Enmity with God

By Ethan Tidwell

Matthew 6:24

 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

As Christians, we’re called to leave behind the world of sin and walk in obedience to God. But the world doesn’t let go so easily. Even after choosing to follow Christ, the temptation to reach back is real. It’s subtle—just a glance, just a step—and before long, a hand that once held tightly to the Lord starts reaching for what was left behind.

You can’t hold on to both. Eventually, one hand will let go.

The Bible makes it clear: you cannot serve both God and the world. Trying to do so is not just difficult, it’s impossible. Divided loyalty always leads to spiritual drift.

James 4:4

“Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?

Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”

This is spiritual adultery—choosing the world over the God who saved us. And often, the pull comes through something we don’t always expect in peer pressure.

It’s not just young people who deal with peer pressure. Adults face it too—through coworkers, social groups, even family. There’s the fear of missing out, of seeming “too different,” of being mocked or left out. But we were never called to fit in, we were called to stand out as 1 Peter 2:9 mentions that we are different.

We are not meant to blend in with the world—we were called out of it. So, we shouldn’t fear what people think when we live for Christ. Jesus said it plainly:

John 15:18

“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.”

The world hated Jesus. It will hate us too. But that shouldn’t scare us, it should remind us we’re on the right path. We don’t need to fear what people can do to us.

Matthew 10:28

The fear of man can cost you your soul. That’s not a trade worth making. But fear God.

Trying to serve God while still entertaining the world’s values is a contradiction. It’s like trying to walk in two directions at once—you’ll eventually fall. We have to choose.

Will we reach for the world, or will we cling to Christ?

Meditate on This:

Acts 20:24 

But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

Repentance for the Christian

By Jeff Curtis

After writing about the coming of Christ at the end of time and the judgment that would occur then, Paul focused attention on reconciliation in 2Corithians 5. No Bible student should consider the concept of the sinner’s reconciliation to God in Christ without considering Paul’s words in 2Cor. 5:17-21. In 2Cor. 7, Paul offered a compelling and elegant expansion on repentance. Reconciliation and repentance are related. Repentance is a necessary response for an unbeliever who is following a path toward reconciliation. But repentance is also a part of the Christian’s ongoing life in Christ. Negatively stated, repentance is not a spiritual exercise that can be completed.

The repentance of the Corinthians entailed their making a course adjustment. The sorrowful visit (2Cor.2:1) had resulted in a strained relationship between Paul and the church. He had been uncertain about how the brethren would receive his painful letter, and he was relieved to learn that they had assessed his words realistically. Christians at Corinth had repented, they had been sorrowful for their past behavior and set out on a new path. The bridge between Paul and the church there was as strong as it ever had been.

Paul’s description of repentance at Corinth is particularly significant because he didn’t have a lot to say about the subject  anywhere else. Paul used  the verb meaning “to repent” only one other time in his letters 2Cor. 12:21. He used the noun form of the word only four times (Romans 2:4; 2Cor.7:9,10; 2Tim.2:25). He wrote letters to people who had already repented of their sins in the process of being saved. His readers likely understood repentance. So, Paul didn’t have much occasion to devote long portions of his letters to describing the meaning and importance of repentance. The passage in 2Cor. 7:9,10 indicates that repentance is required of believers anytime the relapse into sin. The church at Corinth had failed to respond to Paul in a manner appropriate for Christians. They needed to change their behavior. Long after being baptized into Christ, they had needed to repent. Paul was pleased to learn that they had repented.

Most Christians would agree that repentance can be defined as: “…that inward change of mind, affections, convictions, and commitment rooted in fear of God and sorrow for offenses committed against Him, which, when accompanied by faith in Jesus Christ, results in an outward turning from sin to God and His service in all of life.” (Carl G. Kromminga, “Repentance,” in Evangelical Dictionary).

Meditate on this:

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and hope.