Galatians 5:1
Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
To be entangled means to be intertwined. So, when the Scriptures command, be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage, God is saying that we must avoid being involved with those who are in the yoke of bondage. One of the keywords in this verse is the word yoke. A yoke is meant to work. In other words, if we don't enter into a yoke with those who would bring us back to bondage, we will never be intertwined in their doctrine. One great mistake many preachers and believers alike make is that they enter the yoke of those who would bring them to bondage, and before they know it, they are entangled in their doctrine and compromise to their detriment.
One of my great desires in life is never to be entangled with those who would bring me to the yoke of bondage, which is the yoke of false doctrine. I have been in the ministry for over three decades, and I have avoided working in the yoke with anyone who could draw me into their false doctrine. People don't fall into false doctrine; they work their way into false doctrine by entering the yoke of those who do not believe like them. Before they know it, they are entangled in the yoke of bondage. There are five things I do to avoid being entangled in the yoke of bondage.
First, I do not read from those who would entangle me. Too many believe they can read from those who are working in the yoke of false doctrine and it not affect them, but every person who reads from them always change. I have found one of the best policies to protect me from false doctrine is never to read from those who peddle it. You cannot step into false doctrine if you don't read any material from those who peddle it.
Second, I do not look for ideas from those who would entangle me. Why would I look for ideas from those who are trying to grow false doctrine? Those in the yoke of false doctrine do not know how to grow an independent Baptist church, so why read from them? The ideas read and followed by those in the yoke of false doctrine will only merge your church into false doctrine. We have plenty of ideas from those who believe right from the past; we don't need to look to those who do not believe like us for ideas.
Third, I do not work with those who would entangle me. God commands us not to be unequally yoked; therefore, I will not work with them in any endeavor no matter how good the endeavor may seem. Working with those who believe false doctrine for one minute gives them one minute to influence you for wrong. If I don't want to be influenced for wrong, I will not work with them in any cause despite our cause seemingly being the same.
Fourth, I do not fellowship with those who would entangle me. Many have changed because they want to be friendly to those who believe wrong, but many have compromised because they fellowshipped with those who are in the yoke of false doctrine. You are who you spend time with; if you don't want to be a compromiser, don't fellowship in the conferences, books, or at a table of fellowship with those who are doctrinally wrong. There is too much work to be done in the harvest of reaching the lost to give any time to the compromiser who will pull me from the harvest.
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