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Fornication; scary
warnings?
I understand the pain incurred
from sexual sin outside of marriage and have my own war stories, and am not
ashamed to share. The pain it brings, the deep emotional hurt and the way it
quietly changes your character is scary, and is enough reason to say "no";
but if a Christian has sinned in fornication, they should not have an
unhealthy fear of God as a Christian. He is our Friend if we are in Christ,
and you should run to Him when you sin, not from Him.
There are Bible passages that indicate clearly that among many other sinful
dispositions, "fornicators... shall not inherit the kingdom of God", 1 Cor
6:9. Christians however are "washed... sanctified.... justified in the name
of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God", 1 Cor 6:11. Jesus said, "All manner of sin and
blasphemy shall be forgiven unto
men..." God
cares so much for His children there is nothing He won't or hasn't forgiven
through the blood of His Son Jesus Christ. It is the very reason Christ
came, to take away our sin.
However, there is the physical element of sin that takes hold of us
and brings us into bondage. What we take, takes us. Then we are slaves to it
[to demons] to do it's will. This is what God detests in His children.
Having sin running ramp in their lives gives Satan a degree of authority
over them. Something God Himself cannot even stop until the person turns to
Him for help.
Turning to God for help is called REPENTANCE.
It is not enough just to say NO to the sin in your life. Repentance really means, "turn the heart to God". When a person turns to God
with all their heart, He
gives them the ability to stop doing evil, not until then. Simply
be willing; and if you cannot be willing to stop the fornication, approach
God and tell Him you are willing to be made willing.
The more you seek the Lord with the right attitude
about your sin, the brighter the Light will grow to expose it and finally
get rid of it once and for all.
Fornication is not a "personal
problem". I've heard some Christian brother tell me once that he had a
"problem with porn". I told him that he did not have a problem with porn,
but that he is an evil man. A nasty, perverted and evil hearted man,
plain and simple. Pornography and fornication are terrible sins that make
the people involved perverted, twisted and evil. They have allowed their
minds and hearts to be entertained by the worst of all sinful rebellions
against God. Destroying the very purity that the Holy Spirit is sent to
renew. If a Christian brother or sister is doing these things, they can only
be comforting themselves with deceptions, calling it their "weakness" or
"bondage". Fact is, until they admit that they have become an evil and
wicked person in their hearts, they may never find the open door to change.
Having said that, it is
important to note that God is patient to wait for His Child who goes away to
sin. All true believers know this to be true, and it fills our hearts with
songs of worship and praise to His mercy and grace.
Fornication and Grace in The
Early Church
The early Church had fornication problems. Paul said in one of his letters
"it is reported commonly.." But he dealt with a specific bad case of it
because of it's influence on the Church.
1 CORINTHIANS 5
"It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such
fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should
have his father's wife. And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned,
that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you."
Notice in his dealing, he names this particular as a "bad case" of
fornication. Also notice he not only cares for the church, but also for the
offending brother:
"For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged
already, as though I were present, [concerning] him that hath so done this
deed, In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together,
and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, To deliver such an
one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be
saved in the day of the Lord Jesus."
Notice Paul infers that even though this was a "bad case" of
fornication, the offender is still saved! Imagine that. Most in today's
Church would label such a one as not being saved in the first place to have
committed such an act.
Deliver one unto
Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved...?
How is this done? Later in the passage he explains it as expelling the
person from the fellowship and protection of the believers. He begins to
talk about this as he continues:
"Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth
the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new
lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for
us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the
leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened [bread] of
sincerity and truth. I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with
fornicators: Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with
the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go
out of the world. But now I have written unto you not to keep company,
if any man that is called a brother
be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or
an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat."
Notice there is no condemnation in his words, he is talking about brothers,
and he is talking about expelling them from fellowship because their actions
have led them to be called "a
fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an
extortioner."
"For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye
judge them that are within? But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore
put away from among yourselves that
wicked person."
The point to be made is that the offender does not lose his salvation if he
trusts in the blood of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins; yet
although he may be in Christ, he cannot be seen as a wicked man and remain
among a moral community. He may need excommunication.
One who is in Christ and sinning needs special handling. Jesus taught
excommunication in
Matthew 18. Jesus teaches us to go to the
person and talk. If he cannot change, take two people and talk. If he still
cannot change, talk to the church about it. If he still cannot change even
after telling the church [and thus incurring the whole church to talk with
him], THEN and only then Jesus said to expel the brother. It is for the
church and his own good. |