Lately, in my own life and in the lives of some people I know, the Lord has really been highlighting the increasing importance of living a holy sanctified life in this world so that you might stay free. If you’ve read my recent article entitled “Don’t Suffer the Sorceress” you know that I myself have had some bouts with the demonic the last few years, and in some cases it was because I opened the door through what I had watched on TV, and in one case through playing a certain video game with my son. These things would seem rather harmless to the average person, and unfortunately even the average Christian today, but these things are not harmless and they are very serious to the Lord.
I made the point in my previous article that in the Old Testament the Lord completely outlawed the practicing of magic, sorcery, and everything associated with witchcraft. Today these things are not only legal but they are increasingly popular in culture and increasingly being pushed on the general public through a variety of avenues. We celebrate witchcraft in the form of holidays, we consume demonically inspired content regularly through the shows we watch and the movies we go to see. Even in the church it has become commonplace to invite people in with their demons and give them a voice and influence among the people of God. How can this be? How has Satan’s culture so prevailed upon many in the church who have sworn their allegiance to the Lamb? I believe it’s because we’ve forgotten what holiness and sanctification are and how essential holiness is to walking in freedom from the enemy.
DO NOT BE UNEQUALLY YOKED WITH UNBELIEVERS
(2 Cor.6:1)
“We then, as workers together with Him, also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain.”
(2 Cor.6:11-18)
11 “O Corinthians! We have spoken openly to you, our heart is wide open.
12 You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted by your own affections.
13 Now in return for the same (I speak as to children), you also be open.
14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?
15 And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?
16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”
17 Therefore “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.”
18 “I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”
The message of “do not be unequally yoked” with unbelievers has been watered down in the church more and more with each passing year as we draw nearer to the coming of the Lord and deeper into the end times. The New Testament tells us to not even share a meal with people who are sexually impure (1 Cor.5:11), yet we have some of our most popular churches putting homosexuals on the worship team. We have created a church that ignores the word of God, does not take seriously the commandments of scripture, and openly unapologetically has constant communion and fellowship with darkness. These are dark days indeed.
The scripture is very clear. We are not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers. We are not to allow unbelievers and “the world” to touch our lives and influence us. We are called to touch the world and influence the world for Christ, not the other way around. We have been called out of the world, and out of the world we should remain. When we invite unbelievers to church we are calling them out of the world, not inviting them to bring the world and their demons into church to make themselves at home. If they want to hold onto their sin, if they want to hold onto their demonic sexual identity, if they don’t want to become the holy temple of God like Paul describes in the scripture above, then they are not welcome. They should not be allowed to stay, because a little leaven, leavens the whole lump.
A LITTLE LEAVEN LEAVENS THE WHOLE LUMP
(1 Cor.5:1-8)
1 “It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles—that a man has his father’s wife!
2 And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you.
3 For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged (as though I were present) him who has so done this deed.
4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,
5 deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
6 Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven, leavens the whole lump?
7 Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.
8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.â€
Here you have it, once again, simple and clear. People who bring unrepentant sin into the church are likened unto someone who puts leaven into the bread. Paul calls this leaven the leaven of “malice and wickedness” which leavens the whole the lump. The lump of bread represents Christ, and when the church comes together it is seen in the spirit, according to scripture, as a holy feast that is to be celebrated and partaken of in holiness. Christ is our Passover. He is the feast, and we’re called to feast on him in holy worship, as we partake of the ministry of the word. According to the scripture, according to the teachings of Paul, people who come in and remain a part of this special convocation defile the entire feast if they are holding onto their abominations. This is not my opinion, this is clearly what the scripture says.
The doctrine of universalism in essence makes the church catholic (which is a word that’s used to describe “the universal church”). This demonic heresy which has leavened the church universally from the days of the early church has continued to leaven the lump worldwide, and now many Christians include everyone in “the church” as a result. All you have to do is show up and you're in the club. But this is not what scripture teaches? No, I don’t believe so. Scripture teaches that you have to take up your cross and follow Christ. Scripture teaches that you have to acknowledge your sin against a Holy God and turn from your sin. Scripture teaches that you have to walk in repentance, holiness, and sanctification. Only then are you the true church, the called out ones, the ones who walk with the Lord.
In my observation, as the leaven of such heresies as universalism has leavened the lump globally more and more each year, there’s been a coming together more and more with the Roman Catholic Church even. The Pope and the Roman Catholic Church has become increasingly public about including everyone in the church. They’ve included muslims through the deal that they struck with Islam evidenced by their interfaith facility that they’re building in the UAE to house both religions under the same roof (set to be completed in 2022). They’ve included homosexuals and transgenders through their increasingly loose, liberal, and demonic inclusivity. They’ve even reached out to many top level evangelical protestant leaders and have included them (even though their doctrine clearly states that anyone who is not a part of the Roman Catholic is not truly saved and not truly a part of the church). So we’re seeing it not only among evangelical protestant churches, but we’re seeing it in the Roman Catholic Church as well.
HOLINESS & GRACE
In light of this message I wish to boldly say that we are not to lose sight of the gospel of grace. That’s not what I’m advocating for here at all. But is there a place in our faith where we can wholeheartedly embrace even the most severe scriptural callings which talk about holiness and sanctification while still walking in and showing grace to others? Absolutely. There is a way to do it, even though it requires love, wisdom, and patience as you walk this out with the Lord.
For church leaders, they have to walk in wisdom, love, and patience and deal with situations that arise within their churches as individual cases. They should not use sweeping judgments to cover every situation that arises. We should remember that God instantly struck Uzzah down dead for reaching out and touching the ark (2 Sam.6), but God spared King David after He committed adultery and murdered a man (2 Sam.11). Clearly, even with the Lord, there is not “one size fits all” model being used when it comes to righteous judgment and dealing with sin (although there are irrefutable standards of morality that God changes for no one).
So it should be clear that our churches are safe places for struggling people to come to, to receive ministry, counseling, and help in their lives and in their walks with God. But at the same time, according to the scripture, it should also be known that the church is a holy convocation, and those who wish to participate should not receive the grace of God in vain (2 Cor.6:1). If you want to be a part of the blessing that is the church but you want to live in open rebellion to God through an unrepentant lifestyle of sin, then that is where the line must be drawn. Like those whom Paul dealt with in the Corinthian church, the merciful thing to do at that point is for the church to let such people go so that in being handed over to Satan they may yet have a chance at redemption. Sometimes people have to hit rock bottom in order to truly repent and change. Sometimes rock bottom for an unrepentant sinner is experiencing a degree of the consequences of their sin outside the church in the world. This is what Paul was talking about in (1 Cor.5) when He talked about these people being handed over to Satan for the destruction of their flesh that their spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord (1 Cor.5:5).
That is the end of part one of this article. Tomorrow we will continue this subject with part two.
In his Service,
Stephen Powell