Featured Can Light and Darkness co-exist?

Irregardless, the aforementioned passage (and others e.g. the 1st epistle to the Corinthians) answers the question that light and darkness can exit simultaneously.

One reason being that tares have been sown within the kingdom God and they affect the wheat.

HankD

 

Yes SG I agree, but the question was can light and darkness coexist not can they have communion.

But even at that darkness has the potential of deceiving us into believing it is light and subsequently attempting to have a kind of psuedo-deceptive "fellowship" with us.

2 Corinthians 12
13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

SG, Im sure you know but just a reminder that Matthew 13 outlines the mystery of iniquity which Paul also speaks of - i.e. the overall strategy of satan is to develop tactics of subterfuge (e.g. tares among the wheat) in infiltrating the local churches with the end being to corrupt the assembly through quenching the Spirit, minimizing the word of God and the introduction of immorality which seems to abound in these times.

HankD

 

My thoughts. As if anyone cares.

Light and darkness can co-exist and have from the beginning.

And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. Gen 1:4,5 -----However

To open their eyes, to turn from darkness to light, and the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. Acts 26:18 modified.

To become.

Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. 1 Thes 5:5

Is that not speaking of the light and day and the night and darkness of Genesis 1?

1 John 3:5 Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous.

This makes me think of another thread some time back about what the light and darkness of Gen 1:2-5 where I said I believe the darkness in verse 2 is the devil, Satan and others disagreed. 1 Thes 5:5 I believes, helps confirm that belief.

Satan was going strong before God said, "Let there be Light."

 

Will they co-exist until - And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophetare, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.

 

But the fact was that they were still practicing idolatry and porneia from their past - also some of the churches in Revelation.

Else why the command not to do these things and a promised blessing for their departure?

It is evident from 1 Corinthians that they were sinning so grievously that it states:

1 Corinthians 11
28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.
30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.
31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

So I would cede that "cannot" means that we can't get away with evil but certainly we can "fellowship" and co-exist with it (IMO).

My daughter was pulled over by a state trooper once. All she had was an expired out-of-state driver's license.
The trooper said "You cannot drive in the State of Washington without a valid drivers license.
Obviously he didn't mean she was physically incapable of doing so (because she was doing so), but that she could not do so without consequence, - so the meaning of 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 and possibly 1 John 3:9.

So we don't see eye to eye concerning the semantics of the relationship of the Christian with evil but we certainly can both avoid evil.

NKJV 1 Thessalonians 5:22 Abstain from every form of evil.

HankD

 

SG didn't you read my post - I said they cannot get away with it. If Christians leave off walking after the Spirit and walk after the flesh then as the scripture says

Romans 8:13
For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

I believe some (maybe many) Christians use the concept of "practicing sin" as an excuse perhaps to excuse themselves from their own personal sins assuring themselves that they are not "practicing sin" in their deeds and/or thought life.

So what does "practicing sin" mean SG? How few (daily, weekly, monthly, annually) sins in a Christian's life disqualify him/her from being a practicing sinner? Suppose a Christian is living out of wedlock with a non-believer? Is he/she practicing sin? Or Suppose a Christian is living carnally with a person married to another who is still alive? Should we call that something other than "practicing sin"?

Or perhaps you don't believe Christians do these things. I assure you after 50 plus years in the Lord's service, Christians indeed do these things.

Jesus had a serious problem with the Christians in the church of Thyatira with this kind of sin.

Revelation 2
20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.
21 And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.
22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.
23 And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.

We should not sin even one sin. Thankfully God is infinitely gracious and has given us 1 John 1:9 and also the heavenly lawyer Jesus Christ to intercede on our behalf when we do sin:
1 John 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate (lawyer) with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:

But first it has to be acknowledged
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

to disregard our sin as both 1 Corinthians and 1 John teach we are chastised and if to no avail then we may very well "sleep - die physically"
Or what is called "the sin unto death" in 1 John - sin to which the Christian will not respond by seeking the Lord.

Sometime sin disguises itself as inconsequential.

e.g. If we disregard the speed limit we have disobeyed the word.

1 Peter 2
13 Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme;
14 Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.

Pray without ceasing. - No comment.

Personally, I don't practice idolatry since I left the church of Rome unless putting "things" before God counts as idolatry and I have done that on occasion.

Neither do I commit porneia since I've been married to my one and only woman help-meet of over fifty years (unless my thought life counts against me).

And yes the word teaches us that the desire to sin (lust) is the same in Jesus eyes as doing the deed itself (Matthew 5:28)

And I don't know that I believe that just because the scripture uses the present participle or infinitive of verbs denoting sin allows us to say the that the Christian cannot "practice" sin.
Again what about the one issue plaguing the 21st century church as well as the 1st century local church of Thyatira "to practice porneia"

So what do we call sinning Christians? Sinners or part time sinners?

He doesn't want us to sin at all, but our Father being the absolute and only true realist in the universe knows our hearts and wants us to be honest in our hearts towards the still small voice of the Spirit revealing the remnant of sin in our members (post salvation of course).

Psalm 15
LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill?
2 He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart.
3 He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour.


HankD

 

Enter the darkest place you can find. Even an underground cavern if you can and light a match.
The darkness flees instantly from the light. The darkness is constantly lurking to overcome the light but try as it may..., it can't.

This is very impressive when shown to children

 

IMO this passage refers to the Hebrews (name of the Book, no?) during the transitional period going from Israel to the Church as the kingdom of God on earth who were present on the day of Pentecost.
The unsaved Hebrews in the multitude heard the word and were enlightened that Jesus was/is their Messiah, they tasted (but did not partake) of the works of the Holy Spirit hearing and understanding foreign tongues , they were cut to the quick in conviction but either did not respond and remained in the kingdom theology of Israel still waiting for the Messiah or some entered the church but later "went out from us" as John says. So yes they were Jews by circumcision and theology but were never saved to begin with. In addition they could not be returned to that point in time of repentance, they had their chance and refused to enter into His rest. Although I do believe they could still be saved (if God permit).

What is FGT?

IMO we all need to loosen up and heed this following passage.

2 Timothy 2
24 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,
25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;
26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

Jesus was talking to the local church in Thyatira, not to Israel, it was His servants who were committing porneia. This is a continuing plague in the church today. Instead of condemning them (Jesus and the Spirit have already done that - that is their part) they need to be brought back to walking in the Spirit. Having the indwelling Holy Spirit they know full well they are doing evil. Consequently they grieve Him (Grieve not the Spirit - Ephesians 4:30) and quench His influence in their lives (1 Thessalonians 5:19).

I know some have a "tension" problem with these two passages regarding the Spirit being grieved and/or quenched nevertheless it IS scripture. Obviously He never leaves us completely.

Some human encouragement (our part) to help the wayward repent is supported by the scripture and goes a long way in healing the soul and spirit. One must be very careful in judging however lest we ourselves fall into condemnation and chastisement. Our judgment should be like that of a physician - to heal, not as a judge handing out punitive sentences.

I think at this point we are slicing and dicing semantics and agree more than we disagree.

HankD

 

Light(Christ) and darkness(Satan) cannot possibly co-exist!

2 Corinthians 6:14King James Version (KJV)
14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

 

Yes, there are. In every lighted room with even the tiniest objects there are shadows. Every believer, no matter how spiritual, will have some degree of shadows whether it be a false notion of scripture or false living. Perfect light with no shadows (sin) is certainly the ideal but nobody on earth can achieve that.

Best wishes.