You can almost hear the exasperation from Paul as he pens these words. How can we expect someone to understand the teachings of Christ, which are spiritually discerned, if they are not really saved to begin with? These are the people who run around gossiping in the church, tearing people down and who scream "don't judge me" because they do not understand the Scriptures to begin with. This stuff is not a game to God. His church is supposed to be a vehicle to reach the lost not a venue to entertain the saints. His church was supposed to be a hospital for the dying not a country club for those who tithe correctly. In the days of Paul the issue was the "resurrection of the dead" while today it might be "don't worry about sin." Bad theology is bad theology.
The last point I want us to look at today is about the usage of the term good character here by the Apostle Paul. I know there are a lot of well-intended Christians out there of good character. They get it. They understand correct doctrine and discern fairly well. They even have great big Christian hearts. None of that matters beloved. Your character can be as good as it gets and bad company will still corrupt it! Eve gets picked on a lot because she ate us out of house and home, as my pastor likes to say, but I will defend her intentions. When the enemy first approaches her his desire was to engage her in a conversation so he mixed a little truth with a little lie and it appears that Eve was trying to defend God. Before she knew it, she was eating the forbidden fruit. Why? Because God doesn't need us to defend Him. Because we have no business having any conversation with the enemy at all. There is a reason why he is called the enemy! Sometimes we fancy ourselves as mature enough to get in the sandbox with Satan and draw a line in the sand and say -- "I'm not crossing that line devil!" Meanwhile he is laughing at you because he knows you shouldn't be standing in the sand to begin with. Eve did not lose the battle when she ate the fruit but when she engaged in a conversation with the enemy. The issue is not depth of the goodness of your character but rather the shallowness of the bad company we might be keeping. When we dance with the devil we are close enough to hear him whisper in our ear"
Reverend Anthony Wade -- July 28, 2012
