When immorality is approved by culture, Christians struggle to maintain biblical values.
That's why some Christians now suggest that people living sexually immoral lifestyles can be good Christians without repenting and turning from their sins. They point out that we're all sinners.
But this argument breaks down quickly:
1. Scripture warns us not to be deceived.
"Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men."
2. Repentance is a key to salvation.(2)
We don't become sinless when we follow Christ, but neither do we justify sinful lifestyles. Christians work wholeheartedly to overcome our sins (Philippians 2:12-13).
3. Culture changes. God remains the same.
Homosexuality, transgenderism, and premarital sex are no longer considered harmful or immoral by our culture. Recently, people have started claiming that "sex work" (prostitution) should be decriminalized. Eventually, pedophilia and other forms of perversion may be approved and promoted by culture.
But God doesn't change (Hebrews 13:8). His moral standards do not change with culture.
4. Culture doesn't define love correctly.
Culture defines love many ways, but God is love and His definition is best definition for our well-being (1 John 4:8). His commands are loving guidelines
5. Christians love people enough to warn them of sins.
We cannot love people and remain silent about sins which damage their hearts and souls (Ezekiel 3:20-21; Matthew 18:15; James 5:19-20).
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Notes:
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Notes:
(1) 1 Cor. 6:11 explains that people are saved out of these sinful lifestyles. If genuine believers fall into one of these sins, it will bring him/her genuine sorrow and genuine repentance. No true believer would continue in the sins listed in this passage (1 John 3:7-10). See also "Lies Some Christians Believe" and "All Sins Are Not the Same."
(2) See Mark 1:15; Acts 26:20; Philippians 2:12-13; 1 John 3:6. "Unashamed of God's Word" includes Scriptures about homosexuality, and these devotions include Scriptures about premarital sex: "Sexual Purity Matters to God" and "What Scripture Says About Sex Outside Marriage."
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I encourage you to check out the Wisdom for Life Devotional. It contains 100 one-minute devotions to challenge, encourage, instruct, and inspire your love for God's Word: Wisdom for Life. Read the story behind Wisdom for Life HERE. And find out about the two free Bible studies with purchase HERE. You can read the first 4 devotions in the book by clicking "look inside" "read sample" on Lifeway or Amazon.
I also encourage you to sign up for a free subscription to Bible Love Notes and get a free e-booklet. Find out more HERE.
I always appreciate the truth you write. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteGod bless!
ReplyDeleteLove this!
ReplyDeleteIsn't the same true of gossips and slanderers?
ReplyDeleteHi Charity,
DeleteYes, habitual slanderers also reveal that they are not saved.
But it’s important to make a distinction between habitual, lifestyle sins and committing sins.
Christians still sin, but they don’t live in sin.
1 John 3:9-10: "No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister."
And Scripture specifically mentions some lifestyle sins that reveal a person is not saved:
1 Corinthians 1:9-11:"Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."
But sexual sins are different than slander for two reasons:
1. Slander may be approved by some people, but it’s not approved by our culture. Homosexuality and other sexual sins are approved by our culture and by a growing number of professing Christians. When I write about sexual sins, I frequently have someone remind me that gossip, slander, or self-righteousness are also sins. But when I write about gossip, slander, or self-righteousness, no one reminds me that homosexuality and fornication are also sins. I believe that’s because culture has convinced us that it’s unloving to address certain sins.
2. Scripture stresses the serious nature of sexual sin in Old and New Testaments. Any Christian who sins sexually sins against the temple of the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 6:18-19: "Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a man can commit is outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. 19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own.."
If you want to read my devotions about slander, please put “slander” in the search box at the top left of the blog and you’ll find that I’ve written about it multiple times.
God bless you
ReplyDelete