Is there a Key to Holy Living? - 1 Corinthians 6:9-20

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.

No Compromise Radio is a program dedicated to the ongoing proclamation of Jesus Christ based on

the theme in Galatians 2, verse 5, where the Apostle Paul said, "'But we did not yield in subjection to them "'for

even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel "'would remain with you.'".

In short, if you like smooth, watered -down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn't for

you.

By purpose, we are first biblical, but we can also be controversial.

Stay tuned for the next 25 minutes as we're called by the divine trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and

glory of her King.

Here's our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth.

Message tonight, dear congregation, it's been wonderful to be here this weekend.

You have good ambassadors for the mercy and hospitality and grace of the Lord Jesus and Nathanael and

Casey, so thank you.

If they are indicative of the congregation here.

Many good servants.

Thank you for that.

Right after my sermon, I need to dismiss myself.

My wife's picking me up.

We're heading down to the Bay Area, and so if I didn't get a chance to say hello to you this morning, thanks for

everything and your encouragement, and I love to teach to churches that understand the Lord Jesus and wanna

lift Him and exalt Him, and so thank you for all your hospitality, and I hope I see you again

soon.

Tonight, we're gonna look at something that's important, holy living.

I'm always afraid if a pastor says, tonight, I'm gonna give you the key to holy living, the inside, the

secret kind of knowledge, but tonight, I'm going to give you the key to secret

living, maybe the missing ingredient in sanctification,

and surprise of all surprise, it's the Lord Jesus Christ.

The thing that's missing in most models of parenting marriages,

counseling, daily living for Christians is we forget about the Lord Jesus.

We know His laws, we know His commands, but we forget about the motivation.

I don't know about you, but I use GPS very often.

I used to use a Thomas Brothers guide in Los Angeles.

I don't know if you know some of these old maps, but now I use a GPS, and the GPS

is similar to the law.

The law's good.

There's nothing wrong with the GPS, and the law's holy.

It reflects God and His nature and character, but it doesn't make me get to Santa Cruz tonight.

I will type in Santa Cruz, California tonight and wanna drive there two hours and 22 minutes, but I won't go with just the

GPS, and the law's like that.

What will get me there?

What's the motivation?

What will drive me, the engine behind me wanting to obey?

You see, the law doesn't animate.

The law doesn't give us any power to do anything.

If I tell you, love your wives, if I tell you, submit your husbands, don't exasperate your children, that's

all fine and good, but how do I do that?

How can I sustain this?

And so the engine that drives us is the person and work of Jesus, not just

for salvation, pardon, but He also gives us the power to obey, and that's just

like the Lord and Savior Jesus.

It's not just, well, you're acceptable in my sight now because of my righteousness, but I also will help

you live a holy life.

So tonight we're going to talk about holy living, making sure we don't understand that while the law is

important, it never animates us to do the right thing.

The motivation for the Christian life is the Lord Jesus.

This morning we looked at Romans.

We're guilty in Adam, but we're graced in the Lord Jesus, and we respond with what?

Gratitude, guilt, grace, gratitude.

So here's what we're gonna do.

We are going to have a little primer on law, gospel, then we're gonna look at a

passage to see, in fact, if what I'm saying is true.

And so since I live in New England, you might hear me once in a while not say the word law, but lar.

So this is lar in gospel.

I'll never forget the first time I got up and a man was quoting Jesus in New England, and he said, Jesus Christ said

that I'm the Alpha and Omega, and I did what you did, but nobody else did what I

did.

So again, tonight we're gonna look at, this morning was kind of a sermon, an oratory, a homiletical thing.

Tonight's kind of just a friendly lesson, because if you could learn this lesson tonight, that it's not just

law, it's also the personal work of Jesus that motivates.

It really, literally will change the way you parent, the way you act toward your spouse, the way you

work, the way you go to school.

It really is life -changing, and we tend to forget this.

You may know this, and if you already know it, then great.

