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AMUSEMENTS…Does a Christian Participate Or not?
07 Sunday Jun 2015
07 Sunday Jun 2015
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06 Saturday Jun 2015
Posted Antinomianism, contending for the faith, Did God Really Say?, Do You Love Jesus?, Doctrine matters!, Easy "Spirituality", Easy Believe-ism, Heart contents, Intolerance of Sin, KNOWING Jesus, Lip Service Only?, made up god?, Nature of Sin, No Fruit, Objective obedience to the word of God, Powerless Spirituality, Pride, Rebellious Hearts, Religious Non-Regeneration, Self Appraisal, self deceived fools, Spiritual Adultery, Submission, Teaching, True Regeneration, True Submission, Truly Twice Born, Truth, Uncategorized, Unchanging Word of God, Undeniable Truth
inWhat is antinomianism? Anti is the Greek prefix that means “against,” and nomian comes from the Greek word nomos, which means “law;” thus, antinomianism means “anti-lawism.” As we considered the problem of legalism, you will recall that it was important to understand that there are several varieties of legalism. It’s not good enough to simply have a blanket understanding of legalism. We need to be precise in our thinking and see the differences as they manifest themselves. The same is true of antinomianism. There are different kinds of antinomianism, and each has its own subtle variations and attractive dimensions.
The first type of antinomianism is called libertinism. Since our justification is by faith alone and not by the works of the law, a libertine Christian might think he is under grace and totally free from having to obey God’s commandments. Libertinism becomes a license to sin, so it is really liberty gone astray. The libertine may be tempted to think that his love of sin and God’s eagerness to forgive is a great combination. God gets to do what He loves and the sinner gets to do what he loves. A person of this inclination fails to remember what Paul wrote in the book of Romans: “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?” (Rom. 6: 1). Paul answers that rhetorical question by saying, “God forbid that we should ever arrive at a conclusion like that.”
Unfortunately, this is the philosophy of the libertine. He sees his redemption from the curse of the law as a license to sin.
Consider also what Peter said, “For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God”( 1 Peter 2: 15– 16). It sounds almost contradictory when Peter describes us as free and servants of God at the same time. But it is only when we are in bondage to Christ that we understand true liberty. Peter warns against those who use their freedom as a license for wrongdoing.
A second type of antinomianism is what I call gnostic spiritualism. During the first and second centuries, one of the most dangerous rivals to the Christian faith was Gnosticism. The Gnostics took their name from the Greek word for knowledge— gnosis. They believed that they had access to special forms of knowledge that others did not have. They thought they had authority to recommend certain forms of non-Christian behavior because they presumed to possess higher knowledge that was secretive and esoteric.
We don’t have card-carrying Gnostics in the twenty-first century in the same form they were found millennia ago, but the Gnostic heresy is still alive and well. In fact, the Gnostic spirit of ethics is epidemic in Evangelical Christianity. But where do we see evidence of this Gnostic spirit?
Just consider how often you have heard people say, “The Spirit led me to do this or to do that.” We have to be very cautious here. God the Holy Spirit does lead us, but the primary meaning of the leading of the Holy Spirit is not to lead us to marry this person or that person or to lead us to Cincinnati or Chicago. The primary place to which the Spirit leads us is to holiness and obedience. Sadly, many Christians put a cloak of spirituality around their ethical decisions so as to effectively stop voices of criticism before they’re even heard.
Certainly, the Spirit lead us to certain specific life choices such as a spouse, a new job, or a new place to live. But it’s all too easy to remove yourself from any discussion about the choices that you make by simply saying, “God is calling me to do . . .” Who wants to argue with God’s call? This can easily become a sinful evasion of responsibility where we use spiritual language to remove ourselves from accountability in the Christian community. There are times when we should be required to give thoughtful reasons as to why we want to do whatever it is we want to do.
Importantly, the guidance of the Holy Spirit is not in itself antinomianism. It’s not anti-law to be led by the Spirit of God; we’re supposed to follow the leading of the Spirit of God. What becomes devastating is doing things that are clearly violating the revealed principles and precepts of the Word of God and then having the audacity to defend our actions by saying the Holy Spirit led us into it. I know one Christian man who became involved in a moral problem that was a direct violation of the law of God. He knew that was the case, but he was so caught up in it that his defense was that he had prayed about it and God had granted him an exception. That man was fooling himself and, at the same time, doing violence to the Holy Spirit.
