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“Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.””
1 Corinthians 15:33 HCSB
Through God’s pursuit of sinners, we are empowered through the Holy Spirit to live according to His commands. We are empowered. This overflows into every aspect of our lives, including, who we associate with, and how we live with others. This is why it is so important for believers to be grounded in a church family. It’s not that we should always be around “church people,” but that we should be like “iron sharpening iron” with others. This is the difference between a wise person and a foolish one. As Proverbs 13:16 says,
“Every sensible person acts knowledgeably, but a fool displays his stupidity.”
Proverbs 13:16 HCSB
Acting with knowledge is a decision to be responsible. We can’t do that without the Holy Spirit, however, now that the Spirit is evident in our lives, we are empowered with God’s knowledge and wisdom to confidently turn from our past. The balance of the Holy Spirit’s guidance and our own decision making is always very blurry, but God knows the heart. He sees your motives and intentions. He knows, like you do, if you are faking it or not.
Proverbs 13 is a gut check for who we say we are. Are we proclaiming to be righteous and acting wicked? Are we hypocrites? Each one of us must answer those questions for ourselves.
“All through Proverbs there is this contrast between righteousness and wickedness. God hates pride; He hates lawlessness; He hates hypocrisy. He has no use for this type of thing that arises out of our human nature. That is the reason that God will not accept anything that we do in the old nature. It is only what He can perform through our new nature that is acceptable to Him. One thing is sure: He is not going to take Vernon McGee’s old nature to heaven. I’ll be glad to get rid of it. In heaven you and I will be forever parted from that old nature which produces all the sins that are inherent in each of us.”
J. Vernon McGee