So we'll have a primer on law gospel, then we'll go to the passage.

Primer on law gospel.

Is this law or gospel?

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and you shall love your

neighbor as yourself.

Go ahead and you can say it out loud.

Law, good.

Law or gospel.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who were in Christ Jesus.

Gospel, that's good news, right?

Remember, law is do, gospel is done.

Law or gospel.

Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, and do them.

Law.

Law or gospel.

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written, cursed

is everyone who is hanged on a tree.

Gospel, good.

And then lastly, law or gospel.

When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem

those who are under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons.

Gospel, good.

So generally speaking, law commands us.

Law says, this is what I demand, and if you don't do it, it will accuse you.

It curbs sin, it exposes sin, it tells me that I'm not doing the right thing.

To the unbeliever, the law says, you're a sinner and you are going to go to hell.

The law demands inward and outward obedience.

It threatens.

On the other hand, the gospel, as we learned this morning, when I say gospel, I always think of Jesus Christ, but the gospel just

means good news.

And God in the gospel gives, forgives, justifies, saves, strengthens, encourages,

declares, and promises.

This is what the Lord God has done in the person and work of Christ Jesus.

And while the law shouts, the gospel silences and hushes the accusations

found in the law.

The law says, do this and live.

The gospel says, Jesus did everything so that you might live.

The law is written on our hearts while the gospel needs to be proclaimed by preachers.

Beza said, we divide the Bible into two principal parts.

The one is called the law and the other is called the gospel.

And I love it when Martin Luther said, if you know the difference between the two, you should be called doctor.

So tonight, when you greet each other afterwards, I just want to say, good evening, doctor.

Understanding law and gospel.

And if you get this wrong, it is the principal source of abuses in Christianity, according to Beza.

Spurgeon even said, there is no place on which men make greater mistakes than on the relations that exist

between the law and the gospel.

A certain class maintains that the law and the gospel are mixed.

These men understand not the truth and are false teachers.

And so really what we're going to do here today is while we're not under the law as a condemning

agent, since we're Christians, if you're a Christian here, God's not condemning you with the law any longer, but He

still has the law to direct you and to guide you.

He still has the law to say, this will glorify you, not glorify you, this will glorify me and it'll be good

for you.

Jesus gives you the law, not trying to have you, dear Christian, keep it, for He has, but to direct you

in the right way.

Now, here's what we're going to do tonight.

I want to talk about sanctification through the lens of a sexual sin issue

here in 1 Corinthians.

So please turn your Bibles to 1 Corinthians, but hear me clearly.

My main issue is sanctification in general.

We're going to talk about sexual sin, but it could be any sin.

It could be depression, anxiety.

I don't love other people.

I'm selfish.

I'm self -righteous.

I don't deny myself.

I don't love God like I should.

How can I, as a Christian, I want to be holy.

I'd like to act in a holy way.

God has been so good to me and He's forgiven me and saved me.

He's punished His son on my behalf.

He didn't spare His son for me.

How do I live?

I'd like to live a more holy life.

And I know what you're thinking.

If you're thinking, I just need more to -do list, more law.

If that's only what you're doing, you're missing the main component in sanctification.

The phone rings.

You answer it, and your friend says, I'm looking at pornography.

Can you help me?

I hope you'll say, yes, I'd love to help you.

What would you tell them to do?

It could be a person calls you on the phone.

I'm struggling with anxiety during the last 18 months.

Can you help me?

What would you tell them to do?

That's a really good question.

And my friend John Fonville found some different list to try to help people

with sexual sin.

And there are two lists.

Here's the first list with church leaders.

How how do they deal with this?

Step one, don't say it can't happen to you.

Step two, repent of your pride.

Step three, put safeguards in place.

Step four, to be sexually pure, have a plurality in place so you have backups.

Make your wife a partner in purity.

When in doubt, err on the side of caution and never forget we're in a spiritual battle.

Probably some good things in there, right?