God the Holy Spirit does not lead us to break His law. We are called to test the spirits. A spirit who is from God agrees with the testimony of the Holy Spirit, who has given us the Scriptures. We must be careful of this kind of spiritualism that confuses our desires with the leading of the Lord. It’s a veiled form of antinomianism.
I call the third type of antinomianism situationalism. Maybe you’ve heard the familiar phrase situational ethics. This philosophy was developed by Joseph Fletcher. He sought to make love the highest norm above all others. He was searching for a middle road between the two dangers of legalism and antinomianism, and he declared that the only absolute was the absolute law to love. All other laws, he declared, are subject to the law of love and should be broken if a better and more loving course of action can be found. Fletcher wanted to find the best outcome of a given situation by holding up the law of love. This may sound well and good, but this view has problems. We must never say that Scripture’s other laws are negotiable or reducible to one ill-designed view of love. Fletcher said that we are supposed to do what seems right in a given situation. We are to do what love would demand that we do. But the Bible doesn’t say what love seems to be; rather, it defines what love is.~R.C. Sproul
John 14:15….15“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
I Corinthians 13:1-13…1If I speak in the tonguesa of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,b but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
John 14:23-24…23Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. 24“He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.
I John 2:3-5…3By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; 5but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him:…
1 John 2:9…Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness.
I John 3:6… No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.
I John 3:9-10…9No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. 10By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.
John 9:41…41Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.
James 4:17…If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.
I John 1:6-8…6If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; 7but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.…
Do you pass or fail according to GOD? There is where the truth of your salvation is….
06 Saturday Jun 2015
“The man who hears the word of God, and does it, is the true Christian. He hears the call of God to repent and be converted, and he obeys it. He ceases to do evil, and learns to do well. He puts off the old man, and puts on the new. He hears the call of God to believe on Jesus Christ for justification, and he obeys it. He forsakes his own righteousness, and confesses his need of a Savior. He receives Christ crucified as his only hope, and counts all things loss for the knowledge of Him. He hears the call of God to be holy, and he obeys it. He strives to mortify the deeds of his body, and to walk after the Spirit. He labors to lay aside every weight, and the sin that so easily besets him. This is true vital Christianity. All men and women who are of this character are true Christians.”— J.C. Ryle
03 Wednesday Jun 2015
Posted Antinomianism, Damned, Dead Man Walking, Dead to truth, Deception, HELL, Immoral Fools, KNOWING Jesus, Liars, Lip Service Only?, Lying Lips, Managing Sin, No Fruit, Obedience to God's word, Objective obedience to the word of God, Posers, Powerless Spirituality, Practical hatred of God, Rebellious Hearts, Religious Non-Regeneration, Reprobates, Self Appraisal, self deceived fools, True Regeneration, Truly Twice Born, Truth, Uncategorized, Unchanging Word of God, Undeniable Truth
inTags
Death, Doctrine, eternity, God's Word, REAL Fruit, Rotten fruit
Sanctification is that inward spiritual work which Jesus Christ works in a man by the Holy Spirit, when He calls him to be a true believer, separates him from his natural love of sin and the world, puts a new principle in his heart, and makes him practically godly in life.
Sanctification is the only certain evidence of the indwelling Holy Spirit. The Spirit never lies dormant within the soul. He makes His presence known by the fruit He produces. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). Where these things are found, there is the Spirit. Where these things are lacking, men are dead before God.
The Spirit is compared to the wind, and, like the wind, He cannot be seen by our eyes. But just as we know there is a wind by the effect it produces on waves, trees, and smoke, so we may know the Spirit is in a man by the effects He produces in the man’s conduct.
Where there is no holy living there is no Holy Spirit. The seal that the Spirit stamps on Christ’s people is sanctification. As many as are actually led by the Spirit of God, they, and they only, are the sons of God (Romans 8:14).
Sanctification is also the only sure mark of God’s election. The names of the elect are a secret thing, which God has wisely kept to Himself. But if there is one thing clearly laid down about election, it is that elect men and women may be known by holy lives. He that boasts of being one of God’s elect, while he is habitually living in sin is only deceiving himself.
Of course it is hard to know what people really are. Many make a fair show outwardly in religion who may turn out at last to be rotten-hearted hypocrites. But where there is not, at least, some appearance of sanctification, we may be quite certain there is no election.~J. C. Ryle
Fruit shows. Fresh or rotten. It shows.
02 Tuesday Jun 2015
Where, exactly? Surely not heaven.
Cheap grace is no grace at all.
