Sin, Where It Gets Us, and What To Do About It… Walking the Narrow Path

1 Corinthians Chapter 5- How the church should handle sin within it...   It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Your glorifying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? But them that are without God judgeth Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person. What does Paul mean? What does this chapter speak to us? How many Christians say you shouldn't judge people because only God can judge? That is actually incorrect and the bible doesn't say that as you will see in today's scripture. The truer statement would be only God can pass judgment and condemnation. It is the churches and all saints/born again Christians job to call out sin(judge) and keep it away from the body of Christ. Usually this can be done by simple encouragement from one saint to another in private. For example Charlie might pull John to the side and say " Hey look, I noticed you have been drinking a lot lately and have seen you intoxicated at the lake. I want you to know I am here for you if you have problems you want to talk about or if you need anything but drunkenness is a sin and I want to discourage this activity from you brother. When we let the devil in he can create havoc in our lives and I know you to be an honorable Christian and don't want to see you fall away from the grace our Lord Jesus Christ has given us." This could be accepted by John and he strive to narrow his walk with the Lord or John could ignore it in which case you would gather a few church members and try again. If still no luck you would turn the matter over to the pastor and if his concerned talk didn't result in a change then we come to the choice Paul has explained here. There comes a time when you must ask them to leave the church and actually stop praying for their blessings but that God will instead put tests of faith in their life that drive John back to God so that his soul might be saved even if there is worldly harm. We must not glorify the sin and still praise the person for it, but cast the leaven(sin) out of the lump(church) until the sin is gone. Then welcome John back to the church once he has rectified his life. We must not allow one person in the church or body of Christ to bring iniquity to the whole body. We are to purge it from us. This means we must not spend time with people that are in sin because their sin can spread to those around them. We are not to be around anyone that has sexual relations outside of marriage(fornicators), haters and jealous people that always want what everyone else has(covetous), hustlers and swindlers and players that manipulate and lie and cheat their way around(extortioners), those that put anything or anyone on a pedestal like or above God or pray to anything but God(YAHWEH) and Jesus( YESHUA) or worship anything else either- this includes money, video games, phones, etc. (idolaters), partiers and/or people that do drugs or get drunk and go clubbing and drinking (drunkards), or even scoffers that make fun of God or His word or change the truths in the bible to fit their own lusts of the flesh( railers). We aren't even supposed to eat with them, lest the leaven spread. We minister to sinners about the love of Jesus so they may become part of the church, encourage and reprove other saints when they stray from the narrow path, but do not spend time with them if they do not walk the narrow way the Lord has laid out for us. It says put away from among yourselves the wicked person. 1 Corinthian chapter 6 Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saint? Do ye not know the saints will judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life? If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church. I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there s not a wise man among you? no not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren? But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers. Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because you go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? Why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded? Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren. Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me , but I will not be brought under the power of any. Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body. And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up by his own power. Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them members of an harlot? God forbid. What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. When we have disagreement between each other as Christians and we cannot solve it between each other then we should take it to the church to be solved. Verse 2 says the saints will judge the world and 3 says we will even judge the angels. We are to settle our differences among each other and not trust the secular court system with our civil matters. This chapter says how is it possible that we can say we rely on the wisdom of God with our souls, but then not do so with trivial matters in our lives. Even the lowest members of our church are better equipped to offer solutions that have the wisdom of the Lord than any unbeliever. Why is this? The answer is simple. Our job here and now is to judge each other and reprove sin in our lives so that our souls may be kept on the narrow path God has laid at our feet. For if we do not walk that narrow path, then we will be found lukewarm and lose our salvation. It is not once saved always saved. Repent means apologize and go and sin no more. If we do sin after we are in Christ then we simply repent again and change that behavior to stay in His grace. Once we are born again we no longer want to sin, so if we do it is a moment of weakness when we let the devil in. Starting at verse 7 Paul tells us if we have lawsuits against each other( saints), then we are already defeated. As Christians we should rather be wronged or or cheated than take it to unbelievers to solve: a turn the other cheek thing if you will. When we reach verse 9, we see specifically what type of behavior to avoid. This doesn't include everything by any means, but these are very important things. We see, as in chapter 5, there are people that will not get into heaven if they commit these actions whether they are born again or not. Once you are born again your sins are wiped clean yes, but if you continue doing the same things you lose that salvation. Here is the list of behaviors that will not get you into heaven: sexually immoral- fornication, incest, beastiality, lusting after someone even without action(if you thought about it/fantasized it then in your heart you already commited it in your heart, no action needed to be a sin); idolaters- worshipping of idol or other gods, witchcraft, any pagan activity, making video games/money/job/clubs/tv etc such a fixture in your life that life revolves around it(I need my phone/a cigarette, to do some drugs/ watch my show/get that money/fancy rims or car/ etc in an obsessive way); adulterers- cheating on your spouse, divorcing your spouse for a reason other than adultery and remarrying or fornicating