Okay, BUT...
Christ took the punishment for our sin. All of it. Yep - there is not one bit of my sin or my punishment that Christ didn't take...except that which I refuse to give over to him.
I'm not afraid that sin is lurking in every dark corner. I know where my sin is - I know my heart. And I know what things I don't want to give up to Jesus for redemption.
See your argument falls apart here:
What then are we to say? Should we continue to sin in order that grace may abound all the more? By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? Do you knot know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:1-4 NRSV)
Sin is fun. Forgiving grace is funner. Having sin conquered by the power of the Holy Spirit: Priceless. (sorry, couldn't resist)
Seriously, we're talking about grace here like the only kind of grace that God offers is the forgiving kind. What about grace that prevents us from sinning (or enables us to resist temptation)? What about grace that drives us TO repentance? We really like the JUSTIFYING grace, because that means even if we continue in our sin, we can be forgiven. Do we like the SANCTIFYING grace that means God is perfecting us and causing us to STOP sinning?
Do you want a pastor who lusts? Um...we need to talk definitions here because we probably won't be talking about the same thing. If a man sees a woman dressed provacatively (or undressed), his body is going to react in a certain way (there's a chemical reaction here, people, that's what I'm talking about) because of how we're wired. How do I respond? That's the heart of what Jesus was getting at. It's not about the outward act but the inward intent. When I surf the net and see a photo of a scantily clad woman what do I do? There's a whole range of possibilities here from averting my eyes and moving on to lingering on the picture to...well, you know where it can lead...
Do I want a pastor who lusts? No. I don't. I want a pastor who has self-control enough to turn his mind and heart away from lust. I want a pastor who daily turns his lack of self-control over to God and allows the Holy Spirit to begin rewiring him. I have a friend who actually prayed that God would make him lust after his wife - and his wife alone. Guess what? It seems to have worked.
The man in Corinth's sin WAS my sin. And your sin. WE are the body of Christ, all of us. You sin, it affects me. I sin, it affects you. The man in Corinth's sin wasn't any different than mine - except that I have confessed and repented. My heart is different than it was ten years ago. I still sin:
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just witll forgive us our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the atoning sacrifice for ouf sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 1:8-2:2 NRSV)
Sin is a reality - but I can't just say, "Oh well, I'll keep doing it because Jesus will forgive me." I need to pray to overcome, I need to pray to stop sinning. I need to repent. Paul's goal in kicking the guy out of the church wasn't to exclude him - it was to get him to repent of his sin. It wasn't Paul saying, "You're contaminating us here so go away and don't come back." It was Paul saying, "You're not receiving Jesus' grace for your sin. Go away and see how you like it without his grace at all." Okay, that's a really bad paraphrase, but THAT was Paul's intent. Always for reconciliation, not condemnation. WE see it always as condemnation.
Enough for my lunch hour...
I'm not afraid that sin is lurking in every dark corner. I know where my sin is - I know my heart. And I know what things I don't want to give up to Jesus for redemption.
See your argument falls apart here:
What then are we to say? Should we continue to sin in order that grace may abound all the more? By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? Do you knot know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:1-4 NRSV)
Sin is fun. Forgiving grace is funner. Having sin conquered by the power of the Holy Spirit: Priceless. (sorry, couldn't resist)
Seriously, we're talking about grace here like the only kind of grace that God offers is the forgiving kind. What about grace that prevents us from sinning (or enables us to resist temptation)? What about grace that drives us TO repentance? We really like the JUSTIFYING grace, because that means even if we continue in our sin, we can be forgiven. Do we like the SANCTIFYING grace that means God is perfecting us and causing us to STOP sinning?
Do you want a pastor who lusts? Um...we need to talk definitions here because we probably won't be talking about the same thing. If a man sees a woman dressed provacatively (or undressed), his body is going to react in a certain way (there's a chemical reaction here, people, that's what I'm talking about) because of how we're wired. How do I respond? That's the heart of what Jesus was getting at. It's not about the outward act but the inward intent. When I surf the net and see a photo of a scantily clad woman what do I do? There's a whole range of possibilities here from averting my eyes and moving on to lingering on the picture to...well, you know where it can lead...
Do I want a pastor who lusts? No. I don't. I want a pastor who has self-control enough to turn his mind and heart away from lust. I want a pastor who daily turns his lack of self-control over to God and allows the Holy Spirit to begin rewiring him. I have a friend who actually prayed that God would make him lust after his wife - and his wife alone. Guess what? It seems to have worked.
The man in Corinth's sin WAS my sin. And your sin. WE are the body of Christ, all of us. You sin, it affects me. I sin, it affects you. The man in Corinth's sin wasn't any different than mine - except that I have confessed and repented. My heart is different than it was ten years ago. I still sin:
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just witll forgive us our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the atoning sacrifice for ouf sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 1:8-2:2 NRSV)
Sin is a reality - but I can't just say, "Oh well, I'll keep doing it because Jesus will forgive me." I need to pray to overcome, I need to pray to stop sinning. I need to repent. Paul's goal in kicking the guy out of the church wasn't to exclude him - it was to get him to repent of his sin. It wasn't Paul saying, "You're contaminating us here so go away and don't come back." It was Paul saying, "You're not receiving Jesus' grace for your sin. Go away and see how you like it without his grace at all." Okay, that's a really bad paraphrase, but THAT was Paul's intent. Always for reconciliation, not condemnation. WE see it always as condemnation.
Enough for my lunch hour...
posted by Pastor Bill at 11:52 AM
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