30 Saturday May 2015
Posted False Conversion, False Fruit, God's Word, Heart contents, HELL, Homosexuality, Idols of death, Immoral Fools, Is your sin managing YOU?, Last Days, Lip Service Only?, Little god, man's depravity, Men who like boys, Mortifying Sin, Pederasty, Pedophiles, Predators, Real Fruit of the Spirit, Rebellious Hearts, Reprobate Minds, Results of Ongoing Sin, Self Appraisal, self deceived fools, Sexual Predators, Sin, Sin KILLS, Spiritual Adultery, Submission, Teaching, True Regeneration, True Submission, Truly Twice Born, Truth, Uncategorized, Unchanging Word of God, Undeniable Truth
inTags
Abomination, Death, eternity, Sin, Solid Scripture, Truth, Word of God
Orthodox in creed–but heterodox in life!
(Charles Spurgeon, “Flowers from a Puritan’s Garden” 1883)
When we hear of men living in sin and yet claiming to be Christians, we are disgusted with their pretenses–but we are not deceived by their professions.
In the same manner, we care little for those who are orthodox Christians in creed–if it is clear that they are heterodox in life. He who believes the truth, should himself be true. How can we expect others to receive our religion–if it leaves us foul, false, malicious, and selfish?
We sicken at the sight of a dirty dish, and refuse even good food when it is placed thereon. So pure and holy is the doctrine of the cross, that . . .
he who hears it aright will have his ear cleansed,
he who believes it will have his mind and heart purged,
he who preaches it should have his tongue purified.
Woe unto that man who brings reproach upon the gospel by an unholy walk and life!
Lord, evermore make us vessels fit for your own use, and then fill us with the pure juice of the grapes of sound doctrine and wholesome instruction. Do not allow us to be such foul cups as to be only fit for the wine of Sodom!
30 Saturday May 2015
Posted Christian focus, contending for the faith, Did God Really Say?, Do You Love Jesus?, Genuine Repentance, God glorifying?, God's Appraisal, God's Word, Heart contents, Honoring the Lord, Idols of death, KNOWING Jesus, Living the word of God, Obedience to God's word, Real Fruit of the Spirit, Spiritual Adultery, Submission, True Fruit of Repentance, True Obedience to God, True Regeneration, Truly Twice Born, Truth, Uncategorized, Unchanging Word of God, Undeniable Truth
in“Oh sirs, if I had a dear brother who had been murdered, what would you think of me if I valued the knife which had been crimsoned with his blood? — if I made a friend of the murderer, and daily consorted with the assassin, who drove the dagger into my brother’s heart? Surely I, too, must be an accomplice in the crime! Sin murdered Christ; will you be a friend to it? Sin pierced the heart of the Incarnate God; can you love it? Oh, that there was an abyss as deep as Christ’s misery, that I might at once hurl this dagger of sin into its depths, whence it might never be brought to light again! Begone, O sin!” (C. H. Spurgeon.)
28 Thursday May 2015
Posted Did God Really Say?, Genuine Repentance, God glorifying?, God's Appraisal, God's Husbands, God's Man, God's Word, Honoring the Lord, Idols of death, Living the word of God, Marriage God's Way, Obedience to God's word, Real Fruit of the Spirit, Real MEN, True Fruit of Repentance, True Obedience to God, True Regeneration, True Submission, Truly Twice Born, Truth, Unchanging Word of God, Undeniable Truth
inWow! Here’s a breath of refreshing air! That’s TWO godly men I have seen recently say what is true! How great to see a man actually speak the truth, not what is “popular” at the nudging of the world in the absolutely wrong direction! Contrary to the world’s pet instruction and opinion (and yes, I also mean the worldly church), God has given men THE accountability partner. Now, men can talk with other men, there’s nothing wrong with that. But never to the exclusion of or BEFORE they talk with the one God has given them to be in a lifelong accountability relationship with…their wives. Men…time to man up and live God’s word. And tell your buddies and your pastor….”I’ll get back to you after I talk with my wife”. The only thing stopping you is most likely the sin you do not want to give up. Compound sin, embraced, will only get you so far. But never all the way to heaven and the company of the Lord for eternity.~AMG
When it comes to porn use, there are some who argue that men don’t need help to escape sexual temptation and porn addiction.
They argue that through the strength of the human will, men are able to think about the women around them at all times with nothing but purity, integrity, and sexual neutrality.
