Walking Worthy of the Calling – Part II (7)

 

“…because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.” Ephesians 4:18c – 19.

 

In verses 4:17 – 19 we see that those who do not know Christ are living in “futility,” “darkness,” “excluded from the life of God,” “ignorance,” “hardness of heart,” “callousness,” “sensuality,” and the “practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.” While these words taken together paint a composite picture, each word and image also demands that we consider it on its own, for only when we understand each word and its image does the full composite texture come into play.

 

Note how verse 20 begins, “But you did not learn Christ in this way.” Well then, if we did not learn Christ in this way, but if we are nevertheless living in this way, then either we have forgotten what we were taught or we have a deficient foundation in Jesus Christ. Here is a warning, if we gloss over verses 17 – 19 and what follows, thinking that “this couldn’t possibly have any place in my life,” we not only ensure self-deception, we close ourselves off from the convicting and edifying work of the Holy Spirit in our souls.

 

Each of the words Paul uses in verses 17 – 19 have a deep Biblical context and if we think we can discover that context with a dictionary definition we are mistaken and will continue to be, for the most part, a people who are ten miles wide and a ¼ inch deep. Also, if we are reading these words without a sense of concern and warning, then it is quite possible that we are doing so because we see little, if any, distinction between the People of God and the culture of the world and its people. Can we please be clear about this, God’s People are to be holy for He is holy (1 Peter 1:13 – 16; 2 Cor. 6:14 – 7:1; Heb. 12:14; Matthew 5:8)? He who is ashamed of Biblical holiness is ashamed of the Biblical God.

 

What of this word “callous” in verse 19? Paul writes in 1 Timothy 4:2 of those who, “…by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron…” Since the context of 1 Timothy is apostasy and those who listen to “deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons,” this ought to warn us that callousness and having a seared conscience is something that we can find both within and without the professing church. The KJV translates the word for “callous” in Ephesians 4:19 as, “being past feeling”; when we are callous we do not feel, when we do not feel we are callous. When we are callous and do not feel we close ourselves off from God and most especially the conviction of the Holy Spirit. This ought to be a frightening warning.

 

As I hope we will see in this extended passage (Eph. 4:17 – 5:21), it is not only what we might think of as egregious sin that leads to this condition, sin as a way of life leads to this condition, adopting the ways of the world leads to this condition, sin that looks good (to our culture) leads to this condition…and for sure, justifying and making excuses for what is clearly sin leads to this condition. We are getting ahead of ourselves, but I do so want us to pay attention to God’s Word.

 

“and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.” (Eph. 4:19).

 

What might “sensuality” look like? Impurity? Greediness? Are our images of these things Biblical images? If I asked a Sunday school class, “What are the seven capital, or cardinal, or deadly sins?” what am I likely to hear? Probably a lot of guessing because people generally don’t know them or think about them. They are thought of as capital sins because they lead to other sins. Let’s look at the list:

 

1.    Pride

2.    Avarice (greed)

3.    Envy

4.    Wrath (anger)

5.    Lust

6.    Gluttony

7.    Sloth

 

What do these sins look like in society? What do they look like in the professing church? Think about them carefully, do not brush them off. Which of these sins have we elevated to idols, which of them are ingrained in our culture, both within and without the professing church?

 

What does gluttony look like in our lives? In the way we think about food? In our eating habits? In our advertising? What might our various food channels and recipe books look like to the starving peoples of the world? To people within our own nation who go to bed hungry? Are we honoring God in the way we eat, in the way that food affects our bodies?

 

What about pride? How does pride affect our relationships? Our Gospel witness? The way we think about God, others, and ourselves? How does pride affect the decisions we make, the way we treat our spouses, family, friends, and coworkers? How does pride affect our spending habits, our use of the resources God has given us for His glory and the blessing of others?

