Devotion of the Day

ARE YOU GOD’S ENEMY?

Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
James 4:4

If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
I John 2:15

How conclusive these statements! The friend of the world makes himself thereby the enemy of God. We would not use so strong a term as “enemy,” but God does. “The friendship of this world is enmity with God.” Not mild disagreement but utter hostility!

And John does not say that if any man love the world the love of the Father is weak in him – it is not in him at all. Why is it that we hear so little of this today? Because Christians and churches that have compromised with the world and gone into alliance with it are in no position to say “amen” to such an unequivocal pronouncement at this. We have become artists at soft-pedaling Bible verses that come too uncomfortably close to where we live, and these certainly are two that are played pianissimo while we pull out all the stops on others.

But no exegetical sleight of hand can tone down these texts. The friend of the world is God’s enemy. The lover of the world has no love of God in him.

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