Almost as if porn use and sexual addiction is an uncommon thing; something done only by the rare creep who can’t control himself, living on the fringe of society in his mother’s basement; not something common to mankind.
But for those of us who know better, we know that sexual temptation is commonplace, and that it’s an expectable phenomenon due to our fallen and sinful human natures… and we know we need help. We need someone, a partner, to hold us accountable for our activities.
But who can help? The great debate: who makes for the best accountability partner?
Should your wife be your accountability partner? Should your pastor be your accountability partner? Should your friend be your accountability partner?
You have a lot of choices, so let’s examine the options.
Let’s start in reverse order; with your male friend. It’s extremely likely that your male friend watches porn, or has been addicted to porn in the past.
That’s a problem. Why?
Because he is able to relate to your struggles. When you tell him about your failures, he is reminded of his own. He is unable to judge your actions from a perspective that is completely pure and innocent.
You’ll get the reaffirming hand on the shoulder. The “I understand brother” reassurance. Reassurance, that no matter how much you fail, sexual temptation is just a fact of life that all men will perpetually deal with.
You’ll be reassured that your porn use is something common to man, that it doesn’t necessarily make you a failure, just a man.
That may not be what your friend is trying to convey, and it may not necessarily be true, but it is often a side effect of having male accountability partners.
Sure you’ll likely be pointed towards redemption in Christ and told that there is freedom in Him, but I ask you…
How long have you been using male accountability partners? And has it truly been effective in breaking your addictions? Or do you go back week after week to an accountability group of brothers in Christ, only to report that you had yet another “shortcoming”?
Why is your pastor a step up from a male friend? Probably because he is [hopefully] cleaner and even more steadfast than you and the average layperson in the church.
As a pastor, he has an obligation to lead the church by example. Hopefully that means that he is leading a pure life, and hopefully too that means that he knows the best guidance to give when it comes to your struggles.
BUT, as a man, your pastor is still just a man; a man who most likely has struggled with porn use himself in the past, and perhaps still struggles with porn use in the present.
(According to Covenant Eyes, 51% of pastors say that porn use is a “possible temptation”)
A couple of years ago, while I was using accountability software for internet use, my pastor received an internet usage report every two weeks.
One thing that came to light was that as a man, when my pastor saw the websites I was visiting, and the content I was looking at, he fell a few times himself, and explored what I had been viewing.
Pastors aren’t above porn use, and your struggles might cause even the best of them to stumble, especially if they’re receiving online accountability reports with detailed site descriptions or search terms.
Pastors are just men after all. They are just a [hopefully] more spiritual version of your male friends. Men should not be your accountability partners, unless they’re willing to take drastic actions with you; like taking your computer’s plug in cord, or fasting with you for weeks.
But since neither party is normally willing to do things like that, let’s examine a highly effective solution that might help you as well as it has helped me.
What is the major thing that distinguishes your wife from your male friends and your pastor(s)? She’s a she; she’s a woman. And as a woman, her accountability is going to be dramatically different than that of a male.
How so?
Well for one, she’s likely never been addicted to pornography.
(Again, according to Covenant Eyes, men are 543% more likely to look at porn than women.)
Has your wife likely struggled with sexual temptation at some point? Yes, but we know that when it comes to sexual temptation, women are dramatically different than men.
Perhaps that’s why Jesus was talking specifically to men when he said in Matthew 5:28: “But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
When you confess your sexual sins and porn use to your wife, you’re telling someone who, when it comes to porn, is [hopefully] completely pure: innocent and unable to understand and relate to your problem.
In essence, your wife should be your accountability partner, because it’s as if pure and innocent light is shining upon the darkness of sin. She is able to judge you and condemn your sins in a way that your male friends can not.
With your wife, it’s like light judging darkness. With your male friends or pastor, it’s more like darkness judging darkness.
Secondly, aside from God, your wife is the primary person your sinning against. When you confess your sexual sins to your male friends or pastor(s), your confessing to them sins that you ultimately committed against an absent party, your wife.
When you confess to your wife, you’re exposing your sins to the very person you’ve been sinning against. And that’s going to cause deep pain in that individual.
The pain and sorrow in your wife’s eyes during a moment of confession may be the perfect antidote to your sexual sin; at least it has been for me, and many others.
In fact, the two fold condemnation of light judging darkness and personal grievance, has been enough to cripple the effects of porn in my life. So much so that I actually seek it out and have instituted it in the marriage.
