Blood For The Battle
In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.
Ephesians 1:7
We are involved in a spiritual conflict. This is a battle between the forces of God and the forces of Satan. We must choose sides.
The Bible warns us about being taken in by the evil of this cosmos. Satan’s lies are cleverly mixed with truth. When he tempted Christ, he was convincingly logical and even quoted Scripture. So the Bible commands that Christians make a clean break with all the evils of the world and that we be separated from them. The apostle Paul said, “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you” (2 Corinthians 6:17).
Jesus ate with publicans and sinners (see Mark 2:16). Nearly everyone He associated with was an outcast. But His relationship with them was not purely social; it was redemptive.
Now, we are not to get our worlds mixed up at this point. This is where the confusion lies. God meant that we are not to mingle with the world, but we are to witness to the world. We are to love the world of men whom God loves. We are to weep with those who weep (Romans 13:15), suffer with those who suffer, and identify ourselves with the poor, the sick, and the needy.
This then is our problem: to associate with and love those who are involved in the world without being contaminated, influenced, or swayed by them. This distinction can only be achieved by a close walk with Christ, by constant prayer, and by seeking the Holy Spirit’s leadership every hour of the day. God has provided us the power to resist the world and be separated from it, and it is ours to appropriate that power every hour of our lives.
We are in the world, but the world is not to be in us. It is good for a ship to be in the sea, but bad when the sea gets into the ship. As our Lord prayed, “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from evil” (John 17:15).
Our Father and our God, I pray for Your constant vigil on my behalf. Protect me from the evil influences of my world. Help me to walk with Jesus and be led daily by the Holy Spirit toward being in the world but not of it. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).