Neutral ground is an area where no one is the owner, or no people groups are specifically in charge. It can also be an area where two different groups of people are in discussion in a territory where neither group or country has authority. Countries that are at war may meet on neutral ground. Family members in a dispute may meet on neutral grounds to settle a disagreement. The neutral ground offers an area where neither side feels threatened. This is a common way to settle arguments. However, there is one area of our lives where there will never be any neutral ground. This area is in our spiritual lives. You are either on God’s side or the devil’s. There is no in-between.
In Luke 11:23, Jesus said, “He that is not with me is against me.” There is no neutral ground in our spiritual lives. If you are not for God, you are against Him. You are either one or the other.
In Matthew 6:24, Jesus is making this point. “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” It is impossible to have two masters. In the process of pleasing one, you neglect the other. In this passage, the other master is the things of this world. He warned about being concerned or consumed with laying up treasures on earth. This is a tool Satan uses to pull our focus away from spiritual things. He wants us to believe that we can have Jesus on the one hand and the world on the other. He does not want us to understand that we are choosing him by choosing things. He is the prince of the air. This verse teaches us that if we try to serve two masters, our obedience will be divided. Satan’s chief desire is to sift us as wheat, to destroy us and doom our souls to Hell.
Satan wants us to think we can pick and choose the things we will obey and not obey. He wants us to look at Christianity as something like buying groceries. For instance, we buy whiskey from one aisle and then head to the aisle with the aspirin to cover the hangover for the next day. We buy chocolate cake from the bakery and diet pills from another area. When we got to the cashier it all checked out just fine. We work the system and think we have covered our bases, and everything is ok. This is how many treat their spiritual lives, making provision for the flesh while believing all is well with God. I John 3:10 teaches us those who are the children of God will be made known by their actions. Those who are living unrighteous lives are not of God. If you are not of God, you are on the other side.
I John 3:10 “In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.”
We cannot have it both ways. We cannot live a half-hearted Christian life and expect to go to Heaven. In Revelation 3:15, Jesus said, “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.” You must be in or out. His judgment is upon those who try to be in the middle. This is clear in verse 16.
Revelation 3:16 “So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth.”
We may deceive ourselves into thinking everything is fine. I have prayed the prayer and I’m on my way to Heaven. Yet, you live a life where you are the primary character of your focus. You do things your way. You segment your life into chunks of time, and in your estimation, God gets His chunk. You determine what is right and wrong according to the “big ten” commandments, and with a quick run-through of those in your mind, you are okay. The gray areas are anything you want them to be. After all, Jesus has forgiven you and saved you. This is the mentality of many people who attend church every Sunday. But are you really okay with God? While we cannot work for our salvation, we are called to live a holy life. Several times in scripture we are told to be holy as God is holy. In I Peter 1:16, it could not be plainer. He says, “Be ye holy, for I am holy.” We are to be like Jesus, and we cannot be like Him and be like the world and buy into its philosophy. We are to choose God above everything. The command in Luke 10:27 gives us the ground we are to stand on and it shows there are no neutral areas; “And he answering said, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.” There is not a part of our lives that does not belong to Him if we are Christians. Stop checking boxes and stop giving Him a part of your life. Don’t be deceived. He has all or none!
