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Friday, March 1, 2013

Fear of The Lord that keeps us from sin

I was reading and thinking of the inflection that must have been in Paul's voice in the following passage. With a media saturated culture and churches that compromise the word of God for fear of losing money, we have become so desensitized to sexual sin. With shows like Jerry Springer and magazines that glorify sex and sexual immortality, we don't mourn over it, we make sport at it. I challenge those who are believers to turn off any movies that have unrealistic romance stories or even a hint of immorality, put down any books that would appeal to the lust of your flesh, set up filters on your Internet for protection, do not set your eyes on any vile thing, flee from immorality: it is your way of escape! Detox yourself. Draw a dad-gum line in the sand! Your eyes are a lamp unto your soul! Only let the good in and hate what is evil. It is the pure in heart who shall see God. If you aren't serious about protecting yourself you are bowing to this in some way. What if our churches in the West actually did church discipline like the bible says? That would put the fear in us alright...the fear of God that keeps us from sin. But it won't happen because it would separate the wheat from the chaff and cutdown on building funds and attendance. I don't know how extreme you need to be but cut off anything that is causing you to be entangled in sin. Once your lust is turned up you don't make clear decisions. No one makes you sin and sadly so many aren't serious about living for Christ. Eternity is at stake here. If there is no fruit of Christ in your life and you are just a self proclaimed sex addict then 1) you aren't a believer 2) Jesus isn't going to deliver someone who doesn't cry out for deliverance. He is not powerless to save but many don't want to get well and have accepted defeat. It's work to be free from past sin and esp sexual sin. It takes work to re-wallpaper your mind and allow God to change the desires of your heart. His word works and He changes. I am proof!!!
My reading for tonight. It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife. And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. "Purge the evil person from among you." (1 Corinthians 5:1-13 ESV)I also meant to add before anyone starts doubting their salvation: you have to follow Christ meaning be a learner of Him to know Him. Then to know Him is to love Him. To love Him should bring about obedience. The work of sanctification and becoming more like Christ doesn't happen over night. Until we lay these bodies down we will struggle with sin. Yet our position is that we are no longer slaves to sin. Sin should not have mastery over us. Where there are areas of long standing sin in your life and mine... They need the balm of His word. Start in the psalms if you need a place. Then go to the New Testament. I'm a huge Old Testament dweller also because everything that was written down in the Old Testament is to teach us. If you are struggling with salvation settle the matter. Commit yourself to Him and there is no magical prayer but accept that He is the way the truth and the Life and that He died on the cross to make you right with God and save you from the wrath of God by taking on Gods wrath because the law could never make you right with Him. It was only the sinless life of Christ and His death on the cross and resurrection from the grave. Seek to know Him. He is not words on a page but LIFE! That doesn't mean you won't sin.

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