Second article, avoid slip ups.

10 tips that might help you break pornography habit.

Here are the 10 tips.

I won't give you all 10.

Over confidence, be aware of that.

Remember, you aren't able to do it by yourself.

Have other trusted family members.

Avoid thinking if only she would do this or only she would do that.

Avoid thinking I've changed, why hasn't everyone else?

Realize repentance is a process.

Set goals of abstinence.

Seek out good friends.

Recognize certain times and conditions that might cause your temptations to come most strongly.

Now here's the fun part.

At least I think it's fun.

The first list was written by an evangelical pastor.

And the second list was written by the National Mormon Leadership.

They're both just full of laws.

Is that the way we overcome sin as God's children?

Here are the laws.

Be careful when it comes to sexual sin.

Put the X stop on your browser.

Make sure you have accountability.

Do all these things.

Those probably have some place there.

But is that the answer?

1 Corinthians 6, verses 9 through 20 is our passage tonight.

And I submit to you that in this passage, there's both law and gospel.

Could there be a more carnal, gross, nasty set of people than the Corinthians?

We even say they're gonna Corinthianize you.

These are the people that they looked up.

Have you ever been to Corinth?

How many people have been to Corinth?

Not one person in this congregation has been to Corinth.

All right, let me tell you about Corinth.

Up on the hill is where they had all the prostitutes.

And on Friday night at five o 'clock, they'd come down for worship.

And it was just part of the culture.

This is just what we do.

This is how we act.

And now God has saved people out of Corinth.

In Corinth, He saved them.

How do they act?

I mean, society's rubbing off.

Society says if it feels good, do it.

If society said, you know what?

It's no big deal.

If you're hungry, you eat.

Nobody cares.

And if you're hungry for sex, who cares?

But Paul in 1 Corinthians 6, verses 9 to 20, dear Christian, gives both law

and gospel.

If you'd like to overcome any sin and live a holy life, you cannot do it apart from understanding law and

gospel.

The law will guide you on what to do, and Jesus, gospel incarnate, will help you do it.

So I'm gonna read verses 9 through 20.

See if you can find things that tell you what to do.

There are three of them.

And see if you can find things that are done for the Corinthians and done for you.

Now this is gonna be helpful for dads too, because if you're not like I am, then great.

But here's how I dad, and I have four children.

No, say yes, look me in the eye, shake my hand firmly when you do that.

When you see a grandma at church, go over there and open the door.

When you talk to people at church, don't just say, how are you?

Say, how'd your week go?

What'd you do this week?

How can I pray for you?

No elbows on the table.

Well, I never said that, but my dad did.

I am a perfect drill sergeant.

Is there anything wrong with telling your kids, stop that?

I wish parents would give more law, actually.

But what else?

What else is there?

Is there anything about gospel?

Daddy loves you.

We've prayed for you.

Everything in this room, I bought for you because I love you.

We take you to the best vacations, do we not?

You have the best pastor in the world, do you not?

There's something about love that motivates.

And if you just think it's stiff upper lip, I just have to do the right thing.

I present to you 1 Corinthians 6, nine to 20.

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?

Do not be deceived.

Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves,

nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

And such were some of you.

You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our

God.

All things lawful for me, but not all things are helpful.

All things are lawful for me, but I will not be dominated by anything.

Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food.

And God will destroy both, one and the other.

The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord and the Lord for the body.

And God raised the Lord and will also raise up by His power.

Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?

I can take members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute, never.

Or do you not know that He who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her?

For as it is written, the two shall become one flesh.

But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.

Flee from sexual immorality.

Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own

body.

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?

You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.

So glorify God in your body.

Dear congregation, we are going to look at three laws when it comes to, here, sexual sin.

And then we're going to look at eight or nine good truths about gospel

truths.

That make sense?

And you say, well, does that mean every time I talk to my kid and tell him no, I have to tell him three good things that I've done for him?

