The Problem of Consistent Sin



1 Corinthians 6:9-11
9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. 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.

These words from Paul come down with harsh judgment for those who would flaunt their sin and rich grace for those who would trust in Jesus as their Savior. Three short verses bring the Law and Gospel into sharp view. But let me just say – it’s a bummer to write about because the current climate in our culture tolerates none of this conversation.

Let’s be honest; we all have our pet sins. We all hope God looks the other way as we indulge the flesh in ways that are inconsistent with a life of faith and trust in Jesus. Of course, He doesn’t relinquish His holiness so that we can play fast and loose with the ways of God. He still calls sin, well, sin. All of it separates us from His righteous presence. And, because the Holy Spirit does His job, we find ourselves in a place of repentance over those sins, even if it is over and over again. Jesus’ blood still covers those pet sins. But – there are some who want their sinful lifestyles to be rubber stamped as “just fine with God”. Apparently it is okay with them to set aside some of God’s Laws and indulge their sinful desires. “God made me this way, so it’s okay.” That’s never going to fly.

Paul speaks to the Galatians about this attitude with a dire warning.

Galatians 6:7-8
7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

So the text is pretty straight forward. Sin is devastating, and God doesn’t just brush aside our attempts at self-justification with a “that’s okay”. No, He will never rubber stamp our sin as “okay”. Lest we despair, Paul fills in our pit of sin with the grace of Jesus Christ. “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.” The Gospel comes in and deals with our sorrow.

And there it is. Do we experience any sorrow over those favorite sins? Are we asking God to approve of our iniquity or asking Him to forgive it, for there is a big difference there. One acknowledges our need for Savior and the other asks God to just set aside His holiness and let us keep indulging the flesh. He has provided His own dear Son to forgive our sins – all of them – and so His holiness has been fulfilled. May we look to Him and repent of that which He calls win and bow instead at the foot of the cross, receiving what only Jesus can provide - our forgiveness.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Excusez-moi

Image
2 Kings 23:31-37 31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-fiv
Read more

יהוה שָׁמַר--Yahweh Shamar (God Watches)

Image
Psalm 121 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. There are numerous passages I cling to when stress takes over my life. I would be hard pressed to declare a favorite, but this psalm would come close. So this morning I listened to Psalm 121 about 20 times as I meditated through the verses. First, I want to point out that the word or idea of shamar appears in every verse expect 6. The NIV uses the word "watch" while the ESV uses "keep". The
Read more

Narrow Door

Image
Luke 13:22-30 22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them , 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at tabl
Read more