking.  The Bible tells us, “. . . what communion hath light with darkness? . . . be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you” (2 Cor 6:14,17). Light and darkness have nothing to do with each other and we do not even touch their unclean things, let alone celebrate Halloween!

God’s warning. God warns that “because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold” (Mt 24:12). As society will only get worse, the prevailing darkness will deepen. The pressure for Christians to walk in the ways of darkness will increase. Let us train our eyes to look only upon God’s light and follow it in this world of darkness.  When we do, we do not walk alone, even if others deride us. We are but following the footsteps of our Saviour, who “was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Heb 4:15). This is the only path that God has placed before everyone who is redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ and has become the temple of the Holy Ghost. And the warning from the Lord is,

Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils.  Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he? (1Cor 10:21-22)

Yours in our Lord’s service,
Pastor