Gospel Holiness

Yesterday I continued our series on gospel commitments with a sermon from 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 on gospel holiness.  You can find the audio for the sermon here and a summary of the sermon below.

Consider the passage.

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, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

From this passage, I presented three requirements of gospel holiness.

Gospel holiness requires a right view of God.

Our understanding of every doctrine is wrapped up in our understanding of God.  If we are to understand the nature of Scripture, we must understand God, the author of Scripture.  If we are to understand man, we must understand his Creator and the One in Whose image he is made, God.  We could go on and on.

In order to pursue gospel holiness, we need a right view of the holiness, justice, wrath, and love of God.  None of these attributes should be pitted against the others as the most important, but should be recognized as fitting together to form the unity that is our God.

The holiness of God is seen very clearly in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11.  Paul says that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God.  This also shows us that God requires holiness from us and punishes unrighteousness.  These are important truths that necessarily affect our pursuit of gospel holiness.

Gospel holiness requires a right view of sin.

Just as it is essential for us to view God rightly, it is also important for us to view sin rightly.  We must learn to view sin the way that God views sin.

We can look at sin in two different ways.  In one sense sin can refer to specific acts of sin, as it does in this passage where Paul lists several specific sins.  We should also recognize that this list of sins in 1 Corinthians 6 is not exhaustive.  Paul could have gone on and on and would have eventually gotten to your pet sin.  We are all unrighteous before God because of our sin.

Sin can also refer to the sin nature that we have all inherited from Adam (Romans 5:12).  This isn't emphasized in this passage but is very clearly taught throughout Scripture.

There are certainly some other things that we need to know about sin as well.  Sin is deceptive.  Paul says, "Do not be deceived."  We are easily deceived by the lies of the enemy.  We must beware.  We also like to hide our sin from others.  The problem is that sin festers in the darkness.  It must be brought to the light and revealed so that it can be fought against.

Sin is also far-reaching.  Your sin problem is much greater than you ever thought that it was.  You have been so affected by the Fall that you are able to sin at times without even recognizing that you have sinned.  We must cry out to God in repentance, seeking His forgiveness, as David does in Psalm 139.

It should also be noted that gospel holiness is countercultural.  In recent days this was made evident by the response to the comments made by one of America's bearded heroes, Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson.  You must be aware of the fact that you will be silenced and maligned for speaking the truth of Scripture.

But let's not camp out on homosexuality too long.   Paul includes homosexuality in a whole list of sinful behaviors.   Our culture is out of control in so many areas.  Divorce rates continue to skyrocket.  Pornography is an epidemic.  Our greed is sickening.  And the list goes on and on.

There is no doubt that this makes the pursuit of gospel holiness difficult.  Do not be deceived.  However, I think it also makes the pursuit of gospel holiness stand out.  Do not think that the gospel will not advance because sin abounds.  For Paul says that where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more (Romans 5:20).

We have an opportunity to live out gospel holiness for a watching world by standing firm on sin.  We must not compromise on sin, because it is the very gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ that is at stake.  That includes some of the more visible sins like fornication and homosexuality, but it also includes heart sins like pride and greed.

Let's also be clear that the problem is not just sin.  The problem is that we are sinners.  Paul says, "And such were some of you."  It is possible for us to focus our attention so much on sin itself that we allow ourselves to forget that we, and everyone else, are sinners.   All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).  There is none righteous, no not one (Romans 3:10).

So what is our right response to sin?  We must repent.  Not only do we repent at conversion but we must continually practice repentance in our lives.  We must do war with our sin.  We must view sin as God views sin and fight against it with every fiber of our being.

This is hard, but there is help and hope.

Gospel holiness requires the work of God.

Paul says that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God.  This means that we have a problem because we are all the unrighteous.  But be reminded that there is victory over sin through Jesus Christ.

Consider verse eleven again.

And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

There is an initial, continual, and final victory over sin through Jesus Christ.  Those who are in Christ have been washed, sanctified, and justified.  We were once characterized by the sins that Paul lists in verses 9-10, but we no longer are.  God has done a great work in our lives and He continues to do that great work.  We must depend upon Him to continue that work as we actively fight against sin.

This means that victory over sin is not limited to one particular sin.  There is victory over all sin for those who would repent and believe on the Lord Jesus.  This includes pornography, greed, homosexuality, pride, idolatry, drunkenness, etc., etc., etc. 

Whatever your struggle, there is hope in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.  You can say with Paul, "Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?  Thanks be to God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 7:24-25).

I'll conclude by challenging you in the same way that I did my congregation yesterday.  Identify two areas of sin in your life.  Repent and seek to live out gospel holiness in those areas as you depend upon the work of the Spirit in your life.