05/05/2026
This is so true in the world we live in !!
FROM YOUR PENTECOSTAL PASTOR
Buckle up!!
You Can’t Walk With the Lord While Running With the Devil
We are seeing a popular trend taking hold across the land. It goes like this.
“I cuss a little.”
“I love my country music.”
“I love my beer.”
“I love Jesus.”
At first glance, some may see that as harmless. Some may even call it being “real” or “relatable.” And let me say this clearly: I am overjoyed when any person, including a secular entertainer, comes to Jesus Christ. There is rejoicing in Heaven over one sinner that repenteth. I am thankful for every testimony of someone turning toward the Lord.
But there is a difference between a sinner coming to Jesus and a culture trying to bring Jesus into its sin.
What we are seeing today is not simply people being reached by grace. We are seeing a dangerous mixture. On one hand, many profess that they have given their lives to Christ. On the other hand, they continue to celebrate the very things Christ came to deliver us from. They still curse. They still drink. They still sing songs glorifying fornication, adultery, rebellion, drunkenness, and worldly living.
That sends a dangerous message to a generation of young people already standing on the edge of destruction. It tells them, “You can enjoy a little sin and still live for Jesus.” It tells them, “You can keep the old life and just add Jesus to it.” It tells them, “You can hold a drink in one hand, the world in the other, and still claim the cross.”
But the Word of God teaches something very different.
The Bible does not teach that salvation is merely adding Jesus to your old lifestyle. It teaches that salvation brings transformation. Paul wrote, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17
That is not mixture. That is change.
When Jesus saves a person, He does not just forgive their past; He changes their direction. The old appetites begin to lose their grip. The old language begins to leave. The old music, old habits, old companions, and old desires no longer feel like home. A person may still be growing, learning, and maturing, but there ought to be a clear difference between who they were and who they are becoming.
Grace is not permission to continue in sin. Grace is power to come out of sin.
The Apostle Paul asked plainly, “Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid.” Romans 6:1-2
Yet much of today’s religious culture seems to answer, “Yes, just a little.” A little cussing. A little drinking. A little worldliness. A little compromise. A little flesh. A little darkness. And then we wonder why the next generation has no conviction, no separation, no fear of God, and no understanding of holiness.
The old saying is true: You can’t walk with the Lord if you’re still running with the devil.
Jesus did not die on the cross so we could decorate our sin with religious language. He did not shed His blood so we could keep one foot in the church and one foot in the world. He did not call us to blend in with darkness. He called us to come out from among it.
The Bible says, “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 6:17
That word “separate” is not popular anymore. Many churches avoid it. Many preachers will not preach it. Many singers will not sing it. But it is still in the Bible. God still calls His people to be different. Not hateful. Not proud. Not self-righteous. But holy. Clean. Changed. Set apart.
There is a great difference between a person struggling while trying to walk toward God and a person celebrating sin while claiming to walk with God. Every believer grows. Every believer needs mercy. Every believer needs grace. But grace should never be used as a cover for compromise.
The problem is not that Jesus saves people from rough backgrounds. Thank God, He does. The problem is when people claim Jesus while making no break from the very lifestyle He saves people out of.
When a public figure says, “I love Jesus,” but still glorifies drunkenness, lust, filthy talk, adultery, and rebellion, young people are watching. They hear the message loud and clear. They may not know how to explain it theologically, but they understand the example: “I can have Jesus and still keep my sin.”
That is not the message of the cross.
The message of the cross is, “Come and die.” Die to the old man. Die to the old ways. Die to the world. Die to the flesh. Then rise to walk in newness of life.
Romans 6:4 says, “Like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
Newness of life does not mean perfect overnight, but it does mean different. It means there is a new Master, a new desire, a new direction, and a new standard.
The church must be careful not to confuse popularity with revival. Just because someone mentions Jesus does not mean their message is pure. Just because a song has a spiritual line in it does not mean the lifestyle behind it honors God. Just because the crowd cheers does not mean Heaven approves.
We need discernment again.
We need pastors who will preach holiness again.
We need parents who will teach their children that loving Jesus means leaving the world behind.
We need young people to understand that real Christianity is not a slogan on a T-shirt or a line in a song. It is a surrendered life.
Jesus said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” John 14:15
That is still the test of love. Not just words. Not just emotion. Not just public statements. Obedience.
I am thankful for every sinner who comes to Christ. I will rejoice every time someone leaves darkness and turns toward the light. But I will not call compromise Christianity. I will not tell young people that sin is safe as long as you mention Jesus. I will not pretend that worldliness becomes holy because someone adds God’s name to it.
A changed life is still the fruit of real salvation.
A new creature is still the evidence of the new birth.
Separation from the world is still Bible doctrine.
And holiness is still right.
The hour is too late, the stakes are too high, and our young people are too precious for us to blur the lines. We must tell them the truth in love: Jesus will save you as you are, but He will not leave you as you are.
You cannot walk with the Lord while running with the devil.
PASTOR GARY YOCOM
