Unmixed: When One Source Is Enough
Christ and the flesh cannot be blended—just as oil and water were never meant to mix.
Inspired by the April 21st devotion from Immeasurably More by Ray Stedman
Photo Credit: Unsplash
When Mixture Becomes a Message
What if a well-intended spiritual practice subtly concealed a deeper problem—not because it was overtly evil, but because it blended the sacred with the merely symbolic? In Leviticus 19:19, God gave Israel a law that might seem strange to us today: "Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material." On the surface, this feels outdated. But through this command, God revealed something enduring—something not bound to ancient garments, but to spiritual reality: some things were never meant to be mixed.
We live in a time when spiritual mixture is not only common—it’s celebrated. Tradition and Scripture are paired together as if equal voices. Human authority is set beside divine revelation. Practices born of man’s wisdom are mingled with the simplicity of Christ. But God’s message remains: His life cannot be blended with another system. The gospel does not come alongside something else. It replaces it entirely.
Theological Foundation: Why God Rejects Mixture
Throughout Scripture, God makes it clear that His truth is singular and sufficient. From the garden to the cross, from Sinai to Pentecost, God has consistently called His people to purity—not in external behavior alone, but in source and substance.
Old Testament Shadows: God used symbolic laws—about seeds, fabrics, and animals—to impress on Israel that two opposing systems cannot coexist. They were visual object lessons: don’t mix flesh and Spirit, truth and error, law and grace (Leviticus 19:19; Deuteronomy 22:10-11).
New Testament Fulfillment: The New Covenant unveils the meaning behind those laws. Jesus did not come to patch up the old system—He brought something entirely new (Matthew 9:16-17). Paul reminds us that adding to the gospel is not a small misstep but a fatal departure (Galatians 1:6–9).
Spiritual Clarity: Mixing God’s Word with tradition, philosophies, or human authority diminishes the clarity of grace. The Spirit of God never cohabits with systems that deny the sufficiency of Christ. "What fellowship has light with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial?" (2 Corinthians 6:14-15).
God’s truth is not partial. His voice does not share a stage. When mixture creeps in, the result is confusion—not peace (1 Corinthians 14:33).
How Mixture Manifests Today
The mixture we face today often wears religious clothing. It doesn’t come in the form of golden calves or pagan chants, but in more refined forms:
Elevating Human Tradition: When tradition is revered as an equal authority to Scripture, the sufficiency of God’s Word is quietly eclipsed.
Adding Religious Systems: Whether through ritual, sacrament, or hierarchy, any system that claims to mediate grace alongside Christ undermines His once-for-all work (Hebrews 10:10–14).
Blending Flesh with Spirit: Even in our daily walk, the temptation is to live by effort while claiming grace—to preach Christ while practicing self-reliance.
What begins as reverence can become reliance. And once we begin to rely on anything other than Christ in us—the hope of glory—we've slipped into mixture.
This is not about rejecting all structure or condemning tradition. It’s about discerning the source. Is our confidence in Christ alone, or in Christ plus something else?
Confidence in Christ Alone
Mixture always clouds the gospel. And God, in His mercy, continues to call His people out of it—not to shame, but to free. We are not citizens of a hybrid kingdom. We are sons and daughters of a King whose Word is final, whose Spirit is sufficient, and whose gospel is enough.
Let us not weave together what God has separated. Let us walk in the clarity of Christ alone—unmixed, undivided, and completely His.