Mar 19, Kingdom Uncaged. At the end of her story, after all the folks who understood their sin slipped away, she is left alone with the Only One who could and should condemn her. Jesus, the Perfect One, tells her He does not condemn her. He knew that soon He would die on a cross for her sins, and that His work would be completed. That pivot in time, the cross, allows Jesus to say this to you, to me. But we forget His final words. His transformative, outrageous grace must now inspire her choices and behavior from this time forward.
Recently, we were walking through 1 Thessalonians in our life group, which has some pretty pointed words about sexual sin. We camped in verses The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before. Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit. You might find the word familiar: porneias. Premarital sex, postmarital sex after death or divorce are prohibited. One person described what it was like to be in a singles ministry where many folks typically post-divorce felt hooking up was fine.
In fact, they thought he was strange for wanting to get married. Others piped in, nodding, that they had heard of this kind of laissez-faire behavior when it comes to extramarital sex. Some believe sex is fine as long as there is commitment involved. Casual sex was both welcomed and permissible.
Scripture is clear for the person who follows Jesus, whether you like it or not, that His will is for us to live holy, pure, dedicated lives. If we are shamelessly pursuing sexual sin, then dismissing it as nothing at all, we have disregarded the outrageous grace Jesus gave the adulterous woman.
Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body.
