Live Peaceably with All Men

Matthew 12:25 But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.”

It’s hard to think that there was a time from Creation until the Fall of Man that there was no evil, nothing bad, no darkness of heart … no sin. Since then godliness and evil, good (as defined by God) and bad, the light of truth in righteousness and darkness of rebellion, faith in God and unbelief, obedience to God’s Word and disobedience in the name of secular humanism and naturalism have co-existed as a part of the human race. 1 Corinthians 1:18 explains, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” It cannot help but be adversarial philosophically and spiritually as the reality is contrary and opposed – you can not be “for” God and “against” God at the same time. The exception is the indwelling Holy Spirit of the “born again” Christian Believe and the sinful flesh.

Galatians 5:13-18 “For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another! I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

The sin nature of the flesh inherited to all mankind from Adam and Eve exists in the mind, will and physical desires that control the emotions. In the regeneration of the spirit that died and separated us from God, we are given a new heart, transformed by the Holy Spirit in reconciliation through our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. Yet, until the glory of stepping from this life on earth to the eternal life in heaven or the until Lord’s coming, whichever comes first, the sinful desires of the flesh, the God-rejecting world and the devil are contended with in coexistence this side of glory. Why? 

The Lord Jesus explains in Matthew 13:30 saying, “Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” God’s missionary work in the world is the ministry of reconciliation. The wages of sin is dead, so why doesn’t God carry out His justice. 2 Peter 3:9 explains, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” God is love. God is merciful and gracious. Jesus came to seek and save the lost. That is God’s redeemed children’s desire and work also in this lost and dying world. The child of God walks in the Spirit with the light of the gospel in a world that walks in darkness that those who do not have saving faith might find forgiveness, salvation and reconciliation with God at the foot of the Cross, where the sins of the repentant Convert are nailed. Goal: Reduce the population of Hell.

This side of Heaven there will always be sin-based differences, but to reach the lost for Christ, as Romans 12:18 instructs us, “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.”