Well, you don't have to, that'd be a good start.

The issue isn't three to one, but it's fascinating that it's like three to one.

There are three commands found in here, and there are tons of gospel truths.

I'd like to know if you talk this way, because I know I don't.

I want to, I try to, I'm convicted.

People come in your office, they call you up on the phone.

I'm struggling with sin, what do I end up doing?

Stop sinning.

Is that okay to say?

It's okay to say, but it's not okay if that's the only thing you tell them.

Let's look at the three laws, and then let's look at all the wonderful gospel truths.

The first law is don't be deceived.

It's an imperative, verse nine of 1 Corinthians 6.

Paul's writing to the Corinthians, they've got all kinds of problems, and he's dealing with some of these sexual issues here

in chapter six that he's talked about a little in chapter five, and we'll move into chapter seven as well.

Do you not know, and by the way, the Corinthians thought they knew everything.

You ever met a know -it -all?

There's a song that I remember, and remember the writer has written these words,

and they're very complex, and sometimes it's hard to remember all the different lyrics.

I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, that was the Corinthians.

I know.

No, no, you don't know.

Unrighteous people.

We're not talking about people that have sinned.

We sin, but the state of unrighteousness.

They'll not inherit the kingdom of God.

Do not be deceived.

Why did Paul write that?

Because it's easy to be deceived.

They're family, they're friends.

I don't want them to go to hell.

I want God to love them.

And then he gives the list.

Sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, technically two words for homosexuality.

Here it's put in one in ESV.

Thieves, greedy, drunkards, revilers, swindlers, they will not inherit the kingdom of God.

There is nothing wrong with warning people.

When people are living in sin, and you say, are you sure you're a Christian?

There's nothing wrong with that.

Paul says, don't be deceived.

You are in danger of being deceived if you're not careful.

Paul is not wanting Christian liberty to turn into license.

One old scholar said, this is a solemn roll call of the damned.

You don't want to be on that list.

John Owen said, the deceitfulness of sin is seen in that it's most modest in its first proposals, but then it

prevails in men's hardened hearts and then brings them to ruin.

There's law number two found in verse 18.

Did you catch it when I read it earlier?

Law is good, law is fine.

It shows us God's law.

He's directing us and guiding us as a good father would flee from sexual immorality.

Every other sin a person commits is outside the body.

Flee from sexual immorality.

If someone calls you and says, I'm in illicit sex relationship, someone that's not my spouse, what do you tell them?

Is it okay to tell them, run?

The Greek word is be a fugitive.

Think of Joseph.

Did in fact Joseph not run?

Is it good to run from sexual sin and just say, you know what, I just have to go.

I don't know what this is gonna cost, but I need to run.

It's a present imperative, run.

There is nothing wrong with saying run.

And frankly, if anybody here tonight is watching pornography or in an illicit relationship sexually,

I have a law for you.

You call yourself a Christian, run.

Run.

The law is good.

It's good to guide us.

It's good to tell us, run for your lives.

He even tells us why to flee.

We're sinning against our own body.

There's an urgency here.

Warren Wiersbe said sex outside of marriage is like a man robbing a bank.

He gets something, but it is not his, and he will one day pay for it.

Sex within marriage can be like a person putting money into a bank.

Safety, security, dividends.

Sex within marriage can build a relationship that brings joy in the future, but sex apart from marriage has a way of

weakening relationships.

And then the imperative number three is found in verse 20.

Paul is giving Christians, carnal Christians even, if you want to put it that way, Christians dealing with

sin, laws.

It's good to give law.

That's our natural thing to do, give law.

There's nothing wrong with that.

Verse 20, for you are bought with a price, so glorify God in your

body.

Glorify God.

That's what we're supposed to do.

We're not supposed to gratify our flesh.

We're supposed to glorify God.

We're supposed to, as one man said, venerate the Lord God with our body.

There's nothing wrong with law.

But is there something more than law for Paul?

