From the desk of Pastor Ben

The Danger of Moral Reform – Part 1

“Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself.”         (Matthew 12:43-45a)

In these verses, Jesus provides the picture of what happens when religious and moral reformation occurs apart from a right relationship to Him. The parable’s main character is a demon whose specific evil characteristics are unidentified. For whatever reason, and by whatever means, an un-named man became free of this evil spirit. Perhaps the man morally renounced a sin and the demon temporarily lost control over him, or maybe Jesus cleansed the man of the demon but the man did not fully embrace Jesus.
After a time, the unclean spirit decided to “return to his house from which he came,” which indicates he still had a strong sense of ownership over the man. That the spirit was so easily able to re-enter the man, along with other more evil spirits, proves the practical reality of his possession. The unoccupied nature (by any other demons) of the house, along with its clean, orderly status, suggests that the human resident had engaged in some sort of real moral reformation. But such self-cleansing, no matter how complete and well-meaning, is never permanent.
If repentance from sin and trust in Christ do not deal with someone’s basic sin nature, the removal of a sinful habit or demon leaves the person’s spiritual house vulnerable to re-occupation and becoming worse than before. The self-righteous, self-reforming person is subject to Satan in a way an immoral person is not, because their morality blinds them to their fallen condition and need for redemption.

Ask Yourself:
Have you tried to cover over certain pockets of rebellion in your life, not by genuine repentance but by the establishment of daily disciplines and religious practices? What “results” have you seen?