In his letter to the Corinthian Christians, the apostle Paul makes a statement that every Christian should carefully note and put in practice. He writes, “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything.” (1 Corinthians 6:12).
Taken in context, Paul tells the Corinthians “do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 6:9). And he lists the sinful behaviors and practices of those who do not know Jesus Christ as their Savior with special reference to the “sexually immoral,” (Vs. 9 & 10). Paul warns those guilty of sexual sins to “Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.” (V. 18).
Paul reminds those believers of the change resulting from their faith in Christ by telling them, “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.” (V. 11).
To be washed means “the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7). “You were sanctified” means to be set apart for God. The Lord Jesus asked God to “Sanctify them [Christians] in the truth; your word is truth.” (John 17:17). “You were justified” means God declares and treats the Christian as righteous because he believes in Jesus Christ. “We have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:1).
To the Corinthians who received Christ as their Savior, Paul asks them, “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.” (1 Corinthians 6:19,20).
Having received the Lord Jesus as our personal Savior, our body becomes a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God. This is the contrast between Christian and non-christian. And as such, God expects us to live the “separated” Christian life to its fullest extent with the leading and guidance of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
This was the situation in Paul’s day. Isn’t the exact situation applicable to today as well? It sure is. The more things change, the more they remain the same as in this case. People sin because all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory, and no one is righteous.
Sinful man is missing the mark. He has violated God’s laws. The Scripture says, “For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:22,23). The tragic nature of sin is such that “your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.” (Isaiah 59:2). Immoral and corrupt man is a sinner by nature and also a sinner by practice, hence, he is unable to meet the divine standard.
God, and only God could provide the once-and-for-all remedy for the sin question. That remedy is through the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and what He did on the Cross.
The Scripture says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23). “Our sin has earned us death.” Writes Dr Charles Stanley. “Either you pay it and forfeit your life, or Jesus pays it and gives you eternal life (Matt. 16:25,26)—you make the choice. All of our good works cannot earn us a place in heaven. Our only hope is to receive the free gift that Jesus Christ has purchased for us on the Cross (John 3:16-18).” (The Charles F Stanley Life Principles Bible NKJV p. 1347).
Here are references Dr Stanley quoted:
Matthew 16:25,26 “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it; but whoever will lose his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”
John 3:16-18 “For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
Wouldn’t you rather know Jesus loves you
Wouldn’t you rather know Jesus died for you
Wouldn’t you rather know your sins are forgiven
Wouldn’t you rather know the peace of God
Wouldn’t you rather know you’re heaven-bound —Geoff Daniels/2021
You can answer yes to all questions by asking Jesus Christ to come into you heart and save you from your sins. Here’s what you do. “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” (Romans 10:9,10). You will be saved means Jesus saves you from the guilt and penalty of sin. Justified means God treats you as righteous because Jesus bore your sins on the Cross being made sin for you. In other words, treated as if you never sinned.