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Be Either Good Or Corrupt

Many, many times in teaching over the years I have instructed people either to fully commit to God or choose otherwise. When it comes to service to our Creator, there is no middle ground. That is what we are going to study in this article. The point may seem as though it is easy to understand, but the Scriptures and experience show otherwise. Even when individuals and/or congregations know what God expects they show by their actions (and lack of actions) that they think in-between right and wrong is okay.

Think about the phrasing “I am trying”. How many times have you heard sinners state that? How many times have you stated it? I know, technically speaking, that none of us should ever think we cannot fail (I Corinthians 10:12). I also know that no one of us has “arrived” so far as our salvation is concerned (Philippians 3:4-17). Our salvation will not be fully realized until the end (I Peter 1:9). What I am writing about is those people whom think that effort equals to fulfillment. Someone attempting something and someone accomplishing something are NOT the same things.

God does not instruct us to think we have done right at the point of attempting to do right. God instructs us to be doers of His will (James 1:18-27). I do not want to sound like a Nike commercial, but it is high time for us all to just do it! “Just trying my best” includes a built in expectation of possible failure. God wants your decision. Do it or don’t do it. Choose what route you’re going to take and take it. Let’s consider some ways this point is stated throughout the Scriptures.

How God Has Instructed Us To Be Either Good Or Corrupt

The title of this study comes from the teaching of Christ. Notice: “Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned” (Matthew 12:33-37). Jesus set forth two choices amongst those hypocrites He was speaking to. To simplify it, He gave them choices of either being good or evil. There was no middle ground.

Jesus sees things as either good or evil. The Judgment Day will be the separation of the good from the evil (John 5:28-29). There will not be a category of those whom tried hard. Jesus thinks of people as either with Him or against Him (Matthew 12:30 and Luke 11:23). This is all defined by what we do and do not do. If we do the will of the Father we are with Christ. If we do not do the will of the Father we are children of the devil (I John 3:1-10).

God has always given men and women just two choices. Even the tree in the garden of Eden contained only the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:9). Once the Law of Moses came into effect, God gave Israel a choice between good and evil. Notice: “See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; In that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: That thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them” (Deuteronomy 30:15-20).

If you want to make Jesus want to puke, you can do so by being a lukewarm disciple of His. When Jesus instructed the entire congregation assembling in Laodicea to repent of their transgressions, He told them that being lukewarm wasn’t acceptable. In fact, He said He preferred they either be hot or cold or else He would spue them out of His mouth (Revelation 3:14-22). Is that where you want to be with our Lord? Do you want to make Him want to spit you up?

If you go to a carnival or an amusement park, they tell you not to allow your clothing or any body part to be outside of the vessel you are in. The Lord is the same way. If you want to be in Him you must depart from all sin (II Timothy 2:19) and not allow any part of you to remain outside of Him during this ride (Romans 12:1-3, II Corinthians 5:17, Ephesians 5:1-11, and Titus 2:11-14). Therefore, the decision is yours. Either get in Christ or step all the way out. Don’t waste your time being His vomit.

Conclusion

“For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil” (I Peter 3:10-12).

- Brian A. Yeager

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