Ephesians 5:1-2 ESV
“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
As followers of Jesus Christ, we are to be those who emulate
God/Christ in all that we are and do and think and speak, in practice. We
should want to serve him with our lives and to minister to the needs of others
according to the will of God. We should not be those who desire sin, who
deliberately, habitually, and premeditatedly sin against God and against other
humans free from conscience, compassion, and remorse. But we should be those
who love God and our fellow humans and who will tell others the truth and not
the lies which are intended to tickle their itching ears.
For Jesus Christ gave his life up for us on that cross to
buy us back for God (to redeem us) out of our lives of slavery to sin so that
we will now become servants of righteousness. He died so that we might die to
sin and live to righteousness, and that we might live for him and not for self.
So, if we have died with him to sin, and if we have been raised with him to walk
in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin, but as slaves to God and
to his righteousness, then we should no longer be living under the control of
sin. For if sin is what we obey, it will end in death, not in life eternal with
God.
Ephesians 5:3-6 ESV
“But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.”
As the body of Christ, his church, we are to be our Lord’s
pure pride. We are to be people of honesty, integrity, moral purity, godliness,
uprightness, faithfulness, (agape) love, compassion, and kindness. Therefore,
sexual immorality should not be a part of any of our lives. Nonetheless, in
America today, sexual immorality is gigantic among those professing faith in
Jesus Christ, including among those who are called “pastors” of church congregations.
So many professing Christians are living immoral and ungodly lives, in
practice, and are not walking in obedience to God.
And so much of what is called “church” today is helping to
facilitate them in their sinful practices by diluting and altering both the
character of God and the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ in order to
appease the flesh and to not offend the ungodly. For so many of these “churches”
are really businesses of men being marketed to the world as any other business.
And so their goal is to attract the people of the world to their gatherings,
and so they are patterning their gatherings after the fleshly desires of the
world. And so this opens the door wide for immorality to thrive in “the church.”
So many professing Christians are, thus, living in sin, in
deliberate and habitual and premeditated sin against God and against their
fellow humans. So many of them are addicted to viewing sexually explicit
material and to relieving themselves, and this in place of having pure
unadulterated intimate relationships with their spouses, i.e. with a marital
partner (man with woman, and woman with man). Instead, they are married to
their fantasies which they prefer over reality, for there they can do whatever
their evil hearts desire, usually without anyone else knowing what they are
doing.
So, this is a very serious issue plaguing the American
church at large, though not every individual and not necessarily every
congregation, but this is extremely widespread throughout my nation. And what
is hardly being taught at all these days is that those who practice such things
will not inherit the kingdom of Christ and God. But they will perish in their
sins, and heaven will not be their eternal destiny, regardless of what their
lips profess. And they will face the wrath of God regardless of the lies they are
being fed to the contrary. So please know what the Scriptures teach:
Ephesians 5:7-11 ESV
“Therefore do not become partners with them; for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.”
So, what is our response to be to all of this? We are not to
become partners with them. We are not to accept their diluted and altered
gospel messages which teach that we don’t have to turn from our sins, and that
we don’t have to obey God, and that we don’t have to live holy lives, and that
no works are required of us at all. We must be students of the Scriptures who
read them in their context and who are listening to the voice of the Holy
Spirit and who are heeding the words of God. And we must walk in obedience to
God in holy living and no longer in sin, by the grace and power of God in our
lives.
We are to take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness,
but instead we are to be those who expose them, even if that makes some people
uncomfortable because we are bringing into the light the things they want to keep
hidden in the darkness. For if you bring up this issue of sexual sin that is
running rampant in today’s modern market-driven and flesh-driven “churches,”
you are likely to become the enemy and not the friend of “the church.” And that
is a very sad reality, indeed. But we shouldn’t let that deter us, but we
should keep speaking the truth and exposing the lies.
Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer
Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897
Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897
Oh,
to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This
is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly
I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus,
Thy perfect likeness to wear.
Oh,
to be like Thee! full of compassion,
Loving,
forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping
the helpless, cheering the fainting,
Seeking
the wandering sinner to find.
O
to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,
Holy
and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly
enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing
to suffer others to save.
O
to be like Thee! while I am pleading,
Pour
out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;
Make
me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit
me for life and Heaven above.
Oh,
to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd
Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come
in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp
Thine own image deep on my heart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg
Caution:
This link may contain ads
No comments:
Post a Comment