People think they can continue in a sinful lifestyle and still be a Christian. God’s Word is firm that this is not true (Romans 8:9-11). If we continue in sin, we do not belong to God (Romans 6:1-2). If we even say we have no sin and follow an unrighteous lifestyle, we deceive our self and God’s truth in not in us (I John 1:8-10).
God’s precepts are very clear. When we proclaim our self as wise, we actually prove that we are fools. When we give our body and soul up to uncleanness and follow our own lusts, the deceitfulness of worldly wisdom and guidelines, or satanic lies, we dishonor our own life (Romans 1:22-25).
We may not feel conviction over our choices, but God’s Word gives us a detailed list of those He considers sinful:
1. Those filled with (Romans 1:29-31; Proverbs 6:16-19):
Unrighteous thoughts and choices
Sexual impurity
Wickedness
Covetousness
Malicious words and actions
Envy
Murder
Unholy debates
Liars and deceitful
Proud and boasters
Unkind, Unmerciful, and Mean
Gossipers and slanderers
Haters of God
Inventors of evil things
Disobedient to parents
Covenant breakers
Lacking compassion and coldhearted
Unholy soul ties
2. Men and women choosing mates of the same sex - (Romans 1:26-27)
3. Refusing to believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Romans 1:28; John 3:16-18).
These people instinctively know that God passes judgment on such behavior and that those who do these things deserve eternal death, but they continue in their sin anyway, have pleasure in it, and teach others by their example and words to follow their same lifestyle; so God gives these people over to a reprobate mind (Romans 1:32).
Prayer:
Father God, thank You for sending Jesus to make a way for us to receive Your free gift of redemption, as well as sanctification by Your Spirit of these sinful human tendencies (Romans 1:3-6; 18:16-20). Remind us that we prove our love for You by avoiding these specific areas of unrighteousness and by keeping Your commandments (1 Corinthians 6:9-11; Revelation 21:8; Matthew 6:19-21; John 14:15-31).
We love to watch as Your Holy Spirit sanctifies us more each day and rids us of the inclination to live in and to promote sinful practices. We have an improved self-esteem when we see the person we are becoming in Christ. He becomes our whole focus in life (Colossians 3:3-4). We adopt Your will for us as our reason for living. We give You all our praise and we worship You with our thoughts, words, emotions, and actions.
Thoughts for the Day:
We often change God’s truth and invent a new motto that is a humanistic lie, a worldly philosophy, or an invention of demonic spirits. We give more importance to creating our place on this earth than in serving our Creator – who calls us to bless Him with our life (Ephesians 2:10). Therefore, God allows us to walk in and reap from our own choices and vile affections (Romans 1:25).