And the answer is yes.

So now let me just show you very briefly, very quickly some gospel truths

to make sure we understand that when we'd like to live a holy life, it can't just be, I need a GPS, tell me what to

do.

How do I motivate often, regularly, with sustainability?

What do I do?

How do I go about it?

I think you're here tonight because you'd like to live a holy life, but it's tied into something

more than just law.

The gospel indicatives, Machen called them triumphant indicatives

that we'll look at tonight.

Speaking of Machen, he said, here is found the most fundamental difference between the liberalism and Christianity.

Liberalism is altogether in the imperative mood, law, while Christianity begins with a triumphant

indicative.

Here's what God has done.

And by the way, I know the social gospel is corrupt because there are no triumphant indicatives

in it.

It's all law.

Do, do, do, do, do, do.

Great gospel truth number one.

Let's go back to chapter one, matter of fact, because there is a context.

He calls the Corinthians saints.

First Corinthians chapter one, verse two.

The first truth I wanna draw your attention to when we're talking about gospel truths, when we give counsel

to unbelievers, when we preach to ourselves, when we're preaching from the pulpit and trying to encourage the congregation

to obey, law is good, but it can't be left law alone, left to be law alone.

He says in first Corinthians one, two, to the church of God, which is at Corinth, to those who have been

sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling.

If you were to come to me and say, I'm struggling with pornography, I would say flee.

I might say, put X stops on your browser.

I might say a few other things, but I would say, dear Christian man, you're a saint.

You're a saint.

I don't care what's happened in the past before you were a Christian, you are a saint.

God has called you a saint.

That's pretty amazing to be called a saint.

I used to think maybe like you, you couldn't be a saint until you were dead for 500 years and they dug you up and said, dominus

sanctus spiritu, you're a saint.

But if you're a Christian here tonight, you are a saint, welcome.

I greet you in the name of God who made you a saint.

You didn't make yourself a saint.

God did it.

He separated you unto himself.

You say, well, how did I do that?

You didn't do it, it was done to you.

God, by his own achievement, by his own work, Jerry Bridges said, we are made saints by the supernatural

action of the Holy Spirit.

Remember who you are?

And people might be saying, you know what?

I'm sleazy, I'm a slut, I'm this, I'm that, I'm a porn addict.

I'm going to tell them, listen, while that is sin and God may discipline you, dear Christian, you're a

saint.

You need to be right -minded of that.

You're a saint.

You've been washed and cleaned and justified.

You are a saint.

If your moral exhortations to a person struggling with sin don't include anything but do

more, try harder, I'm going to tell you what's going to happen.

They'll go away depressed or they'll go away self -righteous, but those are the only two options.

You're saints.

What a wonder of the gospel.

That's amazing.

I'm called a saint.

Me, I know me.

I've told the people before I got engaged May 6th, 1989, and I got married June

6th, 1989 for lots of reasons.

Here's one.

My wife is a woman of her word and I knew if she knew the real me, she'd probably say, no possible way.

So marry her while I can.

Worked, 32 years later.

Yet God knew everything about us.

He knew every sin I would ever commit.

And frankly, I think the sins we commit as Christians are even more heinous.

And he said, you know what?

I could put different words in there.

You're my child.

You're my daughter.

You're my son.

Eternal counsels of God before Genesis 1, 1.

We have the Father and the Son with the Spirit present.

Go rescue Mike Ebendroth along with the rest of the bride and turn him into something

good and wonderful and hand him back to the Father one day on glory.

I'm a saint.

Well, not only that, look at verse eight.

Here's something else we should remind people.

It's not just law when people struggle.

When you struggle with sin, it's not just law.

When you parent your children, don't just be the law man or woman.

Verse eight, God is faithful.

That's the second bit of good gospel truth.

Who will also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Are you faithful?

Have you been unfaithful?

Will you be unfaithful?

I have great news for you.