 

What about wrath? There is anger all around us, and we tend to justify it, it has become our way of life. We pride ourselves on “rants.” We drink the poison of talking heads and have become, like them, brute beasts spewing evil, yes evil, from the abyss. There is anger in our schools, anger in government, anger in retail stores, anger on the streets and highways (think of the way we drive), anger in our churches. Anger poisoning our hearts, minds, and souls – and we often take pride in it! We are fools.

 

Can we not see that the Seven Deadly Sins are killing us as a nation, and as the professing church? Look at them carefully. Spiritually, psychologically, emotionally, physically, they are killing us – or better yet, we are using them to kill ourselves, to commit mass suicide.  

 

The last one I’ll mention is avarice, greed. Our economy would implode if we stopped being greedy. We make most of our decisions with money and possessions as our arbiter. In other words, we have been conditioned to view life in terms of money and possessions, in terms of acquiring more and more and more. We do not evaluate life based on character, or virtue, or the way we serve God and others; our metrics are money, power, position, and possessions.

 

Take note, that with greed is covetousness and that covetousness is idolatry (Ephesians 5:5); and see the stark waring in this verse that such persons have no “inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” Woe to those pastors and churches who explicitly teach greed and covetousness, and to those who implicitly endorse it; woe to those pastors and churches that never preach against the idolatry of covetousness and greed. Are we not an idolatrous people? Have we not supplanted with Cross with the Dollar Sign?

 

God is not interested in you possessing things or positions; God desires to possess you – at the end of your life this is all that will matter.

 

 

Walking Worthy of the Calling – Part II (6)

 

 

Continuing to consider “hardness of heart” as it is manifested in John Chapter 8:

 

“As He spoke these things, many came to believe in Him. So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, if you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (John 8:30 – 32).

 

What do you see in this passage? What are its key elements? Does this passage portray a person in a consummated relationship with Jesus Christ?

 

How do these people respond? Do they submit to the Word of Christ, accepting what He is saying, and rejoicing at the prospect of receiving and knowing the truth and experiencing freedom?

 

“They answered Him, We are Abraham’s descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, You will become free?”

 

“Jesus answered them, Truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are Abraham’s descendants; yet you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you.”

 

The rest of the chapter portrays an escalating interchange between Jesus and “those Jews who believed in Him,” which culminates with the people picking up “stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.”

 

The people went from believing in Him (8:30) to attempting to murder Jesus (8:59)? Why? Because they hardened their hearts by rejecting Jesus’ offer of truth and freedom, and continued to harden them throughout the interchange with Jesus, resulting in their hearts turning to murder.

 

Note that when our hearts reject the Word of Christ and they turn to a spirit of murder, that Jesus Christ hides Himself and He no longer remains within the temple.

 

The people refused to accept God’s assessment of their condition. When the people believed in Him (v. 30) perhaps they expected Jesus to feel privileged that they were accepting Him. Perhaps the last thing they anticipated was Jesus calling into question their identity, which they took pride in, and their spiritual condition (slaves to sin).

 

As they reject Jesus’ assessment of their identity and spiritual condition, they attack Jesus, accusing Him of having a demon and then picking up stones to kill Him. When our hearts are hardened not only do we reject God’s Word and the Person of Jesus Christ, but we attack God and His Word.

 

Now then, these people are what the world and the church would call “good people.” They are gathered in the temple, They are listening to Jesus. Many of them may be known for doing good works, They may be the very people we would love to work alongside in our jobs, they may be great neighbors, One would think that they don’t get into trouble…and yet these very people are attempting murder in the temple. Why? Because of the hardness of their heart.

 

How do the good people around us react to Jesus Christ? What is the reality about appearances and hardness of heart?

 

When Christ and His Word confront us, we can either by His grace submit to Him, confessing our sins and repenting, and taking up our cross and following Jesus Christ; or we can harden our hearts, and harden them again, and again, and again. When we are wrapped in pride and self-righteousness and our own goodness, the danger is great – O how difficult it is to repudiate those false identities we have trusted in, how difficult it is to realize that our righteous deeds, in and of themselves, are disgusting filthy rags.