with another( once you are married in God's eyes there is no divorce other than for adultery acceptable no matter what papers the court gives you);effeminate and abusers of mankind- this encompasses the whole LGBT community, dressing or acting as a member of the opposite sex, having sexual relations with a member of the opposite sex or multiple members of the opposite sex( remember if you thought it then it is still a sin because your heart already committed it); thieves; covetous- those that want something someone else has or try to obtain something someone else has(not pertaining to ability to get to your own but to the specific one they have) whether it be their spouse, house, car, kids, etc.; drunkards- being intoxicated on any substance whether it be alcohol, drugs, prescriptions, or partying in in any manner( this doesn't mean you can't go dancing on a date or with your spouse, but don't go to the club looking for someone to buy you drinks or go to a rave and mingle among or partake of drugs(this includes mushrooms and marijuana, if it alters your state of mind then it is included legal or not);revilers- (definition, revile: to assail with contemptuous or opprobrious language; address or speak of abusively.) those that speak hatefully( talk smack or curse at people), yelling and screaming in anger at people, those that insult people or treat them in a derogatory manner such as making them feel stupid purposely or like a low life( we reprove sin not people, love the person, hate the sin.); extortioners- those that obtain things from people by force, intimidation, manipulation, or in an undue or illegal manner If you fit into any of these categories, whether you consider yourself a saved Christian or not then repent in Jesus name and change your ways so you may enter the kingdom of God. Once you are washed those sins are forgiven but you must repent again if you commit them again. The body will be destroyed but until that day, it is the temple of the Holy Ghost and we must not defile it. When you have sex with someone, two people become one. That is why it is only meant for husband and wife. Each time you fornicate you are joining yourself to another person. If you are a born again Christian and you fornicate you are bringing sin inside the temple with the Holy Spirit, defiling your body; it is an abomination to the Holy Spirit. We must stay away from all sexual immorality. Other sins are committed outside the body but when you sin sexually, you also sin against your own body. You do not belong to you. You belong to God and were bought at the price of our Lord Jesus on the cross. We should honor God with our bodies. So there is all this sin in the world and in our lives and what do we do about it? We must accept Jesus as our savior and be washed in the blood of the Lamb most importantly. There are also instruction as to what we do once we are saved for ourselves and other saints. Lets look at these next verses. 2 Corinthians 7:8-13 For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season. Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us is in nothing. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea , what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear of this matter. Wherefore, though I wrote unto you, I did it not for his cause that had done wrong, nor for his cause that suffered wrong, but that our care for you in the sight of God might appear unto you. Therefore we were comforted in your comfort: yea, and exceedingly the more joyed we for the joy of Titus, because his spirit was refreshed by you all. Paul explains why he wrote the letter reproving the sin in the church and that he doesn't regret it because it led them to repentance. Now they have repented and their souls are safe and they are full of an eagerness to clear themselves and alarm not to continue in sin, as well as a longing and concern for how they live and to see justice done. This is why we must call out sin or judge other saints so that we keep each other on a path to righteousness and not deceived by worldly things or false doctrine. Worldly things lead us to death but Godly repentance leads us to salvation. If we do not judge each other then we continue in worldly things and thoughts. To judge each other is a must. Now this doesn't mean we are to condemn each other or look down upon one another, but in love and concern for each others souls help to keep one another on the narrow walk to salvation. When we stay on this narrow walk we are in a position to refresh the spirits of other saints that we come in contact with that may be struggling with persecution and scoffing in their struggle to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ, which we all need. That covers how to recognize and approach sin in others but what about in ourselves and in the church as a whole with ourselves included(church being complete body of Christ not just your personal church)? 2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. We must call upon the Lord knowing we cannot fix it ourselves and pray and ask His forgiveness , mercy and grace. We must be humble ourselves, knowing we are nothing without God, but also knowing that even that does no good unless we change our ways and seek God and to follow His will always. The Lord in His infinite mercy and love will forgive us as long as we mean it and change from wicked ways and denounce all other things except Him. Not only will he forgive but will heal us and the land of all the damage we have done as sinners and in our wickedness. Isn't that amazing. When we get rid of our pride and realize God does everything and is everything and we are nothing, no one and it is He that works through us for anything good to happen, then we are truly humbled. We must know only God is good and we are no one without Him and capable of nothing but evil without Him. Sin is true destruction to everything it touches. We must keep sin out of our lives, out of the body of Christ, and if it enters, call it for what it is and repent and change our ways. We are meant not only to judge other saint but will even judge angels. It is a necessity to keep each other in line. We do not do this because anyone is better than someone else, but because we love each other and our concern lies in making sure we all, not just ourselves, reach the kingdom of God. If you were taught you shouldn't judge, then I suggest you pray and study the scripture for yourself. We are to leave the sinners to God and judge the saints, and a sinner is not to judge a saint because first he must take the plank out of his eye before removing the sawdust from his brothers.  We are most definitely to judge each other least some of us fall away. If we see another saint sin and do not reprove him their sin is on our head. God bless you all and we love you and pray for strength for you in these last days that you  may not only narrow your walk, and help other saints to narrow theirs, but also to plant seeds among sinners that they may come to know Jesus and be ready for a very soon coming harvest. Please help us continue to sow seeds and keep the work of this ministry going by donating today. Have a blessed day.