The angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, “I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I swore to give to your forefathers. I said, I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars. Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this? Now therefore I tell you that I will not drive them out before you; they will be thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you.” (Judges 2:1–3, NIV 1984).
My Musings – Israel could not coexist with the people in the land without them becoming a snare to them. That is why God told the Israelites to drive them out. They ended up “They forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They provoked the Lord to anger because they forsook Him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.” (Judges 2:12–13, NIV 1984).
It didn’t work then, and it will not work now. Christianity cannot coexist alongside other religions. They will not mix. “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.” (Matthew 6:24, NIV 1984).
People have the free-will to serve whatever master they choose. They may even attempt to graft aspects of Christianity into their non-Christian religion, or graft aspects of non-Christian religions into Christianity. This includes grafting good works onto grace as a condition of salvation. These will serve no purpose whatsoever. In Jesus’ own words, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6, NIV 1984).
My Advice – “If serving the Lord [only] seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve…But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord [only].” (Joshua 24:15, NIV 1984). You cannot serve two masters, they cannot coexist.
The Brew Is A Musing 