 

When Paul looked back at his own self-righteous life and considered that, “as to  the righteousness which is in the Law, [I was] found blameless,” he could say that he counted “them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith…” (Philippians 3:1 – 14).                        

 

One of the religious tragedies of our time are those pastors and churches whose goal is to make people feel good about themselves at the expense of not preaching repentance and confession of sin(s) and the Cross of Christ as our Way of Life. For what occurs in these environments of false teaching is a continuing hardening of hearts, for the more pleased we are with ourselves and our false identities, the more our hearts are hardened and the more we become like those religious people of John Chapter 8. Sadly this insidious evil is pervasive, and the temptation to give-in to it confronts us along our pilgrimage. How tragic that we would rather live in the prison of self-righteousness than in the freedom which Christ promises us.

 

Let us remember, every day of our lives, that there are really only two kinds of people on the planet, those who are alive in Christ and those who are not. Let us also recall that we are here, in Christ, to bring His Light and Life to others – for “as the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (John 20:21).

 

Walking Worthy of the Calling – Part II (5)

 

      

 

“…because of the hardness of their heart.” (Eph. 4:19).

 

This can be a difficult thing to think about when we love and care about others but don’t understand that there are two types of people on the planet, those who are alive in Jesus Christ and those who continue to live in spiritual death. We all know people who are kind, benevolent, thoughtful toward others, practice moral and ethical principles, and have a sense of decency. Many of these people are more enjoyable to be around than the average professing Christian who is often undistinguishable from the world, unless they are distinguished by self-righteousness, religious sectarianism, and cultural and political identification – as opposed to being identified with the Christ of the Cross and the Cross of Christ.

 

It is important to remind ourselves, that as God told Samuel, “Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart” (1Sam. 16:10). At the core of our being is the issue of whether Jesus Christ is the True and Living God and whether we need to confess our sins, repent of the way we are living, and trust in Jesus Christ for new life and salvation. This means that we not only repudiate the sins we have committed, we repudiate who we are without Jesus Christ and, by God’s grace, exchange our death for His life, His Nature for our nature, His glory for our shame – all by His enabling and mercy.

 

Now then, who is more likely to come to grips with this inner reality, a person whose sins are out in the open for all to see or a person who is living what appears to be an upright and moral life? A person who has hit rock bottom or a person who is enjoying much of what life has to offer? A person who is pleased with himself or a person who is enabled to see the depth of sin and the wickedness of his heart?

 

There is a passage in John Chapter 8 that may help us see how “hardness of heart” manifests itself within religion. The chapter begins with the woman caught in the act of adultery and Jesus saying, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first one to throw a stone at her.”

 

“When they [the accusers] heard this, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court.”

 

John then writes, “Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the Light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the Light of life…You judge according to the flesh [the way things appear]; I am not judging anyone. But even if I do judge, My judgement is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me.” (See also John 5:30).

 

In John 7:24 Jesus says, “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”

 

Now let’s recall that the setting for this is the temple in Jerusalem (8:2). In a place that is supposed to be holy and a house of prayer, the scribes and Pharisees come with a woman (note the absence of the male adulterer) with murder in their hearts – in a place that should echo life the religious leaders are after death, both the death of the woman and the death of Jesus. We know from the Gospels that only the Roman government could issue and exercise the death penalty, therefore if Jesus adheres to the Law of Moses and says that she should die, they can go straight to the Roman authorities with an accusation against Jesus. In other words, they are accusing the woman so that they can accuse Jesus, they are using the woman and her anticipated death to destroy Jesus.

 

On the other hand, if Jesus says that she should not die, then they can accuse Him of not teaching and obeying the Law of Moses. On the one hand they can accuse Jesus to the Jewish people, on the other hand they can accuse Jesus to the Roman authorities.

