Archived Daily Manna | Rejoice Fellowship | A mission to release people to rejoice in the world.

Message: Paul puts his finger on a major problem: Our instinct to conform to the world and current society is a major impediment to salvation. There are three eternal truths about secular values: 1) They change constantly; 2) A large group of people always think that the current value system is the correct one; and 3) They are always wrong. Small acts of conformity to the current age seem harmless, and they may be. But if they involve compromise with our standards as Christians, they are like tiny cuts in our skin. Usually these heal without any problem; we hardly notice them. But the world is teeming with bacteria, and every little cut opens a door to potential infection. How many people, in the physical world, have ultimately died from a scratch, from the minor bite of an insect, or from shaking hands with a sick person who did not mean to hurt them? Small compromises of our beliefs with secular culture are like these small cuts. The evil one will use little compromises of faith like disease uses a cut. Early Bible illustration of
Paul driving Gnosticism from the church. Paul driving Gnosticism from the church. We see it in Christianity itself. There are people who want to rewrite the Bible to conform to whatever society they happen to live in. This started in the first century A.D. and has gone on constantly since. But the Bible is the Word of God, eternal and inerrant. One of its great strengths is the very fact that it does not change. It is the only fixed point by which we can set our moral compass. It is the anchor that ties humanity to God. If we deny the Bible, if we arrogate to our minds the power to change it, then we leave every point of it open to change and disbelief. Our only source of knowledge of Christ is the Bible. And yes, people who think the Bible is subject to revision have frequently recast the very person of our Lord. (One notable example of this, recently, is the venal nonsense in The DaVinci Code.) We must take to heart the words of John: “I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book . . . .” (Revelation 22:18) Paul, having defined this problem, offers us the strategy to prevent it: transformation through the renewal of our mind so that we can discern God’s will. “Testing” worldly values against God’s Word; and if something the world tells us conflicts with the Word, rejecting it. Just as we must constantly repair our roof, we must constantly repair our knowledge of God’s truth. We must renew our mind with God’s word, by prayer, by reading and listening to sources grounded in the Bible, by thinking about how the lessons we have learned apply to life. We must listen to the quiet voice the Holy Spirit, who will guide us if we don’t let it be drowned out.