“….I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:18b
The New Testament Church is not to be in fellowship with the gates of hell. The gates of hell are simply the open doors to sin and doctrinal error. Satan seeks to open these doors up in every New Testament Church, through playing upon the sympathies of good hearted Christians. But his subtle plan is to lead the church into permissiveness towards sin, unto becoming a haven for that which God forbids.
The way a New Testament Church does their part in preventing the gates of hell from prevailing, is to keep the doors shut to willful sin and doctrinal error. The church is to be sanctified and cleansed with the washing of water by the word, that it will be presented unto Christ as a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish–Ephesians 5:26-27
Thus, a church needs to stand straight and doctrinally sound with Christ. It needs to be understood that membership is a privilege, rather than some inherent right. People can either choose to serve God, or choose to serve self and sin, but not both at the same time: “Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils.” 1 Corinthians 10:21
We must not respect individual pride over the truth of God. Due to pride, a person serving sin wants to be accredited with religious sanction and asylum. But the stand with Christ and on the Word of God, is not to be sacrificed in order to save the face of those who have chosen to serve sin. “Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear.” 1 Timothy 5:20. “But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. 1 Corinthians 5:11,4,5.
In order for a church to keep the gates of hell from prevailing, it must wage a war of faith sufficiently strong enough against sin, that people’s hearts and minds will reject sin, rather than consider sin to be an allowable alternative to God’s will and way. “…Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened.” 1 Corinthians 5:6b-7a
SHARING
