KEY PRINCIPLES FROM THIS MESSAGE:
A clean, moral life condemns the sinner. A filthy one encourages them!
Mercy breaks the cycle.
William Lane on Heb 12:15-16 “Christian vigilance is the proper response to a peril that poses and imminent threat to the entire community. The danger is first envisioned as the forfeiture of the grace of God through carelessness. It is then presented as the peril of defilement that would alter the character of the community. It is finally identified as apostasy, resulting in the irrevocable loss of inheritance rights. In view of this very real danger, the members of the house church are urged to vigilant concern for one another.“
It’s simply not enough (anti-Biblical, even) to establish/maintain commitments to ourselves (as virtual islands). We are called to a community (aka “a congregation”), for the purpose of “obedience of faith” (ref: Ro 1, 16).
Commitment, responsibility, and accountability are all disciplines in the local church.
We are called/commanded to BE a community of brothers/sisters/mothers/fathers in the faith. And like ANY command, this requires OBEDIENCE.
It’s not a question of whether or not “commitment, responsibility, and accountability” exists IN our local assembly (that could easily exist without YOU being a part of it) – it’s whether or not YOU are rightly motivated towards the local assembly.
Convictions (like most things in the spiritual life) are not transactional; rather, they are constitutional.
Integrity has no “quit” in it; otherwise, it is no longer integrity.
Accountability to the local church implies a reckoning. Based on Holy Scripture, as understood by a well-taught congregation, each member has the God-given duty to hold each other accountable to God’s divine standards.
By holding one another accountable in the church, we tighten up the reins of righteousness, and as a community become stronger together.
The best way to inspire change is to model it.
All Things Are Lawful – blog 3/22/24
“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. 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.”
– 1 Corinthians 6:12-20
Instead of just pointing fingers at a two-thousand-year-old church, let’s consider our own churches. Many of us have grown up in a post-sexual-revolution society, where “free love” and promiscuity are celebrated; after all, it’s “only natural” to satisfy our fleshly lusts, right? That kind of thinking is what some argue has had the greatest impact on American history, even greater, for example, than the industrial and technological revolutions.
How are we any different from the Corinthians? Do we not live in a society where sexual immorality is not only tolerated, but encouraged? I’ve heard Christians tell other Christians to “try before you buy” and “just move in together to see if you can make it as a married couple.” As a young man, I was often told to “sow my wild oats”.
As a child of God, we are indwelt by the Trinity. This means that immoral sex drags Jesus, Himself, through something vile. Give that some thought. If that’s not horrifying to think about, I’m not sure what is. And yet, like the Corinthians during Paul’s ministry, Christians today justify the same behavior, not giving Jesus a second thought as they whore around
Not only do we harm ourselves whenever we sin (e.g., possibly contracting a venereal disease, maybe even a life-threatening one), but we are harming others. What kind of message does a known Christian send to an unbeliever when they have sex with them outside of marriage? Forget about the damage they do to their own bodies for a moment and think about the other person. What kind of message is received by the unbeliever about followers of Christ?
A believer’s body is a temple of the Spirit of Christ. Jesus Christ purchased that temple with His own blood. There is no justifiable reason to defile it with sexual sins
How can you say that you love Christ and then drag Him through a sexually immoral act? How can you possibly justify something so disgusting? Then, after being convicted of it, even once, how can you willfully put Him through it all over again?My friend, just because your sins have been paid for doesn’t mean you have liberty to hurt yourself, others, or even worse