Series: Living in the Kingdom Pt. 39
Message – …by My Spirit III
Living in the Kingdom…by My Spirit says the Lord
Focus Text – Zech. 4:6,
“So he answered and said to me: “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the LORD of hosts.”
Rom. 8:15,
“For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.””
1Cor. 2:12,
“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit Who is from God, THAT WE MIGHT KNOW the things that have been freely given to us by God.”
…by My Spirit you will know the things FREELY given to us by God!
…What are some of these things?
- Growth in Christian character –
a. Rom. 8:14, “For as many as are habitually led by the Spirit of God, these are mature sons of God.”
- Dominance over sin –
a. Rom. 8:13, “For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”
“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 extortionists will inherit the kingdom of God!”
Our passage goes on to say…
“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. All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.” ~ 1Cor. 6:9-12
We left off right here last week.
“Paul was not, categorically, denying the man’s salvation (Paul says he is among the brethren). However, Paul will not allow a “religious faith” that is separate from our actions. If a Christian can cheat and defraud his brothers without conscience, it may be fairly asked if he is a Christian at all!” – says Guzik
If we wrong our brother we are putting ourselves in bad company – in with fornicators,
No doubt, the man figured, “Sure, what I’m doing to my brother isn’t good. But it isn’t that bad.” Paul wants him to know just how bad it was.
Christians who have committed an act of fornication or homosexuality (or any of the other listed sins) have not been excluded from the kingdom of God and it is wrong theology to say they have. Instead, since Paul describes these people by their sins, he means those who have their lives dominated and characterized by these sins. So then, is an occasional act of fornication or homosexuality no big deal to God? Of course it is…it goes against everything we have been given in Jesus, and because a lifestyle of sin begins with single acts of sin.
The one who sinned in this passage cheated his brother had to see that if his life was dominated and characterized by this sin, as much as any of the other people Paul described, he should be just as concerned for his salvation as any of those other people!
Nor homosexuals: Since this is such a clear condemnation of homosexuality, those who would like to justify the practice say Paul is speaking of homosexual prostitution, not a “loving, caring homosexual relationship.” But taken in context, there is no doubt God is speaking of homosexual acts of all kinds with the words malakoi (homosexuals, which literally refers to male prostitutes) and arsenokoitai (sodomites, a generic term for all homosexual practice).
Paul was not writing in or of a “homophobic” culture. Homosexuality was rampant in Paul’s culture; fourteen out of the first fifteen Roman emperors were bisexual or homosexual. At the very time Paul was writing, Nero was emperor. He had taken a boy named Sporus and had him castrated. He then married him (with a full ceremony), brought him to the palace with a great procession, and made the boy his “wife.” Later, Nero lived with another man, and Nero was declared to be the other man’s “wife.”
In this list of sins, homosexuality (not some “special” version of homosexuality) is described. But it is described right along with other sins, many of which those who so strongly denounce homosexuals are themselves guilty of. Can fornicators or adulterers or the covetous or drunkards rightly condemn homosexuals? Of course not.
Christians err when they excuse homosexuality, and deny that it is sin. But they also err just as badly when they single it out as a sin God is uniquely angry with.
We will pick up here after a short review next week….Blessings!
I hope this teaching will challenge you and encourage you to place your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
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Blessings!