Your God who saved you, your God who has done wonders for you and forgiven you and adopted you into his

family is faithful.

When you're not faithful, guess what?

God's faithful.

And you're like, that's kind of a license to sin.

Really?

I don't think it's a license to sin.

I think it's a license to say, if a God would love me like that, I wanna honor him with my life.

God is faithful.

He'll confirm you to the end.

That is the best truth ever.

God's faithful, verse nine, through whom you were called in the fellowship of the Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Well, now let's go back to chapter six and let me give you the third bit of gospel truth.

My point tonight is simple.

That is laws of God are good.

They reflect his character to guide and direct Christians.

But if it's law only in your sanctification, you're missing something.

First Corinthians chapter six, verse 11.

Here's indicative gospel truth number three, washed.

Oh, this is really important.

You're washed.

Do you see it right there?

Such were some of you, but you were washed.

Washed, sanctified, and justified are what we call divine passives.

And that means God does it to us.

So we were dirty in sin and filthy in sin.

And you can think about how sexual sin can make you feel so dirty.

A thousand showers can't cleanse you.

But guess who can cleanse you?

And I even see Jesus talking to that prostitute or the woman at the well, cleansing, right?

How'd you like to be forgiven and cleansed from all your sins, including these dirty defiling your body sins?

You've been washed.

Is it possible for someone who's not a virgin to walk down the aisle in a white dress?

Answer, yes.

Washed, I'd like to be washed.

That's how powerful the Lord Jesus' death was for you, sent by the Father who loved you.

I'd love to have the filth of my past sins just removed.

I said many times, I've got so many sins in my closet, I look forward to death for lots of reasons.

One, I get to see Jesus.

And number two, nobody will find out how corrupt I really am.

And I don't mean how corrupt I was.

I mean how corrupt I am.

If you knew what I think and have done and will do, you'd never listen to me preach twice on a Sunday, let alone once.

And if I know what you're thinking right now and what you've done, I'd hate to be a preacher to you guys.

But guess what?

You're washed.

So you see what he's doing here?

Struggling with sexual sin, Christians dabbling in sexual sin, and they're to run

from it, they're to flee from it.

You're supposed to give law and you might get a discipline from the Father.

But what does a father do?

No good father on earth spanks a kid and then afterwards doesn't say, I love you, you mean so much to me.

Who does that?

I'll tell you who doesn't do it, it's the Father in heaven.

This is how I'll chasten you, but by the way, Paul says, you've been washed.

Why go back to the mud?

Why go back to that dirt?

You've been cleaned, why do that?

Now sometimes I have to give a little bit of info for kids, for kids that sometimes sit on the first, second, and third, fourth row who

have good notes like you guys did this morning.

I don't know about the tippy toes part that I read, but good notes beside that.

I have a dog for a long time, like to train dogs, and when a dog throws up, my children all know, don't

clean it up.

Why?

Well, you don't have to, because the dog throws up.

This is second Peter, by the way, this is Proverbs, by the way.

And the dog's like, oh.

The kids are like, Dad, do not touch that dog.

Finally, the dog, okay, I might as well.

And it laps it up.

You've seen it, haven't you?

This is called Reformed Baptist preaching.

I just saw the bomb here, and I'm out of here at 6 .30, so be warm, be filled.

God has washed you, dear Christian.

Don't go to your basement tonight and turn on pornography.

You're cleansed, you're washed, that's the old you.

The grace of God, no, don't, you're washed.

What else does he say, number four?

You're sanctified.

You are set apart.

Sanctification means something like this.

You have paper plates for yourself when you're eating, and when guests come over, you have china,

special stuff.

And God said, you know what?

You don't deserve to be chosen.

I don't deserve to be chosen, but I'm gonna take some out of the human race, and they're set apart from me.

These are my people.

I'm their God, and they will be my people.

And you're sanctified, and if God did that for me, and he set me apart, he did it all, divine passive again,

it's gonna motivate me.

