Flee from sexual immorality! "Every sin a person can commit is outside the body," but the person who is sexually immoral sins against his own body (I Corinthians 6:18). What makes sexual sin so severe is the fact that through it, you sin against your own body, and it's so easy to do. We are called to be sexually pure. First Thessalonians 4:3-5, For this is God's will, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality, so that each of you knows how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honour, not with lustful desires, like the Gentiles who don't know God. You are called to keep your body pure so that you may have control over your body, not your body having control over you. You must sanctify yourself from all lustful desires, for if you cannot control your body's lusts, how can you control your spirit to act in God's will? Married couples must keep a more watchful eye on themselves. Matthew 5:27-28, "You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' But I tell you, everyone who looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." Just by a married man having a brief sexual thought of another woman or a married woman having a brief sexual thought of another man, they have committed adultery in their hearts, for they fantasised about the adulteress event.
Ephesians 5:5, For know and recognise this: no sexually immoral or impure or greedy person, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of the Messiah and of God. The people who will not inherit God's kingdom are premarital sex activists, pedophiles, homosexuals, adulterers, rapists, and pornographic actors under no circumstances if they are without repentance and the renouncing of their sins (Proverbs 28:13 and I John 1:9). We are to keep our bodies pure so that the sex life in marriage may be pure. Hebrews 13:4, Marriage must be respected by all, and the marriage bed kept undefiled, because God will judge immoral people and adulterers. However, I urge again to keep God's mercy in mind (to be reiterate, Proverbs 28:13 and I John 1:9). Paul makes a great suggestion in I Corinthians 7:2: But because of sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband. However, it then takes that intense faithfulness, dedication, commitment, trustworthiness, and truthfulness to not be sexually immoral throughout marriage.
Peer pressure is a large motivator to become sexually immoral. First Corinthians 6:9-10 gives a list of people who will not inherit God's kingdom (again, without repentance and renouncing), which includes sexually immoral people. All of these things and more are natural; it doesn't mean something is wrong with you. Mark 7:20-23, "What comes out of a person — that defiles him. For from within, out of people's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immoralities, thefts, murders, adulteries, greed, evil actions, deceit, lewdness, stinginess, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a person." Being born into sin, all these desires are something that we have or did have or will have at some point; it's all natural. We fight against all fleshly desires with our spirit. Second Corinthians 10:3-5, For although we are walking in the flesh, we do not wage war in a fleshly way, since the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments and every high-minded thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. This being a spiritual warfare, we engage all battles with our spirit to eradicate our flesh. As Christians, we must not resort to militant weapons of warfare and neither to the rhetorical weapons of philosophical reasoning to advance the Gospel. (This is not saying that serving your country in the military is wrong. God does not prohibit that. However, it becomes a problem when the government uses military power for religious war; that is not what the Christian soldier does.) Only God's divine power is required to defeat Satan's "strongholds." Christians experience this power by putting on the armour of God (Ephesians 6:10-18). I will discuss the armour of God on a later date. The "high-minded thing" refers to arguments made by false teachers. These cannot be defeated by philosophical or logical reasoning but rather by the foolishness of the message preached. Paul gives this guidance earlier in I Corinthians 1:18-30, but we won't go through all of that right now.
Idolatry
We have been commanded to worship only God since antiquity. Deuteronomy 6:13, Fear the LORD your God, worship Him, and take your oaths in His name. Read Ephesians 5:5 again. There are other forms of idolatry besides worshipping other gods. Colossians 3:5, Therefore, put to death whatever in you is worldly: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry. Whatever you put above God, that becomes your idol. Whether it's money, sex, video games, whatever it is that you put above God, that is your idol — that is your god. Note man's tendency as stated in Romans 1:22-23, Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles. Paul was talking about the Israelites here when they turned from God and worshipped other idols of other nations many times in their constant rebellion against Him. People of other religions still do this to this day. Although Buddhists do not worship Buddha, they have several idols of him because they seek to be just like Buddha, dragging them farther and farther away from Christ because their idea of "enlightenment" is within their power, and we as Christians recognise and accept that we alone are powerless and must rely only on God's power. Muslims have their own interpretation (and how wrong it is) of God and call Him Allah, which God told us not to do in Deuteronomy 4:2: "You must not add anything to what I command you or take away from it, so that you may keep the commands of the LORD your God I am giving you." We Christians are children of God, which is why we do not create idols and statues, for God is not our imagination. Acts 17:29, Being God's offspring, then, we shouldn't think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image fashioned by human art and imagination. sure, we have our crucifixes and other little sculptures of Jesus Christ on the cross, but they serve as reminders, not items of worship. The fact of the matter is that God is far too vast and complicated for a mere human to have just imagined. Why do you think atheists are so inquisitorial, critical, and condemning? Because no human mind is vast enough to completely fathom God. They can't stand the fact that there's something in existence that they fail to fathom. Even we Christians are incapable of completely fathoming Him; we ourselves wonder about many things of God.
