- Feb 15, 2016
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The Christian is to be antithetical where the Lord God and the truth of His word, the Holy Bible, are concerned. The unredeemed people of this fallen world, following the powers of disobedience (Ephesians 2:2), are haters and enemies of God (Romans 1:30, Romans 8:7). They cannot know Him or be subject to Him because they are dead to Him (Romans 3:11, Romans 8:7, Ephesians 2:1). They think, speak and act as antagonists of God. Such people will always have many corrupt opinions regarding the reality of the one true God, the God of Scripture, the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, the inerrancy, infallibility and authority of the Bible, and of the Bible alone. These will manifest themselves in hostility toward Christ’s genuine* people and toward their mission in the world.
These souls, and their lies, the Christian must always take an absolute stand against and must never negotiate with. This is especially true when those who oppose God claim to be people of God themselves, for these ‘snakes in the grass’ are the most deceptive, and dangerous, of God’s enemies. These are to always be regarded as the ‘black’ while that which is of God’s truth is always to be defended as the ‘white’. These are the ‘dead’ while the other is the ‘living’. These are the ‘evil’ while God and His word are the ‘good’. Antithesis is the way of the cross and the way of the faithful.
Christians are to be directly opposed to and directly contrasted with the enemies of Christ; no concession, no compromise, no cowardice, no surrender! What the believer knows to be true of the genuine Christian faith is always mutually incompatible with the world’s hostile views. It is to be strictly adhered to as such, and those who are hostile are to be unflinchingly challenged with it.
* We always have to distinguish between the genuine Christian and the vain professor. The genuine Christian is born from above (John 3:3), that is ‘of God’, and not ‘of’ any Church or of any ‘work’ such as baptism, He is not even born ‘of’ human will. The new birth is strictly by grace, that is, God shows salvation mercy to whom He will even as He hardens whom He will against it (John 1:13, Romans 9:15-18). The genuine Christian is a ‘new creature’ distinctly and obviously different from the old man, even though not yet perfected (2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 6:15). Jesus Christ is ‘formed’ in him in that very special and spiritual manner, making him truly new in heart and mind, thus in thought word and deed (2 Corinthians 13:5). He is kept by God’s power, through faith unto salvation, so that he will never fall away (John 6:37-40, 1 Peter 1:5). He has a belief ‘of’ God and not merely a belief ‘in’ God and this manifests itself in devotion and obedience, however imperfect (Romans 4:3, James 2:19).
These souls, and their lies, the Christian must always take an absolute stand against and must never negotiate with. This is especially true when those who oppose God claim to be people of God themselves, for these ‘snakes in the grass’ are the most deceptive, and dangerous, of God’s enemies. These are to always be regarded as the ‘black’ while that which is of God’s truth is always to be defended as the ‘white’. These are the ‘dead’ while the other is the ‘living’. These are the ‘evil’ while God and His word are the ‘good’. Antithesis is the way of the cross and the way of the faithful.
Christians are to be directly opposed to and directly contrasted with the enemies of Christ; no concession, no compromise, no cowardice, no surrender! What the believer knows to be true of the genuine Christian faith is always mutually incompatible with the world’s hostile views. It is to be strictly adhered to as such, and those who are hostile are to be unflinchingly challenged with it.
* We always have to distinguish between the genuine Christian and the vain professor. The genuine Christian is born from above (John 3:3), that is ‘of God’, and not ‘of’ any Church or of any ‘work’ such as baptism, He is not even born ‘of’ human will. The new birth is strictly by grace, that is, God shows salvation mercy to whom He will even as He hardens whom He will against it (John 1:13, Romans 9:15-18). The genuine Christian is a ‘new creature’ distinctly and obviously different from the old man, even though not yet perfected (2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 6:15). Jesus Christ is ‘formed’ in him in that very special and spiritual manner, making him truly new in heart and mind, thus in thought word and deed (2 Corinthians 13:5). He is kept by God’s power, through faith unto salvation, so that he will never fall away (John 6:37-40, 1 Peter 1:5). He has a belief ‘of’ God and not merely a belief ‘in’ God and this manifests itself in devotion and obedience, however imperfect (Romans 4:3, James 2:19).
