“The Effects of Worldliness” -James 4:4-

“The Effects of Worldliness”
“Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the
friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosever there-
fore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.”
James 4:4
Worldliness is adultery in the spiritual realm and it is a sin
against love. A Christian is a part of the bride of Christ, so
worldliness or backsliding is spiritual adultery. A lover of
pleasure more than a lover of God is sin. It might be one thing
for one person and something else for another, but worldliness
is anything that comes between you and Jesus. Are you giving
up the world for Christ or are you giving Him up for the world?
(see Job 35:6).
Also, it is antagonism, which defined means active
opposition or hostility. Friendship with the world is hatred
toward God and anyone who chooses to be a friend of the
world becomes an enemy of God. Yet, in this day of
conformity, carnality and compromise many have justified
worldliness as a means of reaching people! Sadly, the church
of today no longer confronts the world, it reflects the world.
God put the church in the world and the devil put the world in
the church (Romans 12:2).
Vance Havner once said, “When the nightclub invades the
sanctuary it ought not be difficult for any Bible Christian to
discern the time of day.” Do you think the Scripture is
meaningless when it speaks of worldliness, spiritual adultery
and enmity against God? Anybody caught up in this world is
certainly not ready for the next! (see I John 2:15-17). – G.T.

Prepared by Roger Fulk, from excerpts from the “Baptist Bread” November 25, 2024, devotional by author GARY TROUT, Pastor, Bellpoint Baptist Church, Hinton, WV. With permission from Tim Green, editor of Baptist Bread. The Baptist Bread