God has told us many times to never create idols. Jeremiah 44:4, "So I sent you all My servants the prophets time and time again, saying, 'Don't do this detestable thing that I hate.' " Time and time again God sent judges and prophets to Israel to stop doing the detestable things that He hates, but they kept on doing them. Those who follow their example are ignorant and foolish. Romans 1:21-22, in explaining the Israelites and how we are no different, says: For though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became nonsense, and their senseless minds were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools...
Strife
We are to be like Christ, never causing strife. First Peter 2:23, ...when reviled, He did not revile in return; when suffering, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to the One who judges justly. As followers of Christ, when we're insulted we are expected to not give threats or insults in return. Jesus didn't do this, so why should we? We must commit our ways to God's commandments and the lifestyle of Jesus Christ. Now, several things cause strife. It is caused by hatred: Hatred stirs up conflict, but love covers all offenses (Proverbs 10:12). Conflict is exactly what strife is; they're synonymous to each other. As Webster's dictionary defines strife, it is "bitter conflict; heated often violent dissension." (Make a mental note of the definition's mention of dissension for the next blog entry.) Strife is also caused by pride: Arrogance leads to nothing but strife, but wisdom is gained by those who take advice (Proverbs 13:10). Keep in mind that pride is not always a bad thing. One can have pride in their talents. For example, I pride myself in my gift of musicianship, my faith in God, and as a veteran of the United States Army. However, if you are arrogant in your pride, it will cause strife.
Strife is caused by wrath as well: A hot-tempered man stirs up conflict, but a man slow to anger calms strife... For the churning of milk produces butter, and twisting a nose draws blood, and stirring up anger produces strife (Proverbs 15:18; 30:33). If you're hot-tempered, you stir up a lot of anger and cause strife, for you non-hesitantly express your anger. However, if you're slow to anger, that decreases the likelihood of causing strife. It doesn't take a genius to realise this. When I was younger I had a lot of anger dwelling within me, and I allowed it to boil from within, and so I would throw it upon people. Now that I've changed through Christ, seldom will you see me express my anger in any way.
Strife is caused by frowardness: A contrary man spreads conflict, and a gossip separates friends (Proverbs 16:28). "Froward" is not a very common word and someone who is froward is one who is difficult to deal with because of their contrary nature. Contrasting and disobeying anyone in authority over you obviously causes strife. We see this from a very early age when we disobey our parents as children and face the consequences. This still applies when we become more independent and get our first job, go to college, and start our career. No matter where you go and what you do, you will always need to answer to someone, and we have the obligation to respect their authority.
Likewise, strife is caused by a contentious disposition: As charcoal for embers and wood for fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife (Proverbs 26:21). If you possess the attitude to always cause arguments, that mood kindles so much strife. I know this from plenty of experience, especially with my dear mother, which I heavily regret. A quarrelsome individual who enjoys creating a contentious environment has so much anger and unhappiness boiling within them, and as a result they kindle strife in the environment's fire pit. Strife is also caused by gossip, as we saw in the proverb given for frowardness: Without wood, fire goes out; without a gossip, conflict dies down (Proverbs 26:20). If you normally participate in a gossip group, you'd be surprised how much less strife you will have if you evade that gossip group. A friend of mine (the same friend mentioned in the last blog entry) wonders consistently why he becomes so stressed out in the events of peoples' drama. The reason he does not realise is that it's because he habitually involves himself in peoples' personal lives and dramas and later gossips about them behind their back, even to me, and so because he involves himself in their personal lives their strife then falls on him. It's a lot of unnecessary weight to carry.
