Is your heart in the world?

Under the law or in the spirit of the law?

There are people in the world who ask how far they can go without coming into conflict with the law. They are on the borderline of falling—of becoming criminals.

There are also those among believers who constantly ask: “Is this not permitted? This can’t possibly be sin? Am I not allowed to do this? Can’t I have that? This doesn’t matter, does it?” Such people are also on the borderline of falling. They are under the law and feel its harsh discipline every time they have gone too far and have come into conflict with it. Such people do not have the mind of Jesus Christ.

These people also circumvent the spirit of the law. Many of them have created something that they call a “middle way” on which are things that, according to the letter of the Scriptures, are neither commanded nor denied. This is a self-made “golden middle way.”

Having your heart in the world is a dangerous state

If you are among those who want to get to heaven, but your heart is in the world, you should know that you are in a dangerous state. John says, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” 1 John 2:15. And Jesus says, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:21.

Paul says in Galatians 6:14, “The world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” He writes further in Philippians 3:8, 13-14: “But indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.  … One thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal …” This shows the mind of Jesus Christ and a love for the Father. If you do not have this mind, then you really need to get converted.