New Life!
How are you? How is your week going? Are you living out your “new life?”
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. -2 Corinthians 5:17
We have new life. We have new hearts. We have new hope. We have new power. This is because God has resurrected our hearts through the Holy Spirit.
This new life gives us the power to pursue purity, like we discussed this past Sunday. Sexual purity is a spiritual discipline, and our failure to pursue it will cripple our walk with Christ and cripple the church.
Watching porn or having sex outside of marriage are not the only ways for one to be impure. You can be a virgin and not be pure. You can be married and not be pure.
I want to talk about that a little bit. Having sex OUTSIDE of marriage is a sinful act of impurity. In the same way, NEVER having sex INSIDE of marriage is also a sinful act of impurity. Also, a married person can struggle with lust and/or pornography in the same way a single person can struggle with them. Lastly, it is sinful for a married person to use their spouse sexually for their own selfish/sinful/lustful fantasies.
Purity is a matter of the heart. Jesus clarifies the seventh commandment by saying that we break it if lust is found to be in our hearts.
My last point in this email is to acknowledge the victim of sexual assault, just like I did this past Sunday. In 2 Samuel 11:4, we see that she has no say in the incident when David takes her after he objectifies her. The only words from Bathsheba in this whole chapter are found in v. 5, where she notifies David that she is pregnant. She laments the death of her husband at the end of the chapter. She is the victim, and the Bible acknowledges that and speaks into that.
Both for the sinner and the victim, there is hope in the gospel of Jesus Christ. He who was perfectly pure took on our sin on the cross and received the judgment that was due for our sin. And by faith, His perfect righteousness and purity are put in our account.
For the victim, please know that Jesus loves you. He deeply cares for you and grieves with you. He loves you so much that He came into this world and became a victim. He bore our sin and shame on the cross as He hung there naked. He was naked so that we may be clothed. He bore it all on the cross so that our wounds and shame may no longer define us but that His grace and our new life in Him may define us.
Sinner, because you have been forgiven and have new hearts in Christ, you have the power to pursue purity. It is possible. You have new life.
Victim, because you are loved and are renewed in Christ, you can heal through Christ. It is possible. You have new life.
Matthew 1 shows us that Jesus has come for the “David” and the “wife of Uriah.” He has come to save us. He has come to include us in his family. He has come out of love and grace. He has come, and He is now our hope and strength.
I don’t do this often, but this week, I encourage you to listen to this Sunday’s sermon again. There were many points that I would love to repeat but I don’t have room for them here.
Please do pre-register if you want to worship in-person (email info@newlifecolorado.net). And join me on FB Live tomorrow @5:30pm as I will talk about the Bible and social justice.
In Christ,
Pastor Tim
Photo Credit: Here