If we mix, twist, pick and choose, creatively interpret, or alter God’s Word in any way, then what’s the point of it? If we change it to what we want, we’ve gone off on our own, away from God.
Hello Readers, hope all’s well. I hope you enjoyed your Christmas holiday.
Today I have another End Times post. In Part 60 and Part 61 I wrote about the dangers of mixing other faiths and religion with our Christian Faith. That’s not something we can do as Christians.
Continuing on with that topic, today I’m going to write about a verse in Luke 11 that struck me when I read it recently. Jesus Himself told us that we’re either with Him or against Him. I thought about how if we’re with Him, we need to be with Him all the way. There’s no middle ground, and no room for mixing our Faith with others, or twisting God’s Word to our liking. And the reason for that is because of the seriousness of the situation we’re in here on earth—we’re in a war. A Spiritual war against the Spiritual forces of darkness.
Some Christians forget this, or don’t take it serious enough. But that’s what I’m writing about today. So let’s get right into it.
This Is War, and there Are only Two Sides
I read the Gospel of Luke during Advent season this year. Since there are 24 days in Advent (12/1–12/24), and 24 chapters in Luke, I can read one chapter of Luke every day and finish that Gospel on Christmas Eve. This is a nice thing to do every year, because Jesus is the reason for the season. So we can read one chapter of His story every day during Christmas season, to help us keep Him in our thoughts even more.
I like to read different translations of the Bible, to get an idea of what differences there are between versions. For this year’s Advent I read The Message (MSG) version of the Gospel of Luke. I’d never read this version before. When I got to chapter 11, I read a verse that (in the MSG version) left a big impact on me. It had more of an impact on me because of the specific phrasing the MSG uses. In Luke 11:23, Jesus said:
“This is war, and there is no neutral ground.”
Jesus, in Luke 11:23 (MSG)
For context, this comes from the scene where the people were accusing Jesus of using Satan’s power to throw out demons. Jesus explained that Satan can’t throw Satan out, because every kingdom involved in civil war becomes a wasteland. Every house divided against itself can’t stand. Jesus explains to the crowd that He throws these demons out using the power of God, the only power that can drive demons away. He also explains the reality of the situation we’re all in here on earth. Let’s read the full verse 11:23.
(23) “This is war, and there is no neutral ground. If you’re not on my side, you’re the enemy; if you’re not helping, you’re making things worse.
Luke 11:23 (MSG)
It’s a war, down here on earth. Not a war against other humans (Ephesians 6:12), but against Spiritual enemies of darkness. Against demons. We can never forget this!
As we go about our daily lives, we can’t be complacent or overconfident. We’re in a war, and the devil is always out there looking for a good chance to attack us. He’s always prowling like a lion, looking to devour anyone and everyone he can (1 Peter 5:8). If we let our guard down and compromise with sin, he will get us. But not letting our guard down is a topic I’ll leave for another day.
Today what I want to focus on is how Jesus said, “there is no neutral ground.” This is something we really need to keep in mind during these End Times.
Mixing Faith and Twisting the Word
There is no neutral ground.
We’re either for Christ or against Him. There are no third options, nothing in-between. And if we’re against Him, it means we’re on the side of the demons, as Luke 11 shows us.
But in these End Times, many people are looking for some neutral ground wherever they can find it. Many people are looking for ways to claim Christ while also bowing to other gods at the same time. In Part 60 I wrote about “Christian Buddhists” and how it’s logically impossible to be both. In Part 61 I wrote about yoga, which is popular with Christians too, and how it’s actually a Hindu religious practice—so yoga is bowing to false gods.
These things are one example of how people are looking for a neutral ground, a middle ground. They go to church and call themselves Christian, but they’re open to other gods too. They don’t mind engaging in Spiritual practices that honor other gods. This is Spiritual adultery, idolatry, and goes against God’s First Commandment.
Spiritual adultery is a grave sin, and it will cost us our salvation. We will be judged for bowing to false gods by mixing our Faith with others.
Read Part 60 and Part 61 if you haven’t already. If you’re guilty of mixing your Faith like this, don’t panic. Turn to Christ, who loves you, and REPENT! of your involvement with other gods. Then get rid of anything belonging to other faiths, and stop engaging in their Spiritual practices. REPENT!, Renounce, Reform, Repeat. You can check that post out too.
Twisting the Word
And there are more ways we can commit the sin of looking for neutral ground where there is none. If we twist God’s Inspired Word, choosing to ignore certain parts, we’re looking for neutral ground. If we know what the Word says and choose to ignore it, then we’re trying to have things both ways. We’re trying to follow God while also ignoring parts of His Word we don’t like. We’re exalting our own will (what we want to do) above God’s Word. This is self-idolatry, disobedience to God, and a major sin.
God’s Word is clear; it says what it says. Our job is to accept and obey that Word. We can’t pick and choose the parts of God’s Commandments we like and are easy to follow. What would be the point of that? Then we’d be following our own program rather than God’s. At that point, why even bring God into it anymore? Why even call ourselves Christian anymore if we ignore what our God says?
And what would be the challenge of picking and choosing the parts of the Word we like? God’s Word is challenging, it’s meant to be. It challenges us to grow, by becoming better people. And any limits it places on our behavior are for our own good. We have to accept God’s Word as a beautiful gift from a Father to His children, and to accept it as what’s best for us.
If we twist God’s Word to our liking, we’re looking for neutral ground where there is none. We can’t follow our sinful desires and also follow God.
In Revelation 22:18-19, there’s a stern warning against adding to or subtracting from God’s Word.
