I wonder if we take the holiness of God seriously. There has been a lot of talk recently about the existence of hell and God's love and I fear people are looking for a way around God's holiness, looking for a green light to sin. Afterall, if there is no hell and God is going to rescue everyone due to his love, why do we need to worry about it? Go ahead, enjoy life, do what you want. God's love and grace have us covered. The only wrinkle in this is the truth of God's Word.
Our sinful nature made it impossible for us to live by the character of God but Jesus changed all that. He made it possible for us to become a slave to God's righteousness. So now we need to take it more seriously not less when we read:
"Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God?" (1Corinthians 6:9)
Paul writes this in the context of a church that was protecting a believer who had entered into sexual immorality instead of dealing with him as they should. Paul wanted to make it clear what happens when people remain in their wickedness instead of repenting from it. Yes, it is more than a mistake we make, it is sin, an offense to the God we claim to love. Making it clear even against today's popular teachings, Paul writes:
"Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God." (1Corinthians 6:9-10)
Perhaps you should read that list again. We have become very casual about our sin to the point where we don't think it is sin any more. Besides God's love will cover us, right? No. God's love sent Jesus to the cross so our sins could be forgiven but it still requires repentance. It requires us to acknowledge that our behaviour is not acceptable by God and turn from it. Instead we simply ask for forgiveness and continue in it. That is not repentance.
Our God is a holy God and we have been called go be his holy people so that we can say with Paul:
"And that is what some of you were."
Past tense. It is what we were but aren't any more because something wonderful happened:
"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." (1Corinthians 6:11)
The same God who had the power to defeat sin and death has the power to sanctify you. You came from a place of sin but you belong to that place no more. There is a hell. If you have sin you cannot enter the kingdom, you are disqualified. We cannot treat sin lightly or as a joke. It is serious stuff so we need to examine ourselves carefully, ask hard questions and listen to the Spirit. It does matter how we live because we are to live for God's glory, not our own. I am not kidding; take God at his word.
1 comment:
Sin is the biggest problem in this world, and there is a perfect solution to it. The solution is Jesus. With his help we can defend against any temptation or sin. We just need to trust him and invite him in.
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