After the original confession of porn use to my wife a few months into our marriage, I loved the devastation it wrought on my secrets so much, that I encouraged my wife to ask me regularly if I have been looking at porn.
Regular and loving (not nagging) inquisition from my wife has been the perfect accountability to keep me from looking at porn sites.
It’s very difficult to look at porn sites when you know that your wife is going to ask you in a few days time if you have failed.
For those who want their wives to be their accountability partners and are very addicted to porn, make sure your wife asks you every day or two. For those who are doing better, encourage her to ask you at least every week or two, and watch the chains of porn’s bondage fall off before your very eyes.
Should your wife be your accountability partner? I know my wife should be my accountability partner, and she is, and it’s been wonderful. God bless, and let ChristianManliness.com know how it goes.”
http://www.christianmanliness.com/wife-accountability-partner-man/
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27 Wednesday May 2015
Posted Abusers passive and agressive, Adultery, Christian focus, Crushing Truth, Dead Conscience, Dead Man Walking, Dead to truth, Deception, Did God Really Say?, Do You Love Jesus?, Enmity with God, Genuine Repentance, Given Over, God glorifying?, God's Appraisal, God's Command, God's Husbands, God's Man, God's Word, Heart contents, Honoring the Lord, Idols of death, Immoral Fools, Is your sin managing YOU?, KNOWING Jesus, Last Days, Lip Service Only?, Living the word of God, Managing Sin, Marriage God's Way, Mortifying Sin, Nature of Sin, Obedience to God's word, Practical hatred of God, Pride, Religious Non-Regeneration, Reprobate Minds, Self Appraisal, self deceived fools, Sin KILLS, Spiritual Adultery, Submission, Teaching, True Fruit of Repentance, True Obedience to God, True Regeneration, True Submission, Truly Twice Born, Truth, Uncategorized, Unchanging Word of God, Undeniable Truth
inTags
Abomination, Biblical Authority, Death, Disobedience, eternity, false converts, Haughty, Prideful rebellion, Sin, Truth, Word of God
Ladies…this is what your husband is biblically commanded to do….no matter what anyone else promotes or condones. THIS. Any man who calls himself a Christian will do this. It is what Christians DO. If he does not, if he turns instead to other guys, groups, anyone else, he is living in willful disobedience. And no one who is of Christ makes a practice of sinning. Disobedience is as the sin of witchcraft….what kind of Christian practices witchcraft?? This would be man who wants to live in isolation, as a single man, and who probably uses those he talks with in a dishonest manner to shore up his own deceived heart in thinking he is somehow saved, and works hard to keep everyone from talking to one another, as what he says he does not want you to know about. Which means he is hiding his sin from you (very bad thing to be doing) as well as probably using you as an excuse for the obfuscated sins he will cop to. The safe ones. The ones he probably has been using as a crutch while “sincerely” wanting to rid himself of them. Bottom line…he is lying somewhere and using you as an excuse and a cover instead of taking full responsibility for his sin and to eradicate it. Awkward.
Now…ladies, if you are not adhering to this as well…and I realize it is not a safe thing to be doing with men who are sociopathic or who lie to cover their sin, or who have abandoned the marriage or who are choosing to live chronically single(as delineated above) …..but if God says it, we must do it regardless and leave the consequences to HIM to deal with. I doubt that any good will come of you sharing that your struggle is with your sin loving husband, so maybe stick to personal growth in Christ things. And if your husband is as mine is and too many times takes what you say about your struggles or your own insights and uses it for his own “insights” when he is talking to people who are not you but should be…(yes, honey…you)….let him. If he is so dull of mind and heart that he cannot see his own, again….God will deal with him in that one way or the other. Either now, or when he meets Him face to face. We cannot live playing the second guess game, it’s insane….so just LIVE, and live freely in Christ, doing as He says, and leaving everyone else to Him to deal justly with. He WILL reward all you know. Make sure yours is a crown. Your husband…that’s his problem to work out. Who knows, Maybe your husband will tell you he doesn’t want to know. If he’s a schmuck that is an easy thing to submit to, right? 😉
And if your husband or wife is a truly godly person, this probably is not for you except to remind you that your obedience of God’s word will be rewarded well. Keep on doing what you have been, obeying the word, being accountable to Him and to your spouse first, and growing in Christ-likeness and in closeness to the one God has given you to cherish and to help you grow. And know how blessed you truly are in that! God be praised!
“When you’ve sinned against your spouse, is it important to bring all that out into the open? Isn’t it enough that we were broken before God? Why take my husband/wife through all that pain?
