“…contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.” – Jude 1:3
According to the Scriptures, the Church is supposed to be the place where the culture of Heaven comes down to be with God’s people. This is typified in Scripture when the glory of God comes down, Jesus Christ comes down, the Word of God comes down, and the Holy Spirit descends. God’s people invite Heaven down when they do such things as repent of sin, obey the Word of God, pray, worship, and seek to live under the Lordship of Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. Those who live in this place are living in the place that God blesses.
Conversely, the world is where we find rebellion against God and pulling up the culture of Hell. In our world, everything from lies to pride, perversion, greed, coveting, lawlessness, murder, stealing, and other sins is just the beginning of attitudes and actions that pull Hell up.
Between the Church (culture of Heaven) and the world (culture of Hell) is the Word of God. The Word of God is the dividing line between the Church and the world. The war is always between the Word and the world. The world will never accept the Word of God because it despises the Son of God and is devoid of the Spirit of God. Without the Holy Spirit made possible by a saving relationship with Jesus Christ, the Word of God is foolish and offensive, as the Apostle Paul plainly states.
Because the government is part of the world system, there will always be pressure on the Church to surrender beliefs and behaviors to the state so that the line between the two kingdoms is erased. This begins with a continual movement of the lines where the Word of God causes division between the Church and the world. In our day, this would include the intense demonic pressure from the culture and government for the Church to move the lines drawn by Scripture about binary genders (male and female), marriage only for one man and one woman, and sex solely for heterosexual married couples. Intensifying this pressure are personal relationships, as Christians have loving, close relationships with people who are pressuring them to be accepted without repenting of sin. The pressure is always one way: to move the line south.
To use another analogy, the relationship between the two kingdoms – Church and state – is supposed to be like boating. In boating, the goal is to have the boat in the water but not let the water enter the boat. If you are in a boat at sea and it starts to take on water, you have a crisis on your hands.
You don’t want to miss tomorrow’s devotional where we talk about contending against Godless government.
Where have you felt pressure to surrender your beliefs/behaviors to the government?
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