When confronted with the Word of God, church people who defy Him will always present an example of higher thinking to explain why they do so. Rebellion against the Lord is always couched in high-sounding, ego-pleasing rhetoric which makes the speaker feel good about him/herself. But while the rebel is reveling in his/her religiosity, Satan is preventing him/her from hearing what God is saying in His Holy Word. His ultimate statement relative to exiting the Counterfeit Church is found in 2 Corinthians 6:14-18: “Be not unequally yoked with unbelievers, for what fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion has light with darkness? And what concord has Christ with Belial? or what part has he that believes with an infidel? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living god; as God has said, ‘I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God and they will be My people.’ Wherefore, come out from among them and be separate and touch not that unclean thing and I will receive you, and I will be a Father to you and you will be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”

The message is clear: God forbids His saints from having any spiritual relationship with the unrighteous who walk in darkness while serving Satan. God calls these church people infidels and idol worshipers. Conversely He refers to His people as His temples which are to have no spiritual intercourse with those  whom He refers to as goats, tares, foolish virgins, bad fish and bad fruit trees. See The Church, The Godpel And the Goats. Why is it important to remain at a distance from them spiritually? Because leaven leavens the whole loaf. Because when you sleep with dogs you get fleas. Because one bad apple spoils the entire barrel. By continuing to openly fellowship with unbelievers in defiance of God’s command to the contrary one sets the example of how to defy God and supposedly get away with it. All the religious words and acts the guilty party can say or do will have no effect. A personal reference will prove the point.

After graduating from college my first teaching job was in a small high school in Arkansas. The superintendent of the school was a cigar smoker who allowed his ashes to fall on his suit coat, shirt and pants. One never saw him without a layer of cigar ash on his clothes. While presenting this vision he would routinely lecture the students on the evils of smoking. What the students saw nullified what they heard.

Such is the case with the Christian who refuses to “Come out from among them.” Though their actions appear to be religiously sound, God condemns them. To defy God while calling Him, “Lord, Lord,” to worship Him and honor Him with one’s lips is to MOCK THE GOD OF THE UNIVERSE by replacing Him as the Determiner of good and evil. Adam and Eve made that mistake and the rest is history. To be continued. L.J.