I’M SAVED, NOW WHAT? (part-34)

I’M SAVED, NOW WHAT?

FRIENDSHIP WITH THE WORLD (1 of 2)

We all have one of two choices to make – be friends with the world,
or be friends with God. Many people have a desire to be friends with
both the world and God, however according to the scriptures, this is
not possible.
    You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship
    with the world means enmity against God? Therefore,
    anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes
    an enemy of God. (James 4:4)

We can see that James refers to those who want to be friends with the
world as “adulterous”. Why would he use that as a description? More
than likely he was referring to spiritual adultery. Folks are married to
God, but having an affair with the world. We can see from his description,
the two are mutually exclusive.

He explains that anyone who is a friend of God, will continue in the
relationship until they choose to be a friend with the world. When they
embrace the world as their friend, they are no longer a friend of God,
but are now His enemy. Conversely, if someone is a friend with the
world, but chooses to become a friend of God’s, then by default they
would become an enemy with the world.

Sometimes our interpretation of the scriptures can be very confusing,
but in this verse James makes it very simple to understand – choose
God or choose the world, but you can’t choose both. The choice is ours,
but if we choose not to choose, then we have made a choice. If we do
not choose to be friends with God, then by default we have chosen to
become friends with the world.

There are consequences to our choices. If we choose to step off the roof
of a ten-story building, we are not free to choose the consequence of our
choice. Our choice has chosen for us. However God can prevail over our
bad choices to restore us into fellowship with Himself! Whenever we
make the wrong choice we can turn to the Lord Who is willing to restore
our relationship with Him.

John takes it even deeper than just being friends with God.
He says that we can’t love God if we love the world.
    Do not love the world or anything in the world.
    If anyone loves the world, love for the Father
    is not in them. (1 John 2:15)

Although His followers are in the world, Jesus prayed that they would not
become friends with it. He knew that being friends with the world would
eventually create a love for the world that would displace their love for God.
    My prayer is not that you take them out of the world
    but that you protect them from the evil one. They are
    not of the world, even as I am not of it. (John 17:15-16)

Jesus knew His followers would be protected from the temptations and
influence of the world when God calls them home to heaven. However,
He also knew the power of prayer for those who have not been called to
heaven and are still living in the world. With this knowledge, He prayed
for His Father (and ours) to protect them from becoming friends with, and
eventually falling in love with the world. Isn’t that a comforting thought
to know that Jesus Himself cares about us that much? He prays for us to
be protected just as God protected Him.

The scriptures are crammed full of information to help believers with
obedience and self-evaluation. For instance, if you are wondering how
friendly you are becoming with the world, the scriptures give us a kind
of checklist.
    The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality,
    impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft;
    hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition,
    dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies,
    and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those
    who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
    (Galatians 5:19-21)

He provides some checkpoints and includes a warning that if you are
living like this, then you will not inherit the kingdom of God. You
might say, “Well I’m not doing all the things in that list, so I’m safe”.
Are you?

It sounds like Paul is talking about how we ‘lean’ and not necessarily a
comprehensive list of all the things that will cause us to be excluded from
heaven. If we are guilty of only one in the list, then we can be vulnerable
to any or all of the others. Let’s breakdown the list:
    Sexual immorality:
    Not just adultery and fornication, but including lust of the
    mind (fantasizing inappropriate sexual activity with others).

    Immoral:
    Includes things such as obscene gestures, dirty jokes, pornography, etc.

    Debauchery:
    This is an extreme indulgence of one’s appetite – food,
    sex, wealth, possessions, selfishness, egotism, etc.

    Idolatry:
    It is anything that takes precedence over God. Some replace consistent
    worship attendance and reading God’s Word with all kinds of selfish
    desires. Some substitute praying with what they choose to do instead.
    Some are even guilty of finding reasons to avoid obeying what God
    wants them to do.

Some fail to minister to the needs of someone else or serve in whatever
capacity God has called them to serve (even though He has equipped
them with what they need to obey His command to serve Him). He
commands us to worship with other believers and when we don’t,
we are putting some idol in place of obeying God’s command.
    And let us consider how we may spur one another on
    toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting
    together, as some are in the habit of doing, but
    encouraging one another—and all the more as
    you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:24-25)
    Note:
        The pandemic has changed the way some may have to worship,
        but with can still worship with others even if we cannot attend
        due to medial vulnerabilities due to compromised immune
        systems, etc. It is important that we continue to worship remotely
        and continue to support God’s mission with our tithes and
        offerings (this is a way God has provided us to prove our
        love for Him and our faith that He will provide for our needs).

BLOG: utvolwoody.wordpress.com