Christian Living

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Sometimes I wonder if we, as Christians, no longer recognize the holiness of God. We think that God accepts or at least tolerates our sins. The Israelites thought the same way about Him. When they found themselves steeped in sin and feeling God's judgment, they told God that He had changed. God reminded them He had not changed, but they had. They had left their first love.

It seems every week there is another so-called representative of our faith on television speaking against God's Word and the basics of our faith. Whether it is homosexuality, the sanctity of life or marriage, these men and women defend these as if God accepts and even rejoices in these activities. Some justify their beliefs by telling us the Bible is no longer relevant to today's society. Others try to convince us that words such as "abomination" have been mistranslated. Others try to excuse their impure behavior by stating that Jesus never addressed that particular sin, even though the entire Bible, including Paul's writings, state very clearly that we are to walk in holiness; sanctified and set apart for a good work.

Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 4:2, "For you know the commands we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus." What command or instruction was Paul referring to when he wrote this? He reminded the Thessalonians that it was "God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his (or her) own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God;" (1 Thes. 4:3-5 NIV).

In other words, as believers we are to remain pure before the Lord. We are not to live like the worldly, those without Christ. Pornography, sex outside marriage, same-sex marriage, incest, and sex with animals are all considered sin. The Bible called them sin then, and they remain sin today. Thus, no matter how these defenders of sin dress their arguments with fancy rhetoric, there is no justification, in God's Word, for immoral sexual behavior. God has not changed His ways. We have changed. We no longer fear God. We have reduced God to the "Love" God who tolerates all sorts of immoral behavior, because He loves us and wants us to be happy.

God burns with anger over our sins. It is His grace, alone, that keeps us from receiving His immediate judgment for our sinful behaviors. The God who could not tolerate sin in the Old Testament remains the same God. The only difference is Christ. Our Savior is all that stands in the gap between God's wrath and our behavior.

Finally, you may say, "Who are you to judge my actions?" I am not here to judge your actions, but to point out that God is still God and He has not changed. Unless you confess your sins and turn away from them, they will lead you down a path of destruction. Others of you may say, "These are your opinions. What makes your opinions right?" Funny, they must have thought the same about Paul. He wrote, "For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man, but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit" (1 Thes. 7-8 NIV).

No, I do not judge your actions, nor are these instructions my opinions. They are from God: the God who loves, the God who gives mercy and, lest we forget, the God who judges.

Copyright 2005, Scriptures from NIV and Holman.

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