Soft on Sin...Contrary to Sound Doctrine!

"....understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine...." (1 Tim. 1:9-10).

Recently I was having a very open, honest, and candid discussion with someone about sexuality, lust, and sexual sin. As humans, created to in fact be sexual beings, this is a matter that I would think 99.9% of us deal with. The issue we were discussing was the relationship between pre-marital sex, sin, and the idea that "God understands, He knows we are going to fall, and He always forgives us." That mindset would be described by my former pastor as "greasy grace".

The same pastor likes to say that "grace is for falling and NOT for jumping." This statement coincides perfectly with Romans 3:23 and the fact that YES, we ALL sin and we ALL fall short of the glory of God! But Romans 3:23 says more specifically that "all have sinned" (esv and nkjv). It is a past tense statement! The thoughts that were going through my mind were in dealing with the way of life, that does not come easily at all for me, and that is living out statements like we find in Ephesians 4.

Consider the following paragraph:
assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness (Eph 4:21-24).

or perhaps:
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Gal 5:16-21) [ouch]

Because I do not want to appear as a hypocrite, because I DO have sinful struggles in my own life and DO NOT walk in the Spirit and in obedience the way that I desire, I will close now with the end of the first verse mentioned: "....contrary to sound doctrine." Paul does not look at sin in the way the we tend toward at times, he says that the way we think and the things that we do are contrary to the very teachings of God through the Bible. Contrary means complete opposite!

Again, I do not profess to have conquered much in my life and as I have shared, I tend to be "Spiritually Bi-polar", but that does not change or excuse us from what God cleary states as sin and sin separates from God! Whether we live like it or not, it is still truth!