Sin

Imperfect but Saved

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 NKJV

Pretty bleak prospects right? Does that passage make you feel inadequate? Like you will never measure up to God’s standards? Well guess what, you can’t. Every single person ever to live, with the exception of Jesus, has committed at least one of these sins. If you say no to all of them you are lying because it is natural for us to make idols in our lives. Therefore everyone is guilty of idolatry. No one is worthy of inheriting the kingdom of God! We are nasty, dirty, filthy, all the words that describe yucky because we are so tainted by sin. I cannot express how horrible we are, how horrible I am. I don’t deserve grace, not one bit! Yet we continue in the passage to the next verse and hope is given.

And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

Notice that key word there. Were. Such were some of you. Because of what Jesus did for us. He washed all the nasty filth away the day I gave my life to Him. And He will do the exact same for every single wretched soul that comes to Him pleading to be clean. He will take that sin and it will go from present to past tense in a snap. It is so amazing and I am so grateful for the free gift of salvation given to us. We only have to take it. It’s time to be imperfect but saved ya’ll!

If you have never accepted Christ’s free gift of salvation check out the How to Become a Believer page. Then go talk to a trusted Christian individual like a parent, pastor, or friend who can help you with salvation.

Alive in Christ

For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.

2 Corinthians 5:14-15

Are you alive? Go ahead. Pinch yourself and see if you are alive. If you are reading this then more than likely you are alive physically, especially if that pinch hurt. But think on the spiritual side of things for a moment. Are you truly alive in that sense?

The above passage says that all have died, which is in reference to sin. Every one of us, as Romans 3:23 says, “have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  From conception we are all dead since we are sinners. But there is a twist to this sad story, Christ. He is perfect, no sin, completely alive. The above passage says that He died for all. When we give our lives to Him we are made alive in Christ, according to 1 Corinthians 15:22.

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.

Now I ask again. Are you alive or dead?

I hope you are alive and realize the greatness of what Christ has done for you. When we make that realization we are automatically compelled to live for our Savior. He died for us that we should live! What greater sacrifice is there? Because of what He did we in turn live for Him. And when you are overcome with gratefulness it is not hard to do so. We live for He who, for us, died and rose again.

BJU CoRE Conference Day 2

Dr. Rosaria Butterfield Testimony

We watched the video testimony of Dr. Rosaria Butterfield. Here is the link to a similar video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVOWfUitLx8. I highly encourage you to go watch it as her testimony is very moving. There was one main point I focused on from her testimony though. That point would be the hospitality of a pastor named Ken Smith(You can listen to Dr. Butterfield talk about this specifically here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfYibfY6fQk). Pastor Smith and his wife did not force the gospel on Rosaria. They simply invited her into their house and treated her with kindness and compassion. That seems to be one thing the church struggles with. They have become homophobic and will not even let someone in the LGBT community into their sphere. This is really as bad of a sin as homosexuality itself. Jesus said to love our neighbors, no exceptions. We need to let those who live in sin into our homes and churches. We need to witness to them, not just through scripture but through our words and actions. That is what will honor God most, not turning them away. This really hit me hard and I encourage you again to go listen to Dr. Butterfield’s testimony.

Thinking Biblically About Pain and Suffering

One of my favorite teachers, Dr. Sam Horn, gave this sermon to close out CoRE conference. It will be easier to just list my notes than to try to give a summary so here we go.

  1. Sin is the root of our suffering. Not specifically our personal sin but sin in general.
  2. Suffering can come from several places…
    • human sinfulness, whether personal or another sinning against you
    • living in a cursed world
    • Satan intending to destroy us
    • pain for others — while they are sinning or in pain themselves
    • profound confusion because we do not know everything
    • death
  3. We need to embrace God’s reasons for pain and suffering.
    • suffering well is good for us (James 1:2-4)
    • suffering well is good for others because we can be a witness (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)
    • suffering well is good for the gospel (Philippians 1:12-13)
    • suffering well brings glory to God (2 Corinthians 12:7-9)
  4. We must cultivate a biblical response to pain and suffering
  5. We need to look confidently for God’s resolution to pain and suffering.
    • God promises to sustain us in this life (1 Peter 5:10)
    • God promises to reward us in the life to come (2 Corinthians 4:16-17)

Tomorrow I will begin to share my thoughts from the Bible conference sessions. The theme is called Let Us Pray. I cannot wait

BJU CoRE Conference Day 1

People say that Bible conference week is one that will convict and encourage you. It is definitely doing that so far! I am greatly enjoying the services I am able to go to. It is such a blessing that I am privileged to attend a school where they have a Bible conference.

The first two days of the week are CoRE Conference, the seminary conference. The topic this spring is Gender, Sexuality, and the Church. It focuses on how to counsel Christians that are dealing with same-sex attraction and gender identity. The main part of Bible conference starts tomorrow night and goes through Friday night. It will be focusing on prayer which I am extremely excited for. I’ll be sharing with you this week summaries of the sessions and my favorite quotes from speakers. Let’s get started with today!

Killing Sin Habits – Stuart Scott

  1. Sin is anything that breaks God’s law and it is centered in the heart. It leads to slavery for the unbeliever and temporary entanglement for the believer.
  2. As believers we are constantly in progressive sanctification or the battle to strive for Christ and destroy the sin in our lives.
    • Sin is a zombie. The old man, the flesh, was put to death at the cross. But it still runs around terrorizing us so we must fight. (I loved this allegory!)
  3. To change in our sin habits we must repent and replace them with habits that honor God. For example, replace pride with humility.
  4. We are to live out Christ as believers. This means to…
    • meditate and live out the truth found in Scripture,
    • exercise faith in trials,
    • and walk in the Spirit.
  5. Periodically study yourself. Look introspectively at your habits, friends, influences, etc. and make sure they line up with the Word.

Walking in Faith and Repentance – Dr. Tim Geiger

Dr. Geiger gave his testimony at this session. It was of how God saved him out of his sin of same-sex attraction. I will focus on the main points to be drawn from the testimony, not the testimony itself.

  1. God can take things steeped in darkness and make them light.
  2. God used Dr. Geiger’s repentance from his sin to show him how utterly corruptible he is. He did not deserve the grace God gave him and neither do we.
  3. We are a work in progress.
  4. Reach out and ask for help with your sin struggles. Share your burdens with those you trust.
  5. The struggle against sin may never end but the way it is dealt with can change. God can help you carry the burden and fight the sin.
  6. We must repent of our sin struggle and have faith in God to help us.