14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? 15 And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? 16 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 among them.
I will be their God,
And they shall be My people.”
17 Therefore
“Come out from among them
And be separate, says the Lord.
Do not touch what is unclean,
And I will receive you.”
18 “I will be a Father to you,
And you shall be My sons and daughters,
Says the Lord Almighty.”
7 1 Therefore, having
these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the
flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
Paul points out the obvious conflict between light and
darkness to urge the Corinthians to disassociate from corrupting influences.
The principle applies to our social relationships, but it also applies to the
struggles within our hearts. If light and darkness do not mix within the
church, which is the temple of God collectively, they do not mix within
ourselves, who as individuals are the building blocks of that temple. We cannot
entertain elements of the kingdom of light and elements of the kingdom of darkness
simultaneously and expect God to bear fruit in us. He wants purity.
That's a problem for every human being who has ever lived.
We aren't pure. Long after we've made that landmark decision to follow Jesus,
we still have internal struggles with sin and obedience. The decision was
right, but the follow-through proves difficult. And it's the follow-through
that makes the difference between unusual blessing and mediocrity. We cannot be
mature Christians until the initial decision to let Jesus be our Lord actually
becomes a way of life. We cannot make a commitment to light while maintaining
our grip on darkness. We must surrender ourselves.
Nearly every Christian has remnants of darkness that cloud
his or her discipleship. We like to call them character flaws or weaknesses of
the flesh. In reality, they are idols. They may range from the alarming
addictions of temper, lusts, and obsessive greed to the relatively minor flaws
of bad diets, time mismanagement, and mild obsessions with hobbies. Regardless
of their severity, they are our battlegrounds. They are points of conflict
between us and our Creator. They test us on whether we will, or will not, obey.
All Christians have had their struggles with idolatry. Many
of those struggles rage today. Some of them rage within your heart. The issue
is not whether they are big or little sins; the issue is whether we trust God
enough to do what He tells us, even in the small things. Choosing our will over
His, at any level, is idolatry.
- William Ullathorne
[An excerpt from "The One Year Walk with God Devotional" by Chris Tiegreen]