PAstor Kyle continues: Every Christian church has to draw a line between acceptance of people who have struggles with sinful issues that they are going through and putting a biblical or theological stamp of approval on those behaviors and accepting them as biblically normative. The godless secular culture has no moral compass or biblical standards and principles of God to measure against. For the Christian, the issue is accepting and standing on God’s revealed Word, Will and Way without alteration, modification, diluting, weakening, thinning, or cutting and teaching accurately God’s truth. To say that what God calls sin is not really sin; it’s actually good for you is an abominable lie. Isaiah 5:20 says, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” We should be thankful for the spiritual fatherhood of the Apostle Paul to boldly tell the Christian church (and us today) the truth about sin. He loved them enough not to condemn them, but also loved them enough to spiritual obedience, dedication, growth and health.
Romans 6:22-23 “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Apostle Paul declares in 1 Corinthians 6:13-18, “The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.
How do we keep following God in an increasingly complex, chaotic and confusing culture? (1) Follow the Bible, even when it hurts. Public opinions change over time, but God and His holy Word is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. God is holy and righteous, so we need to bring any hidden sin in our life into the light. 1 John 1:8-9 tells us, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Follow the Bible. James 1:25 “the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.”
Psalm 24:1-5 “The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein. For He has founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the waters. Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
(2) If you’re wrapped up in sexual immorality, get help, get married, or consider getting out of the relationship. (a) If you are caught up in the bonds of sin now, then seek help through godly brothers or sisters known to be following God, establish and accountability partner, talk to pastors, church elders or professional Christian Counselors and tell them what is really going on. (b) find your soul mate of the opposite sex and get married. The Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 7:9 “if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.” Premarital sex and intimately “living together” is sin. If you love the Lord and you both love each other, then just get married. If you are hesitant, then that is telling in and of itself. What is holding you back from committing as God is intending for you? (c) If you honestly don’t know if you want to marry the person that you are in relationship with, then consider getting out of the relationship all together. Hebrews 13:4 tells us, “Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.” Sexual morality is important to God (who designed men and women for intimacy within the marriage) and if you are “sleeping with” (aka: in a sexual relationship) with no intention of marrying, staying in that relationship is just going to hurt you more in the end.
(3) Aim for growth, not guilt. RC Sproul writes in “What Can I Do with My Guilt?”: What is guilt? In the first place, we have to say that guilt is not subjective but objective because it corresponds to an objective standard or reality. That leads me to the simplest definition of guilt that I can compose: Guilt is that which a person incurs when he violates a law. The biblical view is that God is the supreme Lawgiver and that He holds every person who is alive accountable for conforming to His mandates. Yes, God has rules and laws. So, if we define guilt as that which a person incurs when he violates a law, we incur supreme guilt when we break the law of God. That is because His law is perfect. It is never arbitrary. It does not reflect merely the vested interests of a particular lobby group, but the perfect, holy, righteous character of God Himself. Confession brings forgiveness, but ultimately, the only source of real forgiveness is God. We want to build a culture at church that helps the person desiring and seeking help with their sin issues. Jesus Christ paid the price on the Cross for our sins and set Believers free from the bondage and chains of sin. The central message in Scripture is one of forgiveness. The believer in Jesus Christ can have real assurance that the guilt from sin is no more, and that forgiveness has been freely granted. Jesus says that He who the Son sets free is free indeed.
(4) When in doubt, remember that your body is the temple of the Lord. 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 says, “Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So, glorify God in your body.” When it seems like certain morality issues are gray, remind yourself who resides inside your body and what your body is for the Lord. we do not want to do anything that would defile the temple of the living God. We don’t ever want to downplay our sin against the just and holy God, but focusing on the guilt of our sin paid in full by our Savior and Lord leaves us too often riddled with that guilt feeling and fails to address the deeper issues underneath them of spiritual growth and maturity in biblical morality.
Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.
In Christ, Brian
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