Blog
The purpose of the blog is to show the frequency, and relevance to the faithful disciple, that the subject of holiness to our heavenly Father and separation from the world occurs in His Word. This must instil in us both a desire and a willingness to leave the things of the world, with its ungodly views and actions behind us, or be caught up in its malicious and insidious ways. If we don't then we risk giving up our hope of acceptance when we stand before the great Judge of all the earth.
The short thoughts in this category are on a variety of relevant subjects that can be read and meditated upon without spending a lot of time at intervals through the day. We hope they will be both interesting and edifying, in accordance with scriptural principles.
Fellowship with Devils
In the first century idol worship was prevalent across the then known world and resulted in much opposition to Christianity, and which we hear so much of in the book of Acts. The opposition often resulted in violence to those accepting the new teaching regarding Christ. Some things just don’t change. The world today is just as idolatrous as it always has been throughout history, the only difference being in the idols worshiped. Instead of figures of wood, metal and stone today’s idols are the pursuit of wealth, possessions, pleasure and self-gratification. The pursuit of the true disciple of Christ must be the "the kingdom of God, and his righteousness" (Matthew 6:33Matthew 6:3333 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.).
The apostle Paul writes "But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?" (1 Cor 10:20-22).
What are the 'devils' being referred to here? The word translated devils is better rendered as "demons" from the Greek "daimonion", and in this quotation is referring to the idols of the pagan Gentiles. The word devils is used in other contexts and so we also need to examine these to get a full understanding.
Withdraw Thyself
"If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself." (1 Tim. 6:3-5)
Paul is writing this first epistle by the express commandment of Yahweh to Timothy "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope; Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord" (1 Timothy 1:1-2).
Neither be partaker of other men's sins: keep thyself pure
"Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure." (1 Tim. 5:22)
The particular part of this verse that may at first sound a little strange occurs in the middle few words "neither be partaker of other men’s sins", but the whole verse is relevant in providing the context. So let us examine the whole verse in some detail so that we can fully understand its import, taking each phrase in turn.
Read more: Neither be partaker of other men's sins: keep thyself pure
Walk in the Light
"That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ." (1 John 1:3)
"This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." (1 John 1:5-7)
We know from scripture that our way of life during this time of our probation will determine our future, whether we walk according to the ways of Yahweh our God or are led by the ways of those around us in the world. We may even be influenced by the gangrenous ways of those that would introduce false doctrine into the ecclesia (2 Timothy 2:172 Timothy 2:17 17 And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus;).
The Reason for Heresy
"For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you." (1 Corinthians 11:19)
We've become accustomed to the word heresy, which is a transliteration (i.e. copied without translation) of the original Greek word hairesis meaning choice. The word heresy has now become to be equated with false doctrine, and indeed it was used to refer to different groups or sects even in the first century A.D. The epistle to the Galatians 5:20Galatians 5:20 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, uses the word in referring to the works of the flesh and 2 Peter 2:1 is even more significant: "But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction."