Thursday, March 11, 2021 Some material taken from The Gospel Is The Answer
It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality
among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated.
And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has
done this be removed from among you. 1 Corinthians 5:1-2
Nothing To Boast About
The church is full of humans with human problems. Some expect that because
we are in church, we should not be struggling with fleshly desires or problems,
but this is an unrealistic view of Christians. We certainly have more
protection and memorized scripture to help us fight, plus the armor of God. The
armor of God is a real thing, and God knew we would need that extra protection.
Satan is not worried about those that are already his. He wants Christians to
fall, and he works hard at it. We are not immune to the same problems the rest
of the world faces, and when Satan discovers a weakness, he provides every
chance he can for us to slip into sin.
Yesterday we talked about Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth and how he
discussed division in the fellowship. There was also sexual sin running rampant
in their congregation as well. Not only were they doing these things, but they
were bragging about it. They were also saying it was fine to do them because
of the freedom they had in Christ and because of His abundance of grace.
Sexual sin was not only a problem in the Corinthian church, but it is also a
sin in churches across the world today. Human nature has not changed much and
what was a weakness then is still a weakness today.
Sexual addiction is as much of a disease as drug addiction and alcohol, and there is less help available. Some struggle with pornography, a very secret sin. You can be addicted to pornography and no one would know, maybe not even your spouse or family. Sexual sin is one of the strongest representations of living in the flesh. Galatians 5:19-21 says Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. These fleshly sins are so deadly to us because they have such a strong pull on our flesh. They will steal our hearts and minds away from Christ. Does this mean we cannot be forgiven? No. As long as we are repentant and change our ways forgiveness is ours. You have to remember that these men were not repentant. They were boastful. They were not sorry for their sin, they were proud.
Just because we know we have the forgiveness and grace of Jesus Christ does not mean we should go ahead and indulge in the sins of the
flesh. That was another mistake these Corinthian men were making. They felt no
remorse and felt that because they had God’s grace, they were free to sin all they
wanted. Paul’s response: 1 Corinthians 5:6-7 (ESV) – Your boasting
is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a
new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been
sacrificed. He was telling the church that the person
who was committing this sin and was unrepentant needed to be removed from the
church. It sounds harsh but it is his unrepentant heart that is the issue, and
the fact that the purity of the church is at risk.
Our body is the temple of Christ. He lives in our heart. It is not ours to
do with whatever we want to do. It is for His glory and if you would not do it
in the presence of God, then you should not do it, because you are always in
the presence of God. What we do with our bodies does matter. When we belong to
God every action and deed should be filtered through His commandments, and His
word. There is no room for compromise when it comes to sexual integrity. There
is not room to abuse the grace of God either. He graciously gives the gift of
forgiveness and grace, and we should never decide to sin because we know He will
forgive us anyway. But we need to
understand and to tell others that sin is sin, and it is wrong. They want to
hear about love and forgiveness, not death and hell, and as real as love and
forgiveness are, so are death and hell. Forgiveness is ours and His grace does
abound for all who repent and turn from sin.
What shall we say then? Are we to continue
in sin that grace may abound? Romans 6:1
