Those who choose to live on middle ground share certain characteristics. The characteristics of the two and a half tribes (Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh) can be found today in those who refuse to pulverize their idols and die to the world. Their Hebrew names expose them.

Reuben means, “A son who sees!” He was Jacob’s firstborn, but he lost his birthright because he was driven by lust. Jacob described his son Reuben as “…unstable as water, thou shalt not excel….” Reuben went into his father’s concubine, and Jacob, in his dying hour, said of him: “Then you defiled it—He went up to my couch.” (see Genesis 49:4).

Reuben had eyes only for this world—its lusts, it things, its pleasures. He was unstable because his heart was always divided, and this spirit was passed on to his posterity. Here was an entire tribe attached to the world and bent on having their own way.

Gad means, “Fortune or troop.” Simply put, this means soldiers of fortune or mercenaries. Moses said of Gad, “He provided the first part for himself…” (Deuteronomy 33:21). This tribe was outwardly obedient, “executing the justice of the Lord,” but the overriding characteristic was self-interest. Gad was consumed with its own problems and the need to “make it.”

Manasseh means, “To forget, to neglect.” This was Joseph’s firstborn son and he should have received the birthright. But even in his childhood there was a sad trait developing and Jacob saw it in the Spirit. Manasseh would one day forget the ways of his father Joseph and neglect the commandment of the Lord.

Consider these combined traits of middle-ground Christians: Unstable as water in spiritual convictions; never excelling in the things of God; lukewarm, weak with lust; ruled by selfish needs; neglecting the Word; not taking the Lord’s commandments seriously; making their own choices instead of trusting God; forgetting past blessings and dealings; unwilling to let go of certain idols; justifying their own decisions; not willing to die to all that would seduce them back to middle ground!

Let us determine to want the Lord’s fullness. God’s desire for you is to enter into a place of rest, joy and peace in the Holy Spirit. That required following him “with all the heart, all the strength.”

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3). Paul is telling us, “All who follow Jesus are blessed with spiritual blessings in heavenly places, where Christ is.” What an incredible promise to God’s people.

This promise becomes mere words if we don’t know what these spiritual blessings are. How can we enjoy the blessings that God promises us if we don’t comprehend them?

Paul wrote this epistle “to the faithful in Christ Jesus” (1:1). These were believers who were sure of their salvation. The Ephesians had been well trained in the gospel of Jesus Christ and the hope of eternal life. They knew who they were in Christ, and were assured of their heavenly position in him.

These “faithful ones” fully understood that “God…raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places” (1:20). They knew they’d been chosen by God from “before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love” (1:4). They grasped that they were adopted “by Jesus Christ to himself” (1:5). God had brought them into his family, because when they heard the word of truth, they believed and trusted it.

Many forgiven, cleansed and redeemed people live in misery. They never have a sense of being fulfilled in Christ. Instead, they continually go from peaks to valleys, from spiritual highs to depressing lows. How can this be? It’s because many never get past the crucified Savior to the resurrected Lord who lives in glory.

In turn, Christ is in the Father, seated at his right hand. Therefore, if we’re in Christ, then we are actually seated with Jesus in the throne room, where he is. That means we’re sitting in the presence of the Almighty. This is what Paul refers to when he says we’re made to “sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6). Yes, Jesus is in paradise. But the Lord also abides in you and me. He has made us his temple on the earth, his dwelling place.

We hear a lot about hope — from politicians, from books, from multimedia. But what is offered in each of these messages doesn’t seem to last. We may get fired up and encouraged by what we hear in such messages; indeed, we may find ourselves refreshed and hopeful for a season. But what is offered is not a fixed, experienced hope and it soon fades away.

The entire world is yearning for a steadfast hope. Hope is not a feeling. How many times has your expectation for something good failed you? How many times has your human hope been crushed? The inner cry of multitudes around the globe right now is, “Somebody, somewhere, please give me some hope, something that will last.”