 

Why are the scribes and Pharisees doing this? Because of the hardness of their heart. Do we see what hardness of heart can look like within us? It can lead us into wanting the death of others to achieve our own ends. It can lead us to using others to achieve our goals. It can seduce us into thinking that the end justifies the means.

 

Looking at verses 19 - 30 note the following:

 

“You neither know Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also.”

 

“You will seek Me, and will die in your sin; where I am going you cannot come.”

 

“You are from below, I am from above, you are of this world, I am not of this world.”

 

“Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am, you will die in your sins.”

 

What do you think about Jesus’ words? If you were listening to Him in the temple on this particular day, and if you had been living a good religious life with the Pharisees, if you had observed the religious practices of that day, how might you have responded to Jesus? If you were looking pretty good on the outside of your life, what might you be feeling when hearing Jesus speak?

 

Note verse 30, “As He spoke these things, many came to believe in Him.”

 

But what does this mean? How long did this belief last? Is this an example of Matthew 13:4, or of 13:5, or of 13:7, or of 13:8?

 

We’ll pick this back up in the next post in this series, in the meantime you might want to read the rest of John Chapter 8 and ponder the trajectory of this passage.

 

How does the chapter begin? How does it end? What do you see?

Walking Worthy of the Calling – Part II (4)

 

In Ephesians 4:17 – 19 we see that the peoples of the world are on walkabout in the “futility of their mind,” so then, why do we, as those who have “the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:16), follow such futility?

 

We also see that they are “darkened in their understanding.” That is, their understanding is the opposite of being “enlightened,” they can’t see what is really going on – and yet so many of us follow the people of the world. Not only that, but we often adopt the ways of learning of the world, including the way we read and interpret Scripture. Our epistemology is often that of the world (consider what Paul writes in 1 Cor. 1:17 – 2:16). Even Christians who profess a high view of Scripture have incorporated the epistemology of the worldly academy, which has now taken root within both the pulpit and the pew. Why do we live in a house that has blackout curtains and no lights? Paul writes in Eph. 5:8, “…for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light…”

 

We see that the peoples of the world are “excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart…”

 

Recall that there are two types of people on earth, those who are alive in Christ and those who aren’t (Eph. 2:1ff). There are those who have “the life of God” and those who don’t. Ignorance is a barrier to us receiving the life of God in Jesus Christ, and our hardness of heart seals our ignorance, it preserves it, it throws a cloak over it, it blocks the light of the Gospel from our hearts and minds.

 

In 2 Cor. 4:3 – 4 Paul writes, “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

 

Then in 2 Cor. 4:6 we read, “For God, who said, Light shall shine out of darkness, is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”

 

When we read these passages, I want to caution us once again, not to think in selective terms of the peoples of the world, that is, thinking that Paul is writing about the “bad people” of the world, because he is not; Paul is writing about all the peoples of the world; he is writing about who we were before we came into a relationship with Jesus Christ; “for you were formerly darkness.”

 

The peoples of the world live in spiritual death, and epistemological and cognitive darkness, and yet so often we follow their lead, adopting their ways, making idols of their political, sports, economic, academic, religious, artistic, and entertainment celebrities – why are we so foolish?

 

 

Walking Worthy of the Calling – Part II (3)

 

 

In Ephesians 5:17 – 19, how does Paul characterize the “walk” of the nations, the peoples who are without the life of God, who remain dead in trespasses and sins?

 

“So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk,

in the futility of their mind,

being darkened in their understanding,

alienated from the life of God

because of the ignorance that is in them,

because of the hardness of their heart;

and they,

having become callous,

have given themselves over to sensuality

for the practice of every kind of impurity

with greediness.”

 

Please take a moment and ponder the above. What do you see? What is Paul saying about the world around us? What do each one of these descriptions mean? What is the composite portrait of the peoples of the world?

 

Is the above a description of the “bad” people of the world, or is it a description of all people of the world?