(18) Now I bear witness to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy contained in this scroll: If anyone adds to them, God will add to that person the plagues that are written in this scroll. (19) If anyone takes away from the words of this scroll of prophecy, God will take away that person’s share in the tree of life and the holy city, which are described in this scroll.
Revelation 22:18-19 (CEB)
Like with faiths, there’s no neutral ground with God’s Word either. We’re either obeying it or we aren’t.
Sitting Ducks for False Teachers
Another topic I’ve talked about recently is the antiChrist and false teachers. I wrote about these things in Part 58 and Part 64, along with other mentions here and there. One way the antiChrist will deceive so many people in the End Times is because they’ll be looking for a neutral ground between Christ and something else. This desire to have things their way makes them vulnerable to the deceptions of the antiChrist and other false teachers.
In 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12, we learn that many people will be deceived and follow the antiChrist because they don’t love God’s Word. God’s Word is the truth that could have saved them from damnation, which they’ll suffer for following the antiChrist. Since they don’t love God’s Word, and want to twist it or mix it, the antiChrist’s message will be more appealing to them. They look for neutral ground to distort God’s Word because they don’t want to accept God’s rules for how to live their life. So they’ll happily go along with the antiChrist’s lies, following him to their destruction.
(9) When the person who is lawless comes, it will happen through Satan’s effort, with all kinds of fake power, signs, and wonders. (10) It will happen with every sort of wicked deception of those who are heading toward destruction because they have refused to love the truth that would allow them to be saved. (11) This is why God will send them an influence that will mislead them so that they will believe the lie. (12) The result will be that everyone will be judged who is not convinced by the truth but is happy with injustice.
2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 (CEB)
Looking for neutral ground where there is none carries a terrible price: Eternal damnation. Remember what Jesus said: We’re either with Him or against Him in this demonic war! We’re either in agreement with the LORD God, or we’re in agreement with Satan’s kingdom.
Besides the antiChrist, many people who get deceived by other false teachers will also be looking for neutral ground. There are many, many false teachers active right now. Many are found in New Age, but there are countless varieties out there. Some are even pastors and priests in Christian churches. False teachers are everywhere, and it’ll only get worse as the End draws closer. Check out Part 59 for more on false teachers and how they operate.
Looking for neutral ground, for room to twist God’s Word, makes us vulnerable to falling for deceptions. We’ll want to listen to deceptions, because the false teacher is telling us what we’ve been wanting to hear.
Anyone trying to pick and choose what they like from the Word will think they’ve finally found what they’ve been looking for when a false teacher comes along, telling them they can ignore rules in the Bible they don’t like and still be Saved. Then the person happily follows the false teacher and their lies.
Paul warned us of this happening in 1 Timothy 4:1-2. He said people will leave the faith, choosing to listen to demonic spirits (working through false teachers) spreading demonic lies. The doctrines of demons.
(1) The Spirit clearly says that in latter times some people will turn away from the faith. They will pay attention to spirits that deceive and to the teaching of demons. (2) They will be controlled by the pretense of lying, and their own consciences will be seared.
1 Timothy 4:1-2 (CEB)
A teacher telling us exactly what we want to hear is always dangerous. When they tell us what we want to hear, we listen to them more, and we want to follow what they say. But they prey on our hopes for how we want to live, and feed us lies to get us under their influence. If we twist God’s Word, we’ll fall for these tricks every time in our search for leeway in Christ.
There is no neutral ground. Never forget it. The search for neutral ground leads us into the clutches of false teachers and further into rebellion against God. There’s only one defense against this: Standing strong in God’s Word.
Stand Strong in the Word
Read God’s Word every day. Stand by it, stand strong in it. Never add to or subtract from it. And when it clearly says that something is forbidden, don’t look for ways to get around what it says.
We can never twist what the Word says to justify a sin we want to do; we must reject the sin instead. We can never ignore parts of God’s Word we don’t like, so that we can engage in what the Bible says is sin.
If we mix, twist, pick and choose, creatively interpret, or alter God’s Word in any way, then what’s the point of it? It only helps us if we obey it without changing it. If we change it to what we want, we’ve gone off on our own, away from God.
Changing God’s Word, or ignoring it, is looking for neutral ground. It places what we want on a higher level than God’s Inspired Word. But remember what the Savior taught us in Luke 11. This situation we’re all in, it’s deadly serious; it’s a war. We have a war to fight against demons, every single day. And there is no neutral ground in this war; we’re either with Christ or we’re with the demons.
(23) “This is war, and there is no neutral ground. If you’re not on my side, you’re the enemy; if you’re not helping, you’re making things worse.
Luke 11:23 (MSG)
Choose the right side! If we’re not on Christ’s side, we’re doomed when He returns, a day that’s getting closer all the time. If we go looking for neutral ground, room to manipulate what the Bible says, we’ll pay a price for this sin. We’ll be deceived by false teachers telling us what we want to hear.
We have to love and obey God’s Word and what it says. We have no right to change anything in it or mix it with other ideas. God forbids this, and will severely punish it. Living by the rules of the Word makes for a better life. Make the right choice!
Above all, remember that this is a war. Our demonic enemies are always looking for ways to attack us. If they find us in disobedience to God, mixing and twisting God’s Word, we’ll be easy targets for them. They might even indwell us. The danger is great.
This is a war. There is no neutral ground. If we go looking for one, we’re going to get killed looking for something that never existed. And the saddest part is we could have been safe on the winning side the whole time if we had only followed Christ. Be Wise, stay on the winning side, stay with Christ!!
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Until next time, be strong and do good!
Your new best friend in Christ,
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