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Sadly, such compromises are not exceptions; they have become the rule. But don’t think twentieth-century Christians are the only experts in the art of compromise. Scripture is full of people who compromised, including some very choice servants of God.

• Adam compromised God’s law, followed his wife’s sin, and lost paradise (Gen. 3:6, 22, 23, 24).

• Abraham compromised the truth, lied about Sarah’s relationship to him, and nearly lost his wife (Ge 12:10, 11, 12).

• Sarah compromised God’s Word and sent Abraham to Hagar, who bore Ishmael and destroyed peace in the Middle East (Ge 16:1-12).

• Moses compromised God’s command and lost the privilege of entering the Promised Land (Nu 20:7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12).

• Samson compromised his devotion as a Nazirite and lost his strength, his eyesight, and his life (Jdg. 16:4-6, 16-31).

• Israel compromised the commands of the Lord, lived in sin, and, when fighting the Philistines, lost the Ark of God (1Sa 4:11). She also compromised the law of God with sin and idolatry and lost her homeland (2Chr 36:14-17).

• Saul compromised God’s divine word by not slaying the animals of his enemy and lost his kingdom (1Sa 15:3, 20-28).

• David compromised God’s standard, committed adultery with Bathsheba, murdered Uriah, and lost his infant son (2Sa 11:1-4ff, 2Sa 12:7-14 - note especially what David had despised in committing these sins - 2Sa 12:9, 10 and what was the most odious result - 2Sa 12:14).`

• Solomon compromised his convictions, married foreign wives, and lost the united kingdom (1Ki 11:1-8).

• Judas compromised his supposed devotion for Christ for thirty pieces of silver and was separated from Christ eternally (Mt 26:20-25, 47, 48, 49; 27:1-5; cf. Jn 17:12).

• Peter compromised his conviction about Christ, denied Him, and lost his joy (Mark 14:66-72). Later he compromised the truth in order to gain acceptance by the Judaizers and lost his liberty (Gal. 2:11-14).

• Ananias and Sapphira compromised their word about their giving, lied to the Holy Spirit, and lost their lives (Acts 5:1-11).

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