 

I have an acquittance who is under a doctor’s care for a potential life-threatening condition which often carries warning symptoms, but in his case there were none and the problem was identified through a blood test.  When he received the results of the blood test he could have told the doctor, “Since I don’t have any symptoms of this particular disease the test must be wrong and I see no need for follow-up testing or treatment.” As it was, he didn’t trust his absence of symptoms, he trusted the blood test and subsequent testing and is now undergoing treatment. His body had been functioning in a “good way” even though he had a disease that normally manifests itself, all seemed right with his heath until the blood test identified a problem that he couldn’t see or feel.

 

Paul’s description of the peoples of the world is not just a description of the “bad” people of the world, but rather of all the people of the world; those who look like they fit the description and those who don’t have the appearance of fitting the description. Let us recall that there are really only two “kinds” of people, those who are alive in Christ Jesus and those who are dead in their trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1 – 10).

 

In the Gospels we see some pretty good people coming to Jesus and expecting Jesus to affirm their goodness, think of Nicodemus, or think of the rich young man; in both instances there were things deep within their souls that Jesus spoke to, for sin and spiritual death are with us all until we come into a relationship with Jesus Christ, having our sins forgiven and receiving His New Life. Appearances can be deceiving. If my friend’s doctor had relied on appearances my friend’s disease would be progressing without treatment.

 

Paul tells us that the peoples of the world are on walkabout “in the futility of their mind,” note also the “hardness of their heart” in verse 18. Both the mind and heart, the whole person, is in focus. The idea behind the word “futility” is emptiness, worthless, unworthy, vanity, without substance. In Eph. 4:23 we read that we to “be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” Our minds matter, what we think about matters.

 

There is a Way to think, and there is a way not to think. There are things that we ought to focus our minds on, and there are things that we ought not to give much time and energy to; there are things that we ought not to think about at all – for they are wicked. There are also things that we ought to think about, but we ought not to think about them as the world-system thinks about them, we ought not to view them as the world views them.

 

Considering that the peoples of the world are on walkabout “in the futility of their mind,” why do we endorse the futile, vain, and worthless thinking and values of the world?

 

Why do we interpret life and understand life the way the culture surrounding us understands and interprets life, current events, education, government, politics, entertainment, art, sports, business, banking, economics, immigration, health care…when the thinking of the peoples of the world is futile?

 

And do not be so foolish as to read the above and think, “It’s those other people who do that, I don’t do that.” This one of many reasons that labels such as liberal, conservative, moderate, and progressive are so dangerous – they seduce us with false identities and vilify those who do not identify with us. They make us lazy in that we simply embrace an identity and spout what the idols bid us speak, we don’t have to think about the issues at hand, we don’t have to submit to Christ and His Word, we don’t have to think before we speak to be understood, and we don’t have to be Christocentric. These labels become idols and interpretive lenses. They determine our relationships with others. They save us from self-criticism and from having to engage the truth – the truth becomes what we want it to be. There may have been a time when this was not so, but it is not our time.

 

Unless we understand that the Church is not the world, and the world is not the Church; unless we understand that we are citizens of the Kingdom of heaven, looking for that City whose Builder and Maker is God (Phil. 3:20; Hebrews 11:10), it is doubtful that we will live as the distinct People of God, as the Bride of Jesus Christ, as the Presence of the Trinity among peoples who need to know God loves them so much that He gave His only Begotten Son.

 

When we appear before the Judgement Seat of Jesus Christ, and make no mistake, Christians will be judged (2 Cor. 5:10; 1 Cor. 3:10-15), will Jesus ask us, “Was it not enough to be called by My Name?”

Walking Worthy of the Calling – Part II (2)

 

 

Continuing with Ephesians 4:17, what does the word “Gentiles” mean in this context (see previous post)? Does it mean the same as it does in Ephesians 2:11-14? “Therefore, remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh…that you were at that time separate from Christ…but now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both [Jew and Gentile] into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall.”

