Dead To Sin

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?  Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?
Rom 6:1-2

As we continued our study of spiritual maturity and Christian liberty, we were asked the following question last week: “What particular behaviors in today’s culture are okay or not okay for a Christian to participate in?”  The verse above may not name specific behaviors, but it does give us the answer in a general sense.  No matter how mature we are as Christians, it is never okay to participate in that which is sinful!  Maturity in Christ should drive us from sin not draw us to it.

I remember a newspaper article some time back that my wife brought to my attention.  It was written by a local pastor who was confessing that he frequented the restaurant Hooters.  His justification for such an activity was that the lost were the ones that needed the truth.  After all, wasn’t Jesus ridiculed by the religious leaders of his day for eating with tax collectors and sinners?  And didn’t Jesus say it was the sick that needed a physician and that He had come to call sinners, not the righteous, to repentance? (Mt 9:11-13)

As true as that account of Christ was, when we consider the entire context of that passage, we find out in v. 9 that Jesus had just called Matthew the tax collector to be His disciple.  Matthew (or Levi) responded by throwing a great feast (Lk 5:29), and as Jesus ate, the tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. (Mt 9:10) The point is that Jesus was simply eating a meal in the house of one of His disciples, and sinners were drawn to Him!  There were plenty of places in Christ’s day where people went to participate in sinful activities.  Jesus never entered the brothel’s to minister to the lost!  He didn’t reject an adulterer brought before Him, a Samaritan He met at a well, or a tax collector sitting in a tree as He passed by.  He was truly a friend of sinners (Mt 11:19) while at the same time being separate from their sin! (Heb 7:26)

But, what about the Apostle Paul?  Didn’t he say that he became all things to all men so that he might win some?  Let’s consider fully what the apostle said in 1 Cor 9:20-21:

…and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law…

He said, “not being without law” to make clear he was not entering into sin!  In fact, he said in Rom 3:8 that it was a slanderous report against his ministry that claimed his attitude to be, “Let us do evil, that good may come”.  He goes on to say that “damnation is just” for those that would do evil and claim they were doing so for the glory of God.  So, what did he mean when he said that he became all things to all men?  He simply meant that he removed any barriers to ministry without entering into sin.  Notice how he ministered to the Greeks in Ac 17.  He noted that they were full of idolatry, so he used an altar that had been built “TO THE UNKNOWN GOD” as the springboard for his message of redemption in Jesus Christ, the true God they didn’t know!  They couldn’t have received a message from the standpoint of the Mosaic law because it was foreign to them!  He approached the Greeks on their level, but he did so without participating in their idolatry.

So, does it matter what places we frequent?  How we look or talk, is that really an issue?  Those are outward things, and God looks on the heart, right?  Did it matter with Peter?  What did he do when he DID NOT want to be identified with Christ?  He began to curse! (Mt 26:74) Why did he behave this way?  Because he was scared to death and wanted to convince the people that he was not a follower of Jesus!  Was he a believer?  Yes!  But was this behavior a good thing?  No way!  If our appearance, words, or actions say we are not followers of Christ, then that’s a problem!  We should be identified with Christ, not the world, and “abstain from every form of evil”. (1 Th 5:22) Be careful!  There are those that would enter into sin and brand it Christian service!  The reality is simply that they love to do sinful things.  “Do not love the world or the things in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” (1 Jo 2:15) Don’t worry.  God will sovereignly work in our lives to interesect our paths with those that need the Gospel.  Our job is to be ready when He does!  “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear”. (1 Pet 3:15)

Jamie

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