Luke 11:23 Commentary and Bible Study

There is no neutrality when it comes to the Lord Jesus Christ. Some people think that there is. They think they can maintain an indifference to the world – that is one mistake – and they can have a non-committal attitude to Christ without outright hostility – that is another mistake. The truth is that, while they think like this, they are in the grip of the strong man who keeps his goods in peace. It is another form of the deception that he propagates throughout the world.Why is neutrality impossible? Because we are born into a war zone, and there are forces far stronger than we are in play. There are only two sides in this war. We cannot hide from either of them, or opt out of this war. We must choose one side or the other. Both side demand total allegiance. If we do not align with the Son of God, then we are against him, because, as our Creator, he is owed the absolute loyalty from all his creatures. He made them; they owe their existence to him. They cannot give him just a part of their being, for we are to love him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. He is a jealous God and will not allow us to give even a small part of our love to his avowed enemy, the devil. Besides, the devil is not content with only a small part of us. To ask for that much is just his opening move. If we yield, what follows is the gradual corruption and takeover of our whole being. The Lord will totally defeat Satan, and that defeat will involve stripping away from him everything that he has stolen, including human souls. That does not mean that all will men will be saved. Only the elect will come to faith; the rest will be cast into hell with the devil and his angels forever. However they will not be possession; the devil will be left with nothing. The lost will curse him eternally for ever having lured them away from God. But as far as Christ is concerned, if you are not for him, you are against him. This saying alone indicates how great is the change that God must work in us. We must be brought to love the Lord Jesus above all others. We know that love is not in us by birth. We do not know him: his faithfulness, his kindness, his mercy, his longsuffering, his love. If our attitude to Christ is one of indifference, this should trouble us greatly. We are not where we need to be, and he knows it.Consider another saying of the Lord, which puts it the other way round. ‘He that is not against us is on our part’ (Mark 9:40; Luke 9:50). That word is spoken to correct John, who wrongly rebuked a disciple of Christ who was not part of their group. The two sayings are entirely consistent with each other, but serve quite different purposes. What was said to John was designed to teach him not to unnecessarily make divisions among the true children of God. What is said here is to bring home the importance of not remaining at a distance from Christ.