Many wonderful books have been written by people who maintained hope through their awful tragedies and hardships. Their testimonies encourage us, giving our faith a great lift. But, again, our hope fades whenever a severe trial arises in our own lives. The sufferings we endure dash whatever steadfast hope we thought we had.

Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica, “Sorrow [not] as others who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13). The book of Hebrews tells us we have a “hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil” (Hebrews 6:18-19). In short, the path to hope begins with being fully assured that we are right with God. We’re talking about the assurance that we have peace with God: “Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God though our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1).

Likewise, Paul prays, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13). According to Paul, when it comes to the subject of hope, the work of the Holy Spirit must be involved.

In a famous old hymn of the church, Edward Mote wrote, “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.” Indeed, this is peace: to believe God’s promise that by faith in Christ’s shed blood, he considers me righteous. And his righteousness is conferred on me not by any good I have done — it is all by faith.

As Christ’s witnesses, we are called to a seemingly impossible task. We are asking the world to lay down the things that are most dear to them: their sins. In their eyes, the Christian walk — a life of purity and holiness — looks like a form of slavery. Our idea of heaven seems to them more like hell. When they hear us talk about the gospel, it is an offence to their lifestyle. Christ’s gospel calls them to repent of the sins they love, to repent of rejecting the God who died for them on a cross. It calls for a life of holiness, when for years they’ve tried to silence their conscience, to kill any notion there might be a coming day of reckoning.

Christ’s gospel also tells them their own personal goodness cannot merit eternal life. It asks the self-made man to die to himself and his selfish ambitions, and to give his life for others. It declares that his own sense of integrity is nothing in God’s sight. Such a gospel is a threat to his pearl of great price: his personal achievements, the things he has worked long and hard to obtain. If you tell him his righteousness does not merit salvation, he will despise you. During his final time with the disciples before his crucifixion, Jesus warned, “Some of you will be rejected, some will be imprisoned, and some will be killed. All of you will be persecuted” (see John 16:2).

At the Last Supper, Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love another” (John 13:34). Note this was not an option, it was a commandment. And it is where every evangelistic effort must begin. According to Jesus, only this particular love — a love for fellow believers — will gain the attention of a lost generation. It is the same kind of self-denying, sacrificial love that Jesus shows to each of us. Such love for our kin in Christ cannot be accomplished in word alone, but must be in deed.

The world needs illustrated sermons — powerful personal examples — of God’s love. In John 17:21, Jesus made this prayer: “That they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.”

Dear saint, obey his new commandment and remember his Word: “By this all men will know you are mine” (see John 13:35). Love others as Jesus loves them and watch as God works through that love.

“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).

Paul had just asked the question: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” (8:35).

Clearly Paul recognized Satan’s mission in these last days: to hinder God’s people from walking in his great love. All to often, multitudes in the church today are blind to this deceptive work of the enemy and live completely unaware that he has successfully blocked them from knowing and enjoying God’s love for them.

We are never to fear our adversary, of course. But if we are not alert to Satan’s subtle attacks on our faith, we will continue to live defeated lives. Paul knew how important it is to expose the devil’s wiles and only as we identify these attacks on our faith can we say with Paul, “Nothing can separate me from God’s love, which is in Christ Jesus.”

In every age, God has stationed intercessors on the very front lines to do battle against Satan’s principalities and powers. Today these spiritual soldiers — “prayer warriors” — can be found in every nation. Jude exhorted, “But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God” (Jude 20-21). The message to those in spiritual battle is clear: “Build yourself up in faith. Keep yourself in God’s love.”

It is impossible to build up our faith through human strength or ability. Without the Holy Spirit, we simply aren’t able to keep ourselves in the knowledge and assurance of God’s love for us. We need God’s Spirit to empower us in all things.

When everything seems to conspire against God’s promises being fulfilled, the Holy Spirit rises up in us with true words of comfort: “Hold on! Trust him! God is at work in every hour of your situation so don’t waver. Instead, rise up and fight the good fight of faith.”