Why go back to be unsanctified and full of shame and defilement and uncleanness, living a life

of unholiness?

No, no, sanctified, definitively set apart.

Fifthly, justification.

Do you see it right there in your Bible, verse 11?

You are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

You, dear Christian, here at this church, you know justification.

And it's not just as if I never sinned, but God now counts me based on the work of Christ as if I've never sinned,

never am sinning, and never will sin.

He looks at me and he sees Jesus because I'm in Christ Jesus, I have his righteousness, he's paid for my

righteousness, and you're justified.

This declarative act of God where your sins are pardoned, you are accepted as righteous.

By the triune work of God, you see it right there, in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

If God did that for you, you should respond with gratitude and humility and I wanna live a life commensurate with my

calling.

It is not do more, it is live a life of gratitude.

Justification, Luther said, begets, nourishes, builds, preserves, and defends the church of

God.

And without it, the church of God cannot exist for one hour.

Without this, I sin, God's displeased, he doesn't love me.

I do good, God loves me more.

No, no, no, I'm in Christ.

No condemnation.

Say, well, I sinned last week and I did something I didn't want to do and it's even in the realm of sexuality and I'm sorry and I

repent and I don't wanna do it anymore.

Christian, you are free from condemnation.

Am I encouraging that?

By no means, but I'm encouraging you to think about it.

If a God loved you like that, why would you wanna keep sinning?

People are paralyzed with the guilt that they have from their past and all their exploits, whether sexual sin or any other sin.

Justification says you're righteous before God.

Heidelberg Catechism, how are you righteous before God?

By true faith in Jesus.

Although my conscience accuses me that I've grievously sinned against all God's commandments and have never

kept any of them and I'm still inclined to evil, yet God, without any

merit of my own, out of mere grace, imputes to me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ.

He grants these to me as if I've never had nor committed any sin and as if

myself had accomplished all the obedience which Christ has rendered for me if only I accept this gift with a

believing heart.

Every day we sin, guilty, guilty, guilty, and every day we need to be reminded of our risen Savior.

Now condemnation, no condemnation, no condemnation.

Look at verse 14, he gives more gospel truths.

Here he talks about the resurrection.

That's amazing.

Would you ever talk about the resurrection to somebody who's struggling with any sin?

Well, sexual sin is important to talk about the resurrection because our bodies will be raised.

Verse 14, and God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by His power.

Christian, your body will be raised.

So why sin with your body?

The body that will one day be glorified, why sin with your body?

God has a design for your body, a claim on your body, a future for your body.

Don't be people who are saying, you know, it doesn't matter and you know, matter is evil, spirit's good.

No, no, your body will be raised.

So why would you want to use it in a sinful fashion?

It's got to be raised, it's going to be raised.

He talks about union with Christ.

What number is this, number seven?

Young men, is it number seven?

Okay, you sure?

That's number six?

Okay, good.

Number six, I stand corrected.

Are you sure, is it number six?

Number seven, okay.

Told his mom earlier today that my kids, when they took really good notes three or four times, they got $5, and man, their eyes were

big.

Not the parents, but the kids.

I think it's number seven, union with Christ.

I love how Paul, he's not afraid to use law, but he's weaving all these truths in, gospel truths, truths about what

God has done for you.

Union with Christ, verses 15 through 17.

Our legal union with Christ as we have now this great substitute, he's

acted in our place, and we have the Spirit of God given to us to help us,

a legal union, a vital union.

Verse 15, do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?

Shall then I take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute?

Never.

Do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her?

For it is written, the two will become one flesh.

Here's union with Christ right here, but he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.

I challenge you, dear congregation, go home and type in union with Christ, and study that great

doctrine.

We ought to know that doctrine.

Well, Paul has two more for us, and then we'll call it a night.

What else do we need to know?

If law is a good guide like a GPS, what motivates the Christian?

Number eight, you're the temple of the Holy Spirit.

You're the temple of the Holy Spirit.

