Ephesians 5:5-6 “For this you know with certainty, that no sexually immoral or impure or greedy person, which amounts to an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. See that no one deceives you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.”
Pastor Herk continues that the term “sons of disobedience” are people characterized by a life of immorality. When the Apostle Paul writes “for because of these things the wrath of God comes, he is implying that there is both a present and future aspect of God’s wrath that sinful and immoral people are going to experience. The Apostle writes in Romans 1:16-20 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek [the Gentiles]. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.”
The sin in the lives of the inhabitance of the earth then, was so much like the sin in the lives of those today. The term “wedded bless” means the happiness experienced by people who are married. The divorce rate rose from 25% of marriages in 1960 to 50% in 1975. Unmarried co-habitation rose from 1.1% in 1960 to. 11.6% in 2010. The percent of unwed mothers rose from 6% in 1960 to 40.8% in 2010. It is a sad, sad fact, the culture is “going to Hell in a hand-basket , meaning headed for disastrous results and social collapse. What happened?
In 1962 the US Supreme Court ruled to band prayer in Public School. In 1963 the US Supreme court ruled to band the Bible from Public Schools. In 1980 the US Supreme court ruled to ban the Ten Commandments from Public School. The Moral Compass of the Word of God and God’s Moral Law was removed and darkness filled the void. Without moral restraint, people felt freer to pick and choose their life trajectories and felt less compelled to marry. That is not what God intended. In Matthew 19:4-6 the Lord Jesus said, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”
Romans 1:24-26a “Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them up to vile passions.” They were and are still receiving the due penalty for their sinful disobedient perversions (physically, emotionally and spiritually. The Apostle Paul instructs us in Colossians 3:5-10, “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”
When this life is over, every single one of us will stand before God and give an account of ourselves and answer for each sin in thought, word and deed. And the godless with their lawless immorality receive God’s wrath and will be banished from the presence of God; throw into outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth for eternity, a lake of fire, an everlasting place of torment and punishment, pure Hell. This is the wrath of God and what the repentant sinner that believes in God, and by faith accepts the free gift of salvation via redemption through the atoning death of God’s Son Jesus Christ on the Cross in their place to pay the punishment that they deserved is saved from. The difference between a lapse and a leap lies in who you love, who you obey and ultimately who is your Lord. It is a transformational difference between Believers and unbelievers, a positional difference and an eternal difference.
In Luke 6:46-47a Jesus asks, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them. As a follower of Jesus Christ, we talk about Him being our Savior and Lord, but do we understand the full implication of what those terms mean? Many accept Jesus as their Savior, but are reluctant to make Him the Lord of their life and obey His teachings and commands. The Lord Jesus declares plainly in John 14:15, 23-24 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me.” Jesus Christ must be your Lord and Savior.
In God our Heavenly Father we trust, in the Holy Spirit our Counselor we listen, and in Christ our Lord we follow and obey. Sola scriptura: “Scripture alone”, Sola fide: by “faith alone”, Sola gratia: by “grace alone”, Solo Christo: in “Christ alone”, Soli Deo gloria: “to the glory of God alone”.
Your brother in Christ, Brian
No comments:
Post a Comment