Secular

<<materialistic, worldly>>

This refers to anything not religious or sacred, but is of this world, without any spiritual dimension or connectedness to God. Those who don’t know Christ can only speak from the natural world’s viewpoint, and so the world readily listens to them (1 Jn 4:5). We are to pray that non-believers can see beyond the ‘here and now’ to the important eternal issues and make wise choices.

Most Christians work in the secular, everyday world, which on the surface does not appear to have much relationship with, relevance, or value for the Kingdom of God. However any legitimate occupation assists and benefits society and develops character in the believer whose work should be done

Live in the world but don’t be ensnared by its deceitful lifestyle

with all diligence and faithfulness, “working as unto the Lord” who will reward all such service (Col 3:22-24). ‘The world’ is an ideal place to outwork the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22,23). How else can Christianity be seen to be real and valid unless we, as Christ’s representatives, rub shoulders with non-Christians? Jesus mixed with sinners to speak into their lives and win them, yet didn’t embrace their lifestyle (Mt 11:19). Even though we are in the world we are not to be controlled or brought under its influence (Jn 15:19; 17:15,16; Rom 12:2).

Live wisely, learning from and using the resources of the secular realm, and invest some of the money earned from your income into the Kingdom of God. Allow the experiences in this world (both secular and sacred) to develop character that will benefit you for eternity. This will involve seeing things from God’s perspective by trying to grasp what He is doing in us through difficult circumstances and living God-honouring lives by being filled with the Holy Spirit and “shining like stars” (1 Cor 3:3; Eph 5:18; Phil 2:15; Heb 12:2).

Satan has blinded many minds so they consider a belief system as irrelevant and powerless in this modern so-called age of enlightenment where man is ‘god’ and the master of his own destiny  (2 Cor 4:4). Liberal seminary professors even question and denounce Bible facts as myths, replacing truth with their own gospel heresy. The ‘faith’ they proclaim is far removed from the true gospel and has no foundation. They receive new ‘truth’ from any source, not holding to the belief the Bible is the infallible authority for Christian faith and practice, choosing instead to focus on a religious experience or man’s warped views, not the Bible’s solid truth.

See also: carnal, sacred, world, worldliness, world-view.