Leaving Beyond – Grounded In Scripture

Written by April J. Buchanan

All sexual immorality is sin. It is a violation of God’s holy law. It attacks the very design God has created and established for good and that reflects His holiness. When sinful men give themselves over to sinful desires, as those who are dead in sin do, they suppress the truth that reveals the beauty and glory of God in His creation and in His revealed law. This is evidenced in a culture that celebrates sexual immorality. Worse still is when the church compromises.

While there are extremes that burden the consciences of men and women with rules like the rabbis and Pharisees of the New Testament era, going beyond what was written in an attempt to keep men from falling, there is additionally another extreme in the church today. Little by little, truth is eroded as the church conforms to the patterns of the world. One extreme adds to God’s Word; the other diminishes it. Both fail to honor the authority and sufficiency of Scripture.

When we proclaim the gospel to the unregenerate, we do not always need to identify every individual sin, yet neither should we neglect doing so when it serves to awaken the conscience. Scripture bears witness that every person is a sinner before a holy God. No one stands justified before Him by his own righteousness.

We have all broken God’s law. Scripture teaches that whoever keeps the whole law yet stumbles at one point is guilty of all. God’s holiness is so perfect that even one transgression leaves us condemned before Him. Therefore, we proclaim what God’s Word declares of every person: we are sinners and lawbreakers before our Creator.

The gospel begins with the holiness of God, the sinfulness of man, and the reality of the fall. We are born with a sinful nature and willingly commit sin. Therefore, there is no hope of salvation apart from the grace and mercy of God revealed in Jesus Christ. The good news is that God saves all who repent of their sins and trust in Christ alone for the salvation of their souls.

Sexual immorality has been pervasive throughout human history. It marked the ancient world, the culture of the New Testament era, and it remains prevalent today. Even among the Pharisees, God’s law was distorted. They taught that a man could divorce his wife for nearly any reason — she burnt his meal or if she spoke a negative word against his mother were examples of justifications they gave for him to divorce his wife —, but Christ exposed the corruption of their teaching. He revealed the true perfection of God’s law and uncovered the sinful condition of the human heart, showing that our outward actions flow from inward corruption. In doing so, He demonstrated that every one of us stands condemned apart from Him.

Fornication, adultery, lust, pornography, and every form of sexual immorality are violations of God’s perfect law. No particular sin is uniquely damning in the sense that it alone leaves a person guilty before God, for all sin is an offense against His holiness and brings guilt and condemnation. Scripture is nevertheless clear that there are varying degrees of guilt and punishment. Yet every sinner, regardless of the particular sins he has committed, stands in need of the same Savior.

Sexual immorality is sinful because God Himself has defined and established His good boundaries for sexuality, covenant, and union. He has called these things holy and good, and to violate what He has established and commanded is sin. Neither these sins nor any other can leave us righteous before Him through our own works. The world does not define what is good or holy. God does. We may feel that we have the right to our autonomy and to determine what is best for ourselves, but to do so in violation of what God has established and commanded, and to willfully do what He has condemned, is sin.

We cannot appeal to our own feelings of identity or happiness as justifiable reasons for breaking God’s law. Sexual immorality may produce temporary happiness and pleasure, but its consequences are beyond our control. It can bring destruction to homes and communities, contribute to the moral corruption of nations, and eventually influence laws and institutions to conform to the sinful desires of men. What begins with the rejection of God’s design does not remain confined to the individual. Sin spreads, and when a culture celebrates what God has forbidden, the consequences are far-reaching.

The man who appeals to his own goodness while remaining in rebellion against God’s design for sex and the covenant union of one man and one woman for life does not understand the reality of his own sinfulness before a holy God. Our righteousness is as filthy rags. God therefore commands all people everywhere to repent and believe in His Son. There is grace and mercy for all who truly repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of their souls.

When the church, those who have been called out of darkness and clothed in the righteousness of Christ, begins to call good what God calls sin, or affirms and celebrates what He forbids, she misrepresents both Christ and His gospel. She obscures God’s holiness before those who are dead in their trespasses and sins. The law is good. It cannot save, but it faithfully reveals our guilt and our desperate need for a Savior.

The beauty of the gospel is seen most clearly when we rightly understand the law. Christ came and fulfilled the righteousness we could never attain. He lived the perfect life we failed to live and died the death we deserved. On the cross, He bore the wrath due to sinners, becoming our substitute. He rose again in victory over sin and death and now reigns as Lord and King. Through faith in Him alone, sinners are reconciled to God and clothed in His perfect righteousness.

The world will continue to call evil good and good evil because it is spiritually dead. This should not surprise us. What is grievous is when the church follows the world by altering God’s law. Once sin is redefined, the gospel itself is inevitably distorted. If sin is no longer recognized as sin, repentance loses its meaning, the cross loses its necessity, and grace loses its glory.

Yet when the church faithfully calls sin what God calls sin, she is not withholding hope. She is proclaiming it. Only then can she faithfully announce the good news that Christ came into the world to save sinners. The law exposes our disease. The gospel reveals the only cure.

If we truly love the lost, we will not change God’s law in an attempt to make sinners more comfortable. To do so offers false peace while leaving souls in danger. Genuine love speaks the truth. It calls sinners to repentance while extending the free offer of the gospel to all who will come to Christ in faith.

We must love every person because each bears the image of God. We must speak with humility because we ourselves were once dead in sin. Yet we must also proclaim without compromise that salvation is found in Christ alone. There is forgiveness for every repentant sinner, cleansing for every guilty conscience, and reconciliation with God through the perfect life, atoning death, and triumphant resurrection of Jesus Christ. To Him alone belongs all the glory.

Loving the sinner does not mean celebrating or affirming what God calls sin. True love calls sinners to repentance and faith in Christ for the salvation