The Lure of Compromise

Years ago a wise theologian commented that we Christ followers must beware of “checking our brains at the door.” Our Lord never requires us to stop thinking as we live out the Christian life. Rather, He commands us to “love Him with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind” [Matthew 22:37]. At the same time we’re warned against compromising our adherence to His Word by giving credence to strictly secular thought and man-made philosophies, as the title verse declares. Doing so short circuits our growth in Christ and our witness for Him.

The self-deception can be very subtle. We can even justify doing things our own way and accepting as bonafide biblical doctrine man-made principles that are clearly unscriptural. Remember how King Saul, in 1 Samuel 15:26, tried to justify disobeying God’s instructions to destroy all of the Amalikites after his army defeated them? Instead, Saul preserved the sheep and failed to kill their king, Agag, as instructed! God’s prophet Samuel caught up to Saul and rectified the independent-thinking, self-directed, and self-deceived monarch. It cost Saul the kingdom!

In the current century, you may recall another man, a Pentecostal preacher named Carlton Pearson, who caused a colossal amount of deception and defection from the faith when he promoted the heresy of universalism—the false teaching that Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection automatically saves every human soul born into this world! (Think what you will about c, the charismatic movement---no doubt, many may question the spiritual integrity of that movement entirely, but are not John 1:12, John 3:5-7, and 36, along with numerous other salvation requirements revealed in their copy of the Scriptures?

PRAYER: Dear Father, thank You for making the light of Your Word available to any one with an honest inquiring heart and mind. Help all such souls to carefully study Your word and resist the spirit of harmful compromise, unbiblical teachings, and selfish ambition which lead human souls, often irreversibly, down the pathways of deception. In Jesus’ name—amen!
By Sis. Denise Diggs