Strife is caused by drunkenness: Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has conflicts? Who has complaints? Who has wounds for no reason? Who has red eyes? Those who linger over wine, those who go looking for mixed wine (Proverbs 23:29-30). This is very obvious. The very first thing of strife you experience when you're drunk is a hangover — it is woe ("who has woe"). And after a pattern of carousing, your woes create sorrow, all sorts of conflicts, and various complaints (of life, running out of alcohol or not enough of it, utilising alcohol to get away from your complaints/stresses of life); and you will often find wounds on your body without any recollection of how they got there ("wounds for no reason"), for if you drank enough you would not remember what happened the night before; and you get bloodshot eyes on occasion. You know this is you when you spend a lot of time getting drunk, and mixing drinks ("those who go looking for mixed wine"). Lastly, strife is caused by lusts: What is the source of wars and the fights among you? Don't they come from the cravings that are at war within you (James 4:1)? I'm confident that we would all agree that the very basis of all wars is strife, be it a spiritual warfare or warfare amongst men (political warfare). We are in spiritual warfare because of the "cravings" in our hearts — the lusts that we are at war with, which is sexual immorality, greed, malice, idolatry, and much more.
All you need to do is just simply walk away from conflicting environments. Second Timothy 2:23, But reject foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they breed quarrels. You already know that disputes that are ignorant and foolish create quarrels, and ultimately strife, so just walk away. You know it, you just may not know that you know it. Much like a jazz musician who can improvise by listening to the rest of the chords but not by reading a chord chart; he knows the music theory, he just doesn't know that he knows it. Ephesians 4:1-3, I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, accepting one another in love, diligently keeping the unity of the Spirit with the peace that binds us.
This is exactly how we are to approach conflicts as Christians. With humility and gentleness, we must utilise our wisdom to resolve the dispute. We must do this with patience, for it is uncommon for a contentious individual to be willing to listen and want to change, and so we are to tolerate and accept this with our love for them because of our understanding. But do not tolerate it to the point of them living in sin. The Holy Spirit unites us Christians, so we must be diligent in the peace that brings us Christians together. Romans 13:13, Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. Second Timothy 2:24-25, And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth... As Christians, we are not to debate and argue, but rather be gentle and kind so we maybe able to teach others of Jesus' ways, which takes a required, great patience. Do this and God will accept their repentance, should they come to it.
Philippians 2:3, 14: Do nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves... Do everything without grumbling and arguing... We are not to act in rivalry with others, competing against them in our conceit, but to humbly consider others as more important than we are because of our humility from our wisdom. We are to do all things without complaining and arguing. Titus 3:9, But avoid foolish debates, genealogies, quarrels, and disputes about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. A huge problem I've noticed about today is that we Christians argue amongst ourselves about theology. First Corinthians 1:10, Now I urge you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all say the same thing, that there be no divisions among you, and that you be united with the same understanding and the same conviction. In spite of this exhortation, we Christians have nonetheless divided ourselves in Baptists, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, Roman Catholics, Catholics, and other denominations. What's the point? Paul asks in verse 13, "Is Christ divided?" The obvious answer is that He's not! For He is the body of the Church, which maintains unity (I Corinthians 12:12-26). Highlight verse 25 in that passage, "so that there will be no division in the body" (Italics added)! I find this segregation among us shameful, for we are to "have the same concern for each other" (verse 25) "and the same conviction" (verse 10).