What should you tell your wife (or your husband) about the struggle you’re having? Anything?
Faithfulness in marriage cuts both directions but for the Christian, the Bible lays the greater responsibility on the husband who is supposed to be leading his family as their spiritual head and loving his wife as Christ loved the Church, so that’s who’s under the limelight, here.
Like clockwork, at the annual men’s retreat the topic of lust will inevitably come up, along with strategies for taming the monster. Before long, the speaker is advocating“getting real” with your “accountability partners” – that group of a few guys to whom you tell all.
Now, there’s nothing wrong with getting together with your buddies and confessing which pigpen you’ve been wallowing around in. And it is a little uncomfortable to talk openly and pray with the guys for victory over the various ways you’ve been committing adultery.
Hey, wait a minute . . . I’m not an adulterer!
Really? According to whom?
Jesus said that merely looking at a woman with lust is committing adultery. So even if we’ve kept the sin discreetly inside our minds, looked at magazines when nobody’s looking, or erased the porn history on our computers, its adultery by God’s definition – you know, the one that matters.
Time to get the accountability group together . . . I can tell them but I definitely can’t tell my wife. It would really hurt her and I want to spare her the pain.
Every married man understands this logic. When we’ve sinned sexually against her, our wife is the last person on earth we want to talk to about it.
Question: Is it really because we want to spare her the pain or spare ourselves the shame?
There’s something too easy in telling only the guys – all of whom struggle or have struggled with sexual sin. There’s a safe comfort in the fellowship of failure. It’s a no-risk proposition. After all, you’re confessing your sin (against another person who isn’t present) to a group of guys who have pledged that no matter what you’ve done you will never be rejected and nothing, absolutely nothing, of what gets said will violate the gag-order you’ve all agreed to.
That’s not what Jesus did.
He became sin in front of the very person against whom the sins (our sins) were committed: God. And, Jesus bore the shame and the pain of God turning his face from him. He was physically tortured, bleeding, and shamed – hanging off nails, buck-naked for everyone to see.
My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?
Jesus didn’t hide from shame. Neither should we.
Your wife is the accountability partner God provided for you.
And, wives, your husband is the accountability partner God provided for you.
According to Him, the two of you are one single entity (the two shall become one) and your bodies belong to each other, made crystal clear by 1 Cor. 7:4.
A lot can happen when we don’t hide our sin from our wife – when we confess and ask for forgiveness. She will be hurt. She might even reject you. Sin brings shame, pain, and consequences.
But, there’s something that happens when we’ve borne the shame of our sin before our wife. What once had a hammerlock on our conscience begins to lose its grip.
Confess to your wife and drag Sin, kicking and screaming, into the light where you can get a good look at what a powerless wimp it really is.
I can’t believe I gave into to that!
You did, but you didn’t have to. For the Christian, sin has no power except the power we give it – Romans 6:12.(Click Here to read about how sin’s power in your life has been broken)
So, step into the light with your real accountability partner. Tell her (or him!) you don’t want to just say you are one but to live that way from now on.
Circumstances will vary and applying this principle will not look the same in every marriage but for most, this is how God would have men and women deal with the sin they’ve committed against each other – even the most shameful kind.
When we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 1:7
God bless you as you walk in the true oneness of unity.
~Matthew
http://matthewljacobson.com/2015/02/23/your-husbandwife-is-your-accountability-partner/
26 Tuesday May 2015
Posted Teaching, Truly Twice Born, Truth, Uncategorized, Unchanging Word of God, Undeniable Truth, Works
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The sinner is dead in trespasses and sins, and can no more quicken himself than he can create a world. His heart is bound fast with the grave-clothes of worldly and fleshly lusts, and only Omnipotence can raise it into communion with God.
Divine power was needed to create, but much greater power is required to regenerate a soul: creation is only the bringing of something out of nothing, but regeneration is the transforming not only of an unlovely object, but of one that resists with all its might the gracious designs of the heavenly Potter.
Rightly did Thomas Goodwin the Puritan say, “A wolf will sooner marry a lamb, or a lamb a wolf, than ever a carnal heart be subject to the law of God, which was the ancient husband of it (Romans 7:6). It is the turning of one contrary into another. To turn water into wine, there is some kind of symbolizing, yet that is a miracle. But to turn a wolf into a lamb, to turn fire into water, is a yet greater miracle.
Pink, A.W. (2010-07-26). Practical Christianity
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