No Middle Ground 

By Ron Graham

 

“Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways. Psalm 119:2-3. The word iniquity in verse 3 above comes from a Hebrew root word that means to “deviate”; in short they do no compromising of their faith by deviating from walking in His (Christ’s) ways. The word “testimonies” also means “precepts/doctrines”. We can read this verse as follows: Blessed are those who keep His doctrines without deviating (departing from the faith). “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” John 14:15. If we love our Lord Jesus we keep His commandments (His doctrines). That’s a fairly straight forward decree set down by the Creator of the universe. Jesus leaves no room for “grey area” maneuvering in that verse. There is no middle ground. When we keep the commandments of Messiah Jesus without deviation we are blessed. When we deviate away from His commandments – well, there is always an opposite effect.

 

“…what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?” 2 Corinthians 6:14b-15.  Question: does God turn a blind eye to those who intend to compromise their faith by choosing the lesser of two evils? Not hardly. The path of least resistance is, in many cases, the most desirable, but it usually runs contrary to God’s precepts. When we choose one evil over another, in the end we’ve still made a choice for evil. We should never attempt to justify our rebellion to God by thinking He condones our failure to stand firm on His doctrines. If you’d like a clear view of the disastrous effects that arise from wrong choices, read John Bunyan’s book “Pilgrims Progress”. 

 

So how do we remain uncompromisingly true to the doctrine of Christ? Christ being the foundation of our faith, our God who has given us everlasting life, desires for us to remain faithful. To remain faithful to Him means we steer clear of evil. How? By choosing to remain strong in His doctrines. How do we face our God once we’ve compromised our faith by promoting one evil over another? Chosen one demonic doctrine over another? According to the word of God, we, who He sees as His children, are never afforded such liberty. Therefore there must be some undesirable consequences attached to our unfaithfulness.

 

Many are in a quandary these days as it becomes harder and harder to remain a solid conservative Christian. Christians are given very little to choose from that is actually godly, especially in the world of politics. This dilemma didn’t just recently raise its ugly head. Decades ago when the followers of Messiah Jesus let down their guard and allowed a more liberal mindset to become entrenched in every aspect of national government, the pendulum began to swing toward evil. For decades the Ekklesia of Christ, on a whole, has been usurping the word of God in order to secure a more harmonious relationship with the world. There’s an old adage that states when you make your bed you sleep in it. Well my brethren, in regards to politics, we’ve made our bed in opposition to God for years, and now we must sleep in it.

 

Satan never rests. To him the battle for the souls of humanity is continuous, and it is his intention to defeat us at every turn. Satan must be extremely pleased with himself each time a born again believer in Christ makes the decision to choose one of his evil doctrines over another of his evil doctrines. Either way he wins.

 

When we study our Bibles we find an apparent lack of “middle ground” for us to firmly plant our feet on. God says have no fellowship with unrighteousness (doctrines of demons), period. My commentary “God Speed – Doctrines of Demons” contained many verses that should have been sufficient proof that God has set His Ekklesia apart from the world and has no desire for His children to befriend those who hold to such doctrines. Preach the truth to them? Absolutely. But fellowship with them in a personal way? Never. “Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them. For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:” Ephesians 5:6-8. Verse 8 above is speaking to you and I. We are the light in the Lord Jesus. Everything we do in this life must reflect Messiah Jesus. Never are we to choose evil, no matter how appealing or self satisfying that evil may appear.

 

I personally will stand on my Messiah’s doctrines and I will not cast my vote for an individual who stands apart from those doctrines. Some of you have sent me letters saying it is my obligation as a patriot to vote no matter what. I didn’t say I wasn’t going to vote, there are alternatives to the Mormon and the Muslim, and as far as being a patriot, I am not. I’m a monarchist. My allegiance is to my Messiah Jesus, King of kings not to man, and certainly not to any nation of this world. Sometimes I wonder if my brethren actually understand what it means when we say “this world is not our home” There are certainly many who don’t understand that concept.

 

Other responses I’ve received mentioned that they believe Mitt Romney and his wife to be moral individuals, and that they have a “form of belief” in Jesus Christ. Therefore they feel vindicated and in the center of “God’s will” so they can now cast their vote for him (Mitt Romney), even though he stands firmly opposed to the doctrine of Christ. I can absolutely affirm that when anyone stands opposed to God in any way that person is not in “God’s will”. In the past election many Christians voted for Obama who oozes doctrines of demons, and we all know where that has led.

 

A leader of one of the largest congregations in America has endorsed Mitt Romney as a Christian. Joel Olsten stands with Romney and considers him his brother in Christ, even though the Mormon religion believes Christ and Lucifer to be brothers, which of course relegates Messiah Jesus to that of a created being. Therefore, Joel Osteen has, by his own admission, affirmed to the world that he considers Lucifer/Satan to be his brother.

 

Many believe that Christian persecution will be avoided if Romney is elected president. They see abject persecution coming under an Obama government. A common misconception among the American Christian, and one which has been so for many years, is that here in American there will be no persecution of Christians. All the time the flames of persecution draw closer. Most of the rest of Christendom has had to endure those flames for the last 1,900 years, why not Americans?

 

“…In the world ye shall have tribulation…” John 16:33. Jesus declares that in this world we would have tribulation. The Greek word used here points to oppression, affliction, trials, and persecution. When He made that declaration it was all inclusive. He placed no exception on that statement such as “Except for my disciples who will be sojourning in the future land to be known as the nation of America.” That would be a manmade exception. “Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you;” John 15:20a. If indeed we are His disciples then He is speaking to each of us as His servants. That being the case, is it not within the realm of possibilities that that persecution has now hit the shores of America, beginning in our local governmental political system, graduating all the way up to our national government’s current leadership? The answer is a resounding yes. As for the nation of America, the hammer of persecution has been on the brink of falling on the “just” (the saints) for some years now.

 

It has become painfully obvious to me that the majority of Christians understand very little about what Messiah Jesus meant by His statement “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” Mark 8:34b. When we take up our cross we must be prepared to be rejected as Jesus was, persecuted, maltreated, denied the fundamentals of God given rights, even to die for our Lord. That’s what it means to take up your cross. The doctrine of Christ is binding on all the born again believers in this world. There is no middle ground.

 

The more the Ekklesia of Christ in America compromises their faith through the casting of their vote for the lesser of two evils the more persecution will increase. How can I say that? The more influential the doctrines of demons becomes, the more pressure will be put on the followers of Messiah Jesus to toe the line of those doctrines that are obviously demonic. When the saints begin to rebel against the doctrines of demons (and they will), then the persecution will become much more persistent and painful. The persecution of the saints will come down like a ton of bricks. While your “looking up hoping to get a glimpse of your redemption that’s drawing nigh” remember to duck, the bricks have begun fly.

 

I purposely omitted a key component of chapter 16 verse 33 of John’s Gospel. Here’s that verse in its entirety “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33. Jesus never compromised with Satan, nor should we.

 

God bless you all,

 

Ron Graham

All scripture is “theopneustos” God breathed

 

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