We are now living in a world of compromise,
in a society that has abandoned moral standards and Christian
principles in favor of expediency or practicality. The underlying
philosophy is based on accomplishing goals by whatever means are
necessary. This self-centered perspective should have as its motto:
“If it works for you, do it”. This is a notion that inevitably
leads to compromise of conscience and convictions. Because compromise
is so prevalent in our society, you could say we no longer have a
national conscience; guilt and remorse are non-factors in determining
behavior.
Politicians, who should be upholding the high
ideals of our country, instead are leading the way in compromise. They
promote lofty standards and high ideals prior to their election but
compromise them once they are in office. The same holds true in
business, from executives down to salespeople; in the courts, from
judges to attorneys; in sports, from owners to athletes; and in all
walks of life. As a result, people learn to lie, cheat, steal, and
shade the truth - to do whatever is necessary to get what they want.
Therefore compromise becomes a way of life.
Unfortunately, the philosophy and practice of
compromise has even invaded the Church. Because tolerance is the
operative ideology in our society, the Church adopts a similar
perspective to reach the unsaved. Many ministries now look for ways to
give the gospel to people without offending them. Yet the very nature
of the gospel is offensive because it confronts sinners with their
sin. Ignoring that, many ministries willingly compromise God’s Word
instead of standing firm on the gospel and they give the world a
watered-down version that can’t effect any change (reformation).
God draws the elect into the Kingdom through
Christians who prove to be different from the world - who reveal their
true allegiance by their commitment and obedience to God’s
standards.
The Church is now so adept at compromising
with the world that it has forgotten how to be uncompromising. That’s
because we readily accept the world’s value systems and indulge
ourselves in them to the point that we personalize them and they
become our desires. In essence, our standards replace God’s.
Scripture calls us to the opposite of
compromise. All through the Word of God, He clearly commands His
people to live apart from the world.
1 Peter 2:9 says, “But you are a chosen
race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own
possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has
called you out of darkness into His marvelous light...” Whenever
we are tempted to compromise, we need only remind ourselves that God
never compromises His absolute truths and principles for expediency.
He always lives according to His Word, and as His children, we are
also to live by His Word. “I will bow down toward Thy holy
temple, And give thanks to Thy name for Thy lovingkindness and Thy
truth; for Thou hast magnified Thy word according to all Thy name.”
(Psalm 138:2)
GOD’S WORD AS THE ULTIMATE AUTHORITY
When you view God’s Word as the ultimate
authority, that opens the way for developing integrity instead of
compromise. The American Heritage Dictionary defines integrity as “steadfast
adherence to a strict moral or ethical code”, “the state of being
unimpaired; soundness”, or “the quality or condition of being
whole or undivided; completeness”. It comes from the word integer,
which means “whole” or “complete” . Integrity essentially
means being true to one’s ethical standards, or in our case, God’s
standards. Its synonyms are “honesty, sincerity, incorruptibility”.
It describes someone without hypocrisy or duplicity - someone who is
completely consistent with his or her stated convictions, someone who
does what they say. Integrity to our word is where it all starts.
Nowhere is integrity more critical than in
the leadership of the Church, because the spiritual leader must
maintain integrity to set a credible example for all to follow. Christ
said of the religious leaders of His day, “...therefore all that
they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds;
for they say things, and do not do them.” (Matthew 23:3)
After pronouncing several woes on them, Jesus offered this final
rebuke: "You serpents, you brood of vipers, how shall you
escape the sentence of hell?” (verse 33)
But to the man of integrity, God promises
blessing. When Solomon finished building the house of the Lord, the
Lord appeared to him and said: “And the Lord said to him, I have
heard your prayer and your supplication, which you have made before
Me; I have consecrated this house which you have built by putting My
name there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there
perpetually. And as for you, if you will walk before Me as your father
David walked, in integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according
to all that I have commanded you {and} will keep My statutes and My
ordinances, then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over
Israel forever, just as I promised to your father David, saying, You
shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.'” (1 Kings 9:3-5)
The goal of this letter is that you will be
able to answer the following questions as David did: “O Lord, who
may abide in Thy tent? Who may dwell on Thy holy hill? He who walks
with integrity, and works righteousness, And speaks truth in his
heart.” (Psalm 15:1-2)
TOTAL TRANSFORMATION
“This I say therefore, and affirm
together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles
also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their
understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance
that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they,
having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality, for
the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you did
not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have
been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to
your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being
corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be
renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in
the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of
the truth.” (Ephesians 4:17-19).
When you were brought into God’s kingdom,
you were totally transformed. You became “a new creature; the old
things passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Corinthians
5:17). You did not just receive something new - you became someone
new. Paul said, “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no
longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now
live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and
delivered Himself up for me”. (Galatians 2:20)
The new nature is not added to the old nature
but replaces it! An exchange occurs. The transformed person is
completely new. If we have a changed nature, then we will have a
changed behavior. Please notice his statement in Galatians 2:20 where
he says, “....The life which I now live in the flesh I live by
faith in the Son of God...” In other words, he is saying that he
is not some super spirit or the like, but he lives this life in the
flesh. He’s just an ordinary human being who has learned that all he
has to do is die to self and live by faith in the Son of God. This
requires that the “I” must be crucified.
Look now at Romans 6:1-7, “What shall we
say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace might increase? (2) May
it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? (3) Or do
you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus
have been baptized into His death? (4) Therefore we have been buried
with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was
raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might
walk in newness of life. (5) For if we have become united with Him in
the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also {in the likeness
of His resurrection, (6) knowing this, that our old self was crucified
with {Him,} that our body of sin might be done away with, that we
should no longer be slaves to sin; (7) for he who has died is freed
from sin.”
When we study Scriptures such as the ones
above, we must come to the following conclusions concerning the
subject of “integrity of character”:
1. If we still live in any sin, we have not
died to it! (Sin is not walking in the truth you have been given
according to James 4:17.)
2. That baptism is not just a celebration
of getting wet, but is a message of death to the old “self”!
3. That we will continue to battle the
issues of wrong character if we do not allow ourselves to be buried
with Christ! The old nature must be totally buried; totally covered
over with earth, six feet under...no hands sticking out of the
grave; no toes left wiggling; no chance of any part of the old
nature being “dug up”.
4. According to verses 4 and 5, this is the
only way to walk in resurrection life. We know that without
resurrection life, we cannot experience ascension life! We must be
totally united with Him in the likeness of His death in order to
experience His life after His death.
5. Verse 7 strongly indicates that only
those who have died are freed from sin!
The bottom line of the whole message of “integrity
of character” is that in order to reflect the character of Christ in
our lives, we must have become one with Him in His death, resurrection
and ascension. If we discover that we are not people of our word, then
we obviously have not truly died to self. If we do not keep our word,
then we certainly are not one with Him. If there is any dishonesty or
lying in us, then how can we expect anyone to see the Christ that is
“in” us?
It is time to come to grips with the fact
that we must stop chasing after anointings and giftings and deal with
the root of character. It is now time to seek the fruits of the Spirit
as we have for so many years pursued the gifts of the Spirit! We must
become so clothed with Christ that it becomes second nature to us to
live our lives as He would have us do. We must identify with His words
when He made statements such as “I only do what I see My Father do”
and “I only speak that which I hear My Father speak”.
This current apostolic reformation is not
about following a bunch of rules, but is about being IN CHRIST!
“...That you may prove yourselves to be
blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of
a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in
the world”. (Philippians 2:15)
In His Covenant Love,
Apostle Richard
