03.04.04 The 2nd Consequence of Engaging in Corruption
Living a ‘Lifeless’ Life
Did you know that people who either despise or reject biblical guidance and instruction may be oblivious of the fact that Jesus is the very Word they are rejecting (John 1:1-3)? Worse still, by discounting Jesus the Word, a person discounts Life itself. This mystery is revealed in John 14:6 where He said (NKJV): …“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me”. In John 15:5, he went further to declare that without Him, we can do nothing.
Therefore, in order for things to ‘work the way they are supposed to work’ and ‘to go the way they are supposed to go’, every Christian is sustained by divine Life that flows through the Word. So, as you discount God’s Word through participating in corruptive activities, you actually disconnect yourself from the source of life and the benefits that accrue thereof. In essence …, you are ‘lifeless’; since it is in Him that you live, move and have your being (Acts 17:28, John 6:35, 68; Philippians 2:16;1 John 1:1). That is as bad as it can get!
The other problem with rejecting or despising the Word is that God the Father, the Son (Jesus, the Word) and the Holy Spirit are Trinity; so, by rejecting one (that is Jesus, the Word), you reject the other Two. What can be worse than that?
As it that is not enough, the tendency to disdain God’s Word can cause a person’s prayers not to be heard. This is expounded in Proverbs 28:9 where some translations of that scripture warn that God can neither stand the prayers of anyone who disobeys His Law nor has He any use for prayers of people that refuse to obey His teachings[. Other translations bluntly say that God finds such petitions repulsive and disgusting.
Finally, one’s mindset can be corrupted to the extent that all a person sees are the benefits from such a lifestyle. However, such a mindset can cause death in several spheres of life. That ‘death’ is what Romans 8: 6 and 12-13 talks about when it says (CEV): 6If our minds are ruled by our desires, we will die… 12My dear friends, we must not live to satisfy our desires. 13If you do, you will die.