You shall not follow a multitude to do evil.
Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? therefore whoever will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
What fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion has light with darkness? And what concord has Christ with Belial? or what part has he who believes with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? — Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. The world passes away, and all its desires, but he who does the will of God abides for ever.
In times past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience. — You have not so learned Christ; if indeed you have heard him, ... as the truth is in Jesus.
Lots of negative verses here, but here are some positive truths built on them:
1. Your mind CAN be renewed. Your life, as it is today, can be changed through the renewing of your mind, so that you do not conform to what you used to be, but instead, you become who God has planned for you to be. In some sense, this is passive. You let God do it through His mighty power.
2. You can choose to either be God's friend, or the world's. The friendships are mutually exclusive, so that when you choose God, He is always on your side. You'll note how the text goes: "makes himself the enemy of God." It does not say that God becomes your enemy. You may stand against Him, but He always stands ready to forgive and receive you. He is the eternal friend.
3. The great division that exists between godly and ungodly, between good and evil, between Christ and Satan, makes the choice between them much simpler. You're not choosing between two kinds of good, but between good and evil. Beware, though, that you don't excuse true evil with apparent "righteousness." The Pharisees made long prayers in public, but devoured widow's houses.
4. Doing what God wants prepares you for eternity, where you will live with Him--"abide forever."
5. The "past" is what you were. What you are now is Christ's man or woman, and you belong to Him, both for His purposes, and complete salvation and transformation, so that you are different from the person you once were. You CAN "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to do His good pleasure." He is there, and always available.
ROM. 12:2. Exo. 23:2. Jas. 4:4. II Cor. 6:14-16. ‑I John 2:15,17. Eph. 2:2. ‑Eph. 4:20,21.
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