8/13/11
Greetings,In my letters I usually spend a lot of time talking about concepts that are new, revolutionary, and often challenging. However, sometimes it is necessary to hit on concepts that are not new or exciting. Sometimes we need to get down to the bread and butter—so to speak.
It is my conviction that one of the greatest barriers to true unity is personal sin. That’s right; we are going to spend this entire letter discussing sin. The fact of the matter is that when a believer who is on fire for the Lord tries to be around a person that is under guilt or condemnation because of un-dealt with sin, it often leads to problems. The guilty party, in an attempt to cover their issues, will often reject or even lash out at the man or woman of God.
So what constitutes sin? Sin in a theological sense means to miss the mark. Imagine a target board with a bull’s eye. Sin is like when a person shoots an arrow and the board and misses the target. The target is the standard spelled out in the Word of God. Anything that comes short of this is sin.
Sin is your enemy. It’s an enemy of God as well. God doesn’t hate people but He does hate sin. Consider what he says of the deeds of the Nicolaitanes in the book of Revelation.
“But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate.” (Revelation 2:6)
Who were the Nicolaitanes and what were the guilty of? They were a sect of Christians whose primary theological error was that they believed things done in the flesh had no effect upon the health of the soul or spirit. In other words, they believed that once a believer received the free gift of salvation by grace through faith they became free to sin in whatever capacity their heart desired. God hated their deeds. The following is an extraction from a Wikipedia article about them:
Hippolytus of Rome states that the deacon Nicolas was the author of the heresy and the sect. Several of the early church fathers, including Irenaeus, Epiphanius, and Theodoret mentioned this group. Irenaeus discusses them but adds nothing to the Apocalypse except that "they lead lives of unrestrained indulgence.” Victorinus of Pettau states that they ate things offered to idols. Bede states that Nicolas allowed other men to marry his wife and Thomas Aquinas believed that Nicholas supported either polygamy or the holding of wives in common. Eusebius said that the sect was short-lived.
There are many Christians today that come to the conclusion that sin is okay. They justify it, nurse it, and come up with religious excuses for it if necessary. However, when unity takes place according to God’s agenda, the removal of sin and the institution of unity will go hand-in-hand. Consider one of my favorite passages:
“Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13)
Is it possible to come to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ while nursing an addiction to pornography? What about the Christian who is having sex with two or three people while they can’t conclude which one they love more: their spouse, their boss, or the children’s nanny? Give me a break. It is easier for a passionate Christian to watch gold dust manifest during a prayer meeting than to unite with a group of Christians that have major issues with sin. I say this literally.
The following passage gives us a list of sins that are defined as sin in the New Testament. Let’s take a look.
“Now the doings (practices) of the flesh are clear (obvious): they are immorality, impurity, indecency, Idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger (ill temper), selfishness, divisions (dissensions), party spirit (factions, sects with peculiar opinions, heresies), Envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you beforehand, just as I did previously, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:19-21 AMP)
I used the Amplified Bible in order to make this passage read as clearly as possible. For some reason when it comes to sin, Christians quickly begin to get confused. In order to bring a little further clarity let’s take a second look at verse 19 from the King James Bible:
“Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness” (Galatians 5:19)
I would like to do a word study on each and every one of these offenses to God but space simply does not permit me to do this. Here’s the point: Get the sin out of your life. This is my three-step plan for success.
1. Admit that what you are doing is wrong and repent.
2. Ask God for His grace to never want to do it again.
3. Repeat steps one and two every time you sin until the sin stops.
It is wrong to get drunk. It is wrong to curse at others including your spouse. It is wrong to entertain perversity and this includes pornography. It is wrong to have sex outside of marriage because this is fornication. It is wrong to commit idolatry by putting your children, your job, or you car before God. It is wrong to practice witchcraft even if the activity is a “family tradition.” It is wrong to give into jealousy and lash out against another Christian because their anointing or relationship with God makes you “uncomfortable.” The sin must stop in order for true unity to enter in!
Discussion
1. What is God convicting you of right now?
2. What is the three-step plan for getting sin out of your life?
3. Can true unity come without dealing with sin?
4. Who were the Nicolaitanes?
5. Does God hate the sinner or the sin?