 

In other words, is Paul including the Christian Gentiles who he is writing to, those who are the Temple of God (Eph. 2:17 – 22), in the group of Gentiles who are walking, “in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart, and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness” (Eph. 4:17 – 19).

 

Would the Christian Gentiles hearing Paul’s letter read have thought, “He’s talking about us”? Or would they have thought, “He is talking about the way we used to be before we were given new life in Jesus Christ. Because we are now the Temple of God, the People of God, the elect of God, holy and blameless (chapters 1 and 2) in Christ, we have been given a new Way of Life; Paul is writing about the peoples of the world right now (4:17ff), and he is reminding us that we are to “no longer walk as the peoples (Gentiles, ethnic groups, nations) walk, we are no longer to go on walkabout with them.”

 

Why is this important? Why does this matter today?

 

It matters because the Church is not the world and the world is not the Church; we are to be a City set on a hill, the Light of the world in Christ, and we are not to live as the world lives – we are, in Jesus Christ, to be distinct from the peoples and nations of the world. As we work through Ephesians 4:17 – 5:21 I hope we will see the glaring differences between the People of God and those who live according to the spirit of the age, “the prince of the power of the air,” (2:2).

 

Much preaching and teaching assumes there is no difference between the Church and the world. We have been seduced by materialism, politics, economics, earthly nationalism, entertainment, excessive sports, sensualism, gluttony, the academy, religious showmanship, spin and deceit, vitriol and anger, sloth, and profanity – I am sure you can add to this list.  (Ponder 1 John 2:15 – 17).

 

While Paul spends 1:1 – 4:16 establishing that we are the People of God from eternity past, and sharing the Grand Plan of God that Jews and Gentles come to be One People in Christ (2:13; 3:4 – 8), he also makes a foundational point in 2:1 – 3 that serves as both a cardinal truth regarding our redemption in Christ, and as a backdrop to 4:17ff:

 

“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked [here is that world “walk” again] according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh and of the mind, and were by nature  children of wrath, even as the rest [of humanity].”

 

Thank God that what follows in Chapter 2 is that we have been “made alive” together in Christ, that we are no longer dead in our sins, and that we have been incorporated into the People of God, the Temple of the Living God.

 

There are really only two kinds of people on earth, those who are alive in Christ and those who are dead in trespasses and sins. Or we might say, those who live in Christ and those who live in the world. Or those who draw their life from Christ, and those who draw their life from the world.

 

Therefore, when Paul uses the term “Gentiles” in Ephesians 4:17 he is referring to the unregenerate peoples of the world, for once again, there are only two types of people on the planet, those who are spiritually alive in Jesus Christ and those who are dead in their trespasses and sins.

 

Furthermore, if we are not living in this awareness then we are not living with a Biblical understanding of who we are in Christ, along with our mission, and the condition of those who remain in the world.

 

Let’s be clear about this, those who are alive in Jesus Christ, who are His disciples, are not of the world. Can we hear the words of our Lord Jesus?

 

“If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.” John 15:18 – 19.

 

The Apostle John writes, “You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” 1 John 4:4 – 6.

 

Is this the way we think and live? Is this the language we use in our congregations and small groups? If we do not see this then we will gloss over what follows Ephesians 4:17 – because we will not have eyes to see; our vision will be dimmed by what we think is Christianity, and it is a Christianity that is without distinction from the world, without obedience to Jesus Christ, without a sense of holiness and purity and their opposite.

 

O dear friends, when we fail to see the distinction between the  City of God and the city of man, between the Kingdom of God and the kingdoms of this world, we will be seduced into ungodly alliances in politics, in earthly nationalism, in entertainment, in economics, in education, in sports, in business…in every conceivable aspect of life.

 

And sadly, so very sadly, we will offer our children to the world, and the next generation, and the next generation. The slippery slope has shot us into the abyss – and we are so accustomed to darkness that we don’t even know it.

 

Dare we gloss over Ephesians 4:17 – 5:21?

 

Dare I?

 

Dare you?