Outbursts of Anger
Refrain from anger and give up your rage; do not be agitated — it can only bring harm (Psalm 37:8). I hope all would agree that anger only brings more harm. It never enlightens the situation. What better than to motivate oneself to refrain from anger and rage? Ecclesiastes 7:9, Don't let your spirit rush to be angry, for anger abides in the heart of fools. Do not be in a hurry to avenge yourself, for your desired vengeances are covered. Romans 12:19, Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for His wrath. For it is written: "Vengeance belongs to Me; I will repay," says the Lord. God has promised this since antiquity in Deuteronomy 32:35. Also read Ephesians 4:31, Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice. It will behoove you to remove this entire clamour from your lips. Proverbs 25:28, He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls. If you cannot control your temper, you leave your mentality very susceptible and defenseless. You will find that it is very easy to break an angry person. Proverbs 15:1, A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger. It's not wrong to be angry. However, do not act rashly upon it. Ephesians 4:26, Be angry and do not sin. Don't let the sun go down on your anger... It's fine to be angry, but don't allow your anger to cause you to sin. Don't allow yourself to go to bed angry. Find a healthy way to eliminate it. First Timothy 2:8, Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or argument. Pray not with anger or argument in your mouth, but with holiness. Be holy, for God is holy (I Peter 1:16). It takes wisdom to control your anger as well as extreme self-discipline. Proverbs 29:8, Scornful men bring a city into a snare: but wise men turn away wrath. You are even to do things without anger with your parental skills. Ephesians 6:4, And fathers, don't stir up anger in your children, but bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. And do not make your children angry at heart. Colossians 3:21, Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged. James 1:19-21, My dearly loved brothers, understand this: everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger, for man's anger does not accomplish God's righteousness. Therefore, ridding yourselves of all moral filth and evil excess, humbly receive the implanted Word, which is able to save you.
Factions (Gossip)
I've already discussed gossip a little bit, but there's still a little more to discuss. Psalm 34:13, Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from deceitful speech. Ninety-nine point nine percent of the time, gossip is full of lies. Proverbs 16:28, A contrary man spreads conflict, and a gossip separates friends. If you lose a friend through gossip, don't be surprised; it should be expected and is entirely your fault. If you consistently talk behind their back, why should you expect them to stick around? To elaborate on this matter, let's look at Proverbs 17:9: Whoever conceals an offence promotes love, but whoever gossips about it separates friends. Continue to gossip and you will lose your normal asset of friends. A very important fact is made in Proverbs 26:20, Without wood, fire goes out; without a gossip, conflict dies down. I explained this earlier, but to reiterate, you will experience much less strife and stress without gossip in your life. Jesus elaborates in Matthew 12:36, "But I tell you that on the day of judgement people will have to account for every careless word they speak." This means every evil, malicious, and violent word you speak and certainly includes gossip, for it is distrustful and full of lies. Be aware and prepared for God's judgement. Wake up! Jesus is coming soon, so be prepared for the Judgement to come, for you will be held accountable for all the things you have done and all the things you have said. This is how you are to speak: Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers (Ephesians 4:29).\
Carousing/Drunkenness
I briefly discussed this earlier too, but again there is more to say. As opposed to being inebriated with alcohol, become inebriated with the Holy Spirit! Ephesians 5:18, And don't get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless actions, but be filled with the Spirit... It is a common pattern that alcoholics lose everything they have, be it family or belongings, or both. Proverbs 23:21, For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags. Even just abusing alcohol can cause detrimental effects. My ex-roommate in college right now, for example, abuses alcohol so much (and he's underage) that it has started to affect his grades. If he continues on this path that I've made many attempts to lead him off of, he'll find himself out of school and without a job. Proverbs 23:31-35, Don't gaze at wine when it is red, when it gleams in the cup and goes down smoothly. In the end it bites like a snake and stings like a viper. Your eyes will see strange things, and you will say absurd things. You'll be like someone sleeping out at sea or lying down on the top of a ship's mast. "They struck me, but I feel no pain! They beat me, but I didn't know it! When will I wake up? I'll look for another drink." In verse 33 the author writes about the hallucinations you can experience while you're drunk and the asinine things people say when they're drunk. In verse 34 he writes how you think you feel when you're drunk, although you stumble all over the place. And in verse 35 he describes the effect of alcohol decreasing your nerve cells' reaction time to outer stimuli such as pain to the point where you feel no pain at that given moment of infliction, and so you seek more alcohol, unintelligently.
Those who give alcohol to others who have not drunk before are in great error, especially those who get them drunk in the attempt to have intercourse. Habakkuk 2:15, Woe to him who gives his neighbours drink, pouring out your wrath and even making them drunk, in order to look at their nakedness! First Corinthians 6:9-10 lists that drunkards will not inherit God's kingdom. Drunkards, without repentance, will not go to Heaven. Need I explain more? I hope not. It's rather simple.
To Be Continued...
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