Verse 19, or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have

from God?

Sometimes the temple is used with plural language.

We are all the temple.

Sometimes, like here, it's singular for the individual believers,

but you're not your own.

You're not your own, so why would you do that?

And then finally, number nine, redemption.

Found in verse 20, you're bought with a price, so glorify God with your body.

Instead of, and some have thought, instead of paying for prostitutes, Corinthians,

somebody's paid for you.

And it's cost a lot more than money.

You're in the slave pit of sin with me, and the Lord Jesus redeems us and buys us,

and that purchase price is the Lord Jesus.

Why would we run back to sin?

We've been bought with a holy blood for a holy purpose by a holy God.

First Corinthians 7, you were bought with a price.

Mark 10, the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many.

Ephesians 1, in Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of

His grace.

David Pryor writes, for all their so -called knowledge, the Corinthians had lost sight of the

centrality of Jesus Christ, the controlling power of the Holy Spirit, and the transformation

of having been called and saved by God.

If someone comes to you and says, I'm really struggling with something, would you please do them a

favor?

Don't tell them to try harder.

Don't only give them law.

You can give law, that's fine.

But Paul, when he's addressing underneath the inspiration of the Spirit of God, addressing all these problems in Corinth,

he talks a lot about the person and work of the triune God.

Tim Chester, alongside your talk about sex, need to talk about grace.

And not just grace in the abstract, but grace of God in the death of Christ.

Christ dies in our place, bearing our guilt, so there's no condemnation for those in Christ.

There is no condemnation for porn users, adulterers, sexual deviants who are in Christ.

This is not being soft on sin, quite the opposite.

It takes sin so seriously that the only remedy is the death of the eternal Son of

God.

Look at the cross and see what God thinks of your sex sin.

And the death of His own Son is the only act that can contone for what you've done.

But in the act is grace and love and forgiveness and adoption.

There's no condemnation.

Dear Christian, Chester writes, churches are full of people desperately

trying to self -atone for their lust, desperately trying to sort themselves out,

desperately trying to prove they're good enough for God.

And the message from the pulpit needs to be, it is finished, Jesus has done it all.

And a God who loves me like that, I wanna honor.

One man said, God leads you by pleasant attractions.

And I know what you're saying.

This is too good to be true.

It's too good, but it's true.

If the God of the universe would love me like that and let His Son die for me for

no apparent reason that I could even think of, except it pleased Him.

Israel, why did I die for you?

Why did I, excuse me, why did I ransom you?

You're smarter, stronger, bigger?

No, just because I love you.

The next time a Christian friend calls you and says, I'm really struggling with gossip and pride or

complaining and slander or sexual sin or pornography,

what will you tell him or her?

Bow with me, please.

Father in heaven, I thank you for your word.

I thank you that you take people like us and make us saints by divine feat,

all because of the person and work of the Lord Jesus.

Thank you for the Holy Spirit who applied us all the benefits, and I pray for this dear congregation that you would keep her

free from sexual sin.

And there are those here tonight that are Christian people that struggle with sin.

When we struggle with sin, would you help them?

Would you woo them by the gospel truth that nobody has ever loved me like you, and I'd like to live a life of

gratitude?

Father, thank you that you have not left us on our own, but the death of Christ and faith in Him not only saves us

from condemnation, but from the indwelling power of sin.

Broken it is, and we're thankful that one day there'll be no presence of sin because we'll be in your presence,

worshiping together worthy as the lamb who was slain.

Father, increase our hearts and the fame in our hearts of the Lord Jesus, for without Him, there is

zero sanctification and holy living.

In His name we pray.

No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West

Boylston.

Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life -transforming power of

God's word through verse -by -verse exposition of the sacred text.

Please come and join us.

Our service times are Sunday morning at 1015 and in the evening at six.

We're right on route 110 in West Boylston.

You can check us out online at bbchurch .org or by

phone at 508 -835 -3400.