Ephesians 4:17-19 ESV
“Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.”
Who are the Gentiles?
Who are the Gentiles in this context? They are the ungodly
of this world, those without genuine faith in Jesus Christ, who are still
walking in their sins. And some of them profess faith in Jesus Christ, but not
in truth, and not in righteousness. And my father was one of those. And he
definitely had a hard heart, and he was callous, and he gave himself up to
sensuality and sexual addiction, greedy to practice every kind of impurity, all
the while he attended gatherings of the church faithfully most all of his 86
years of life.
So, just because some people profess faith in Jesus Christ,
or they attend gatherings of the church (or what is falsely called “church”)
most all of their lives, it doesn’t mean they are in relationship with Jesus
Christ. For if they live to the flesh, and if they are those who practice
sexual immorality, or any other kind of addictive sin, and/or if they are
abusers like my father was, then they are alienated from the life of God due to
the hardness of their hearts towards God and towards his commands (New
Covenant).
Now God hates sin because sin alienates people from God, and
because sin separates humans from the Lord, and because sin destroys human
lives, first the lives of those who are living in sin, and then it can destroy
the lives of those who these people are sinning against. And this is why Jesus
Christ died on that cross for our sins, to deliver us out of our lives of addiction
to sin and to give us new lives in Christ Jesus which are to be lived for the
glory of God in freedom from the control of sin and in walks of obedience to
God.
But not everyone who professes faith in Jesus Christ is free
from their bondage to sin. Many are still living sinfully addictive lives,
holding on to pet sins, not willing to let them go, while they claim Jesus as
Lord and as Savior, and while they hold on to a false hope of heaven when they
die. And please know that not everyone who professes the name of Jesus is going
to heaven when they die. Even many nice people in this life are going to spend
eternity in hell because they remained addicted to sin and not as servants of
Christ.
Wounding the Wounded
Now I mentioned my father on purpose here because I want to
spend just a few minutes talking about how those who keep on sinning, and who
practice sinning against others in very damaging ways, end up hurting people
who sometimes never recover from that hurt for the rest of their lives, or for
many years forward. For when you sin against God, you don’t sin to yourself
alone. Even if your sin is in private, if affects how you treat other people in
your attitudes and in your words and in your actions towards them.
But now my father just happened to be a monster who took
advantage of those weaker than him. And he was a big bully who beat up those
who were under his care, and who sexually abused some of his children. And,
although I experienced healing from his abuses at different stages in my life,
I was 52 years old before I was truly released from that pain and suffering
that he caused. And part of that was because I was abused by other people, too,
not all sexually, but in many different ways, and they all claimed to be Christians,
and some of them were in positions of authority in churches.
So, let me tell you something here. Many people are being abused
by those in positions of power and authority over them. And that is sad. But
what is even sadder is when they go to people in positions of power and
authority within the church, or even to fellow Christians who are not in any
positions of power, and they cry out for help, only to be ignored or not believed
or told it is their fault or to even have the others take the side of the
abuser, or to be shushed because people just don’t want to talk about such
things.
And so this just adds more pain to what they are already
suffering, and they feel abandoned, and even betrayed, and by those who are
supposed to love them and care for them and to protect them from evil. For not
too many people want to talk about such things or to have to deal with them,
and so the abusers continue to abuse and the abused continue to be hurt, and
they feel all alone sometimes, feeling like no one is there for them. And they
are put to shame for even mentioning such things. And this is so very sad!
Ephesians 4:20-24 ESV
“But that is not the way you learned Christ! — assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”
So, we are not to be like my father was. We are not to be
like the ungodly, some of whom profess faith in Jesus Christ, and some of whom
are even pastors of churches. We are not to continue in deliberate and habitual
sin against God and against other humans, especially without conscience and
without remorse and without care or concern for those who are being hurt. And
we are not to be people who close our hearts to the hurting because we just don’t
want to have to deal with the effects of sin on people’s lives – both the lives
of the ones sinning and the lives of those being sinned against.
For we are all to put off our old sinful selves, which
belong to our former manner of life and are corrupt through deceitful desires.
And we are to be renewed of the Spirit of God in the spirit of our minds. And
we are to put on the new self in Christ Jesus, created after the likeness of
God in true righteousness and holiness. And we are to live pure and holy lives
in obedience to our Lord, and we are to no longer walk (in conduct, in
practice) in sin. And part of those old sinful selves have to do with
selfishness. We are not to think only of ourselves and of our own comfort
level.
But we are to think of others who need Jesus Christ in their
lives, and who need to be delivered from their slavery to sin, and/or who need
healing from past abuse or present abuse. And we are to love them, and care for
them, and reach out to them in love, and share with them the teachings of
Christ and of his gospel and those of the New Testament apostles, for that is
where we will all find true healing, in the truth of God’s word, and in genuine
relationships with Jesus Christ free from slavery to sin and now free and
empowered of the Spirit to walk in righteousness and holiness.
An Original Work / September 11, 2012
Bombs
are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus
Christ is gently calling
You
to follow Him in all ways.
Trust
Him with your life today.
Make
Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn
from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He
will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse
your heart, made new within.
Men
betraying: Our trust fraying.
On
our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking
God to give us answers
That
are only found in Him.
God
is sovereign over all things.
Nothing
from His mind escaping.
He
has all things under His command,
And
will work all for good.
Jesus
Christ is gently calling
You
to follow Him in all ways.
Men
deceiving: We’re believing
In
our Lord, and interceding
For
our nation and its people
To
obey their God today.
He
is our hope for our future.
For
our wounds He offers suture.
He
is all we need for this life.
Trust
Him with your life today.
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