Tuesday, January 10, 2017, 12:22 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “A Believer’s Prayer.” Speak, Lord, your
words to my heart. I read 2 Corinthians
6:14-7:1 (ESV).
Unequally Yoked
(6:14-16a)
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what
partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light
with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a
believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with
idols?
I can think of no more
appropriate application of this passage of scripture than that of the body of
Christ being united in a contractual (partnership) relationship (via the 501c3)
with the US government (here in America). The body of Christ is just that,
Christ’s body. We are his holy bride. We are to be married to no other,
especially not to the ungodly. So, when the church, Christ’s body, enters into
a partnership agreement with the US government, or any other government, she
is, essentially, committing adultery against her Lord, who is to be her ONLY
husband and head. She has, thus, made the government her head in place of
Christ, and she has become a state church.
Lest we forget, though, the true
church is not a legal entity under the authority of any state. It does not have
to adhere to the principles that govern a corporation. It does not need the
state to give it the right to exist. It is not a business of human-making, nor
is it to be marketed as such. It is not a building nor an institution nor an organization
nor a social club nor a public charity. It is the body of Christ, with Christ
ONLY as its head. It is a living organism made up of the people of God, who are
believers in Jesus Christ. And, its (her) only allegiance is to be to God and
to God alone!
So, why has the vast majority
of the church, especially here in America, decided to be unequally yoked
together with the government? Someone in authority over them within church denominations,
most likely, convinced them this was necessary in order to be tax exempt, yet
they were already tax exempt. But, even if they weren’t, should the church be
concerned with such matters? Do we give to God and to his service only because
we can get a tax break on our giving? Where did this all go wrong? I believe it
went wrong when the people of God decided to institutionalize the body of
Christ, which seems to be somewhat a carryover from the OT temple.
In other words, in the OT, or
before Jesus died and was resurrected and ascended to heaven and sent his Holy
Spirit to indwell his followers, the temple of God was a physical building
built by human hands. The Holy of Holies was within this temple structure, and
this is where the Ark of the Covenant was placed in which was the presence of
God. And, it was only the high priest who could enter into God’s holy presence,
and only once a year, to make sacrifice for the sins of the people. Yet, when
Jesus died on the cross for our sins, the veil that hung between God’s holy
presence and us, the people, was torn in two. Jesus, through his death on a
cross, and through his resurrection, made the way possible for us to come into
God’s holy presence through faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.
So, what this means for us is
that a church building is not the house of God. When we enter that building, or
when we enter a room called a sanctuary, we are not entering into God’s holy
presence. God does not dwell in buildings built by human hands. He dwells in the
human hearts of those who have repented of their sins and who have turned to
follow Jesus Christ with their lives. We also don’t need human priests to
mediate for us, between us and God, or to somehow facilitate the forgiveness of
our sins. Jesus Christ is our only high priest, and his blood sacrifice for
sins was a done deed, i.e. he died once for all, so no more sacrifice is
needed. We, as followers of Jesus Christ, are now his kingdom priests. And, God
now dwells within us. We are the church. The church is not someplace we go, and
it is definitely not a corporation or a business of human making to be marketed
as such.
Yet, making the church into a
corporation under the authority of the government paved the way for the church
to be adulterated even more than before. Now that it (the institutional church)
was incorporated, it was, thus, marketed in the same way most any other
business is marketed, which is to the world (its customer base). So, the gospel
had to be diluted in order to appeal to human flesh so as not to be offensive.
Entertainment and the big show became the focal point of “church” meetings in
order to attract the world to come to the “church,” i.e. to these businesses of
human-making. And, humanistic philosophy and sensuality and ungodliness began
to take over biblical teaching, holiness and righteousness. Also, the Holy
Spirit was kicked to the curb in the vast majority of these corporate churches.
The Temple of God (6:16b-18)
For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,
“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among
them,
and I will
be their God,
and they
shall be my people.
Therefore go out from their midst,
and be
separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch no unclean thing;
then I will
welcome you,
and I will be a father to you,
and you
shall be sons and daughters to me,
says the Lord Almighty.”
So, God is calling out to his
true church to come out from among the ungodly, i.e. that there would not be an
unholy union between God’s holy people and the people of this sinful world. The
church needs to be the church again, i.e. she needs to be the body of Christ,
with Christ as her only head, and she needs to operate as his body and not as a
business of men. The only way that the ungodly can be brought into the church, which
is Christ’s body, is through faith in Jesus Christ, not via human marketing
schemes. The purpose of the gatherings of the church is for the body of Christ
to be encouraged, strengthened, built up in the faith, grow to maturity, be
instructed in holiness and godliness, and for true Christian fellowship, true
(unadulterated) worship of God, and for the breaking of bread and prayer. Then,
she is to go out into the world with the gospel of salvation so that many will
be saved, and the saved then ARE the church.
The church, Christ’s body,
needs to be reeducated as to who the church really is, because many have it all
backwards. I don’t have to go to a building called “church” to be in obedience
to my Lord in not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. And, if I do
join in with an institutional church, and I become a member of such an
organization, I am being unequally yoked together with unbelievers, and so I
would be acting in disobedience to my Lord, for the institutional church is
unequally yoked together with an ungodly government and with the world. So, to
be in obedience to my Lord I must not participate with the institutional church
in their ungodly ways and in their spiritual adultery, but I must come out from
among her, and I must be separate, and not be a partaker in what I know is not
only not of God, but is against God and his Word.
Cleanse Ourselves (7:1)
Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse
ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to
completion in the fear of God.
So, what is the church’s
responsibility with regards to all this? I believe it is to separate from the
institution of church, and to unincorporate the church, and to come out from
the unholy union with the government, and to no longer market the church to the
world as a worldly business. The body of Christ needs to meet together as the
body of Christ, not as a business, and not invite the ungodly into our meetings,
and thus end up conforming the meetings to the desires of human flesh. The
gatherings of the church should not be places where the ungodly feel at home
and comfortable. If any unsaved person should come into one of our meetings,
they should fall under the conviction of the Holy Spirit because the
uncompromising word of God is being taught with the full conviction of and
under the enormous power of the Holy Spirit. The church’s purpose is not to “make
nice” with the world, but it is to walk in humble obedience and surrender to
her ONLY Lord and master, Jesus Christ.
To walk in the fear of God
means we honor God by all that we do and say and are. It means we obey him, and
we do what he says. So, if he says we are not to be unequally yoked together
with the ungodly, and that we are to come out from among them and be separate,
then that is what we need to do, not matter how hard it may be, or how
unpopular, or even how impractical it may seem by human standards. We need to
break with human tradition in order to do what is right. And, we need to be
willing to face the scorn of others who are so steeped in tradition that they
will not understand why we are not “going to church” someplace, and may thus
judge us to be among the ungodly, or at least they will probably think we are
backslidden. Yet, we are NOT to forsake the assembling of ourselves together.
We need to meet regularly together with other believers in Jesus for the
purpose of teaching, fellowship, communion, prayer and service. This is
essential!
A Believer’s Prayer / An
Original Work / July 31, 2012
With my whole heart, Lord, I pray
To be Yours, and Yours always.
Lead me in Your truth today.
May I love You, and obey.
Lead me in Your righteousness.
When I sin, may I confess;
Bow before You when I pray;
Live for You and You always.
Love You, Jesus, You’re my friend.
Life with You will never end.
You are with me through each day,
Giving love and peace always.
You will ne’er abandon me.
From my sin You set me free.
You died on that cruel tree,
So I’d live eternally.
Soon You’re coming back for me;
From this world to set me free;
Live with You eternally.
Oh, what joy that brings to me.
I will walk with You in white;
A pure bride, I’ve been made right
By the blood of Jesus Christ;
Pardoned by His sacrifice.
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