Articles
Do Not Be Entangled
The apostle Paul wrote to the young evangelist Timothy a warning: “No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules” (2 Tim. 2:4, 5). The admonition was directed at Timothy personally, regarding his duties as a minister of the gospel and as an evangelist, but it is a principle that should not be ignored by any of God's servants.
Paul used the analogy of a soldier to make the point, and we should not ignore the fact that disciples are, indeed, soldiers who are fighting for their Lord and Savior. As such, we must then direct our attention to the battle at hand and not allow ourselves to be distracted by or — as Paul put it — become entangled by the affairs of this world. In battles, it is not uncommon for enemy forces to use distractions and diversions to draw the adversary's attention to some point, and away from where the real danger is; so will our spiritual adversary, and he does it quite well. He knows that if he can get the soldiers of the Lord to focus on anything but what is important or what is a danger, he will have an advantage.
A disciple's focus should be on spiritual matters, and that shouldn't even really be a question. As God's people, we are supposed to be spiritual people (1 Cor. 3:1), we enjoy spiritual blessings in Christ (Eph. 1:3), we are a spiritual house (1 Pet. 2:5), and as the church, we are the dwelling place of God in the Spirit (Eph. 2:19). It should come as no surprise, then, that our battle is spiritual (Eph. 6:12) and not carnal (2 Cor. 10:3-6). But, our spiritual adversary would love for us to believe and act as if our focus is on the physical, material things of this world, that our battles are physical, and that we really shouldn't be concerned or overly interested in spiritual matters.
Don't fall for the distractions and the numerous diversions he is using to get us to focus on the wrong things and simultaneously forget about what is most important. Again, as Paul put it: Don't get entangled “with the affairs of this life.” Yes, you need to work, but work is not your purpose in life; yes, it is perfectly acceptable to have a family, but your family is not your purpose in life; yes, one may own material possessions, but those material possessions are not your purpose in life. Don't get entangled “with the affairs of this life.” There is something much more important.
The apostle Paul also wrote to those in Galatia, warning against the Judaizing teachers who would impose circumcision upon the Gentile brethren as a matter of righteousness. He began the letter with a strong warning, noting that those who had added this one small requirement had, in fact, perverted the true gospel and turned it into “a different gospel, which is not another” but merely a perverted one (Gal. 1:6-9). He would argue throughout the letter that they were making a serious error by making such a requirement, and concluded by admonishing them, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage” (Gal. 5:1).
In this case, the danger was getting entangled in the false belief that they could somehow merit their righteousness by deeds and strict obedience to the Law, but Paul sternly warned them, “if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace” (Gal. 5:2-5). His warning was to not go back to a system that could not bring forgiveness or save them because none of those things would take away the guilt of their sins.
Disciples today may not be looking back to the Old Law and binding requirements from that law on current disciples, or even potential disciples, but it happens occasionally that some men will concoct some plan out of their own minds [i.e., not from Scripture] and strive to bind this new requirement on their brethren or on potential converts, leading them all back to a worthless system of faith that cannot bring the very thing it purports to provide.
Brethren, let us stick to what the Bible actually teaches us, and forgo the idea that we have somehow discovered some doctrine and/or requirement overlooked by literally hundreds of dedicated Bible students and generations of men and women, thinking we must now promote this as something all disciples must abide by, lest their souls be lost eternally. Don't allow yourself to get entangled by such self-deceiving doctrines and/or practices, and let us be satisfied with the pure and simple message of our Lord.
The apostle Peter also warned the disciples of the first century against false teachers who would come in amongst them and lead some astray (2 Pet. 2:1). He would go on to note that some of these false teachers would “speak great swelling words of emptiness” and thus “allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error”; this would then result in some, “after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” being “again entangled in them and overcome” (2 Pet. 2:18-20).
The danger Peter warned against was falling prey to those false teachers and ending up back in sin and the pollutions of the world, and he did not mince words when he then warned, “the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them” (2 Pet. 2:20, 21). Since we were all the enemies of God before we escaped the bondage of sin (cf. Rom. 5:10), I shudder to think how one could be in a state or a position worse than that!
It is not a mere coincidence that Peter said those led astray by these false teachers and smooth talkers would be once again “entangled” in those old pollutions of the world, for sin is indeed a trap that will ensnare many a man who does not watch his steps. Paul noted that those still in their sins were in “the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will” (2 Tim. 2:26), and Jesus Himself noted, “whoever commits sin is a slave of sin” (John 8:34). Knowing this, we who are ones who have escaped the pollutions of the world must be alert to the dangers and snares our enemy lays in our path, lest we also become entangled and lost.
The sure way to avoid entanglement is to be ever watchful of our steps as we walk. The psalmist gives us the answer when he wrote to God, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psa. 119:107), and, “Cause me to know the way in which I should walk” (Psa. 143:8), and, “Direct my steps by Your word, and let no iniquity have dominion over me” (Psa. 119:133). Let us be watchful as we walk the road to eternity, and let the light of God's word be the guard against becoming entangled in those things that will cause us to stumble and fall.
If we truly “walk just as He walked” (1 John 2:6), we will be safe! — Steven Harper
