There is a process of becoming something great in God we must endure as we come out of the darkness of our self-seeking carnal nature into the light of God. This is God’s intention for us, to move from the death of the darkness in our hearts and in the world into the glorious light of the life of God.

This coming into the light is a wonderful, but at the same time a very painful process to behold as God uses our life experiences, people, His word, and much more to conform us into the character and nature of Jesus Christ, so that we may be able to receive His Father’s divine and precious promises. Many Christians believe we are conformed into the character and nature of Christ so that we can become divine. Well as nice and wonderful as that all sounds it can never happen. We are of and made for the earth, at this time in our existence, and as long as we live in this lower life form called “human” we will never be able to attain to the lofty heights and be seated with God. Now God’s ultimate intention and purpose for us to live a life separated unto Him. Paul shares these words with the church at Corinth and us. “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” (2 Corinthians 6:14) Paul here was not telling Believers to separate themselves from the people in the world as some today say, oh no Paul was warning the church to separate themselves from the “fellowship” and “communion” of the heart with those who would walk in unrighteousness and darkness. In God it is in our heart we are “yoked together” and where we have “communion” and “fellowship.” We must never live a life of separation from the world to the extent we cannot share the Gospel, but at the same time there must be a separation in our heart, our desires, our lives for the things of the world and for our Christian rights.

Today within the church there is a great need to come into a place of submissiveness to ALL authority. Sadly today the Church in America has become so political. Jesus asked us to be the salt and light to the world, not politicians trying to conform the world to Biblical views or by cramming the last bit of truth down someone’s throat. We are to rest in God’s sovereign will and plan for the billions of lives in the world, in the daily affairs of men and women, and for nations, not rally and organize behind a good cause to set right the social injustices of today. No where in the Bible is it recorded Jesus got involved with the social issues of His day. We are to be the example of the love of Christ to the world, even in the face of great slaughter of life and loss of rights. The same Spirit (a Spirit of love and hope for our fellow man) that raised Jesus from the dead is to rule and reign in our bodies and it is not the spirit of division and wanting it is own way. We must go God’s way (not ours) for Christians there is no other way. Now please do not misunderstand me by mistaking submissiveness for weakness in God. Our strength in God comes out of our ability to be weak before the world. Doctor Luke in Acts shares these thoughts with us, “But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:19 -20) and “Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather thanman.” (Acts 5:29 ) Submission is a matter of attitude, while obedience is a matter of conduct. Thus, submission is absolute, but obedience is relative. For example slavery today is wrong in the eyes of man, but in the Bible at that time slavery was okay. Paul even exhorted slaves to be obedient to their masters. ”Servants, (slaves in the Greek) be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness (oneness of vision and focus in the Greek) of your heart, as unto Christ;” (Ephesians 6:5) The issue was not the slavery, but the submission of the slaves, the submission in their heart. Never forget, at the heart of every issue is an issue of your heart. Often times with issues of the heart and social issues we get off track. In Acts 4:19 , Peter and John’s spirit was not rebellious, since they submitted to those in authority. Obedience however cannot be absolute. Some authorities must be obeyed; while others should not be, especially in matters which touch on things of God and sharing the gospel. We can question, suggest, and reply to authorities, yet we must never show an un-submissive attitude. Submission must be absolute. One who knows authority will be soft and tender. They will be absolute in their submission in heart, (in attitude) in word and action, even if they disagree. There is to be no sign of harshness or rebellion. Thus, when a delegated authority (people who represent God’s authority i.e. pastors, police, government, and the like) and direct authority (God Himself) are in conflict, one must render submission, but not always give obedience to the delegated authority. When Jesus stood before Pilate there was great resistance in Him. Every cell in Jesus’ body was resisting Pilate for what he stood for and believed, but the Bible said, “He (Jesus) opened not His mouth.” In silence He gave great resistance. He submitted (He stood before him), but did not obey Pilate. Jesus did not do what Pilate wanted Him to do. What a wonderful place in God when we can stand before man and say nothing when being attacked or wrongly accused. There is much said about our inward strength when we can say nothing. God’s order to us is to love, “they will know you are my disciples, by your love,” not by your ability to protest and force someone to your point of view. I hear many well-known pastors say they will be “Silent No More” (following the latest trend for church growth) or the church needs to be the “moral majority” and raise up “centers for moral clarity in America .” There seems to be a big push for morals and values, well my friend being morally good and having good values is not enough, we are to die to our selfish desires and allow the Holy Spirit to flow through us to a lost and dying world so that they too can come into the light. Sadly we have given up the Gospel message (1 Corinthian 15:1-5) for Christian rights and the social issues of today. This is because our concepts have been significantly blurred away from our precepts. P recepts are original ideas, foundational thoughts of truth; for the Church it has always been the Gospel. And concepts are our understanding and application of our precepts. Somehow we have gotten off track from our original precepts and thus our concepts too are off track. The further we move away from our original precepts the further we will move away from our original truth. And, the further our concepts move away from our original truth (our precepts) the further the Church moves away from the truth. Brethren this ought not to be.

Brethren we must get back on track. The Church in America has drifted so far from just presenting the Gospel (the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus) to becoming a political organization wielding political clout against those who dare to disagree. I see religious leaders becoming politicians and politicians becoming religious leaders, Brethren heaven forbid this ought not to be. We must get back to the simplistic delivery of the Gospel were we just have the goodness of God in mind for those who do not know Jesus Christ as their personal savior. This can only be done when we share the good news of the Gospel with a heart of submission for all the world to see.

You know the more we come into the light the more we can see the darkness in others, and if we have not allowed God to soften our heart, by His dealings and judgments, we will react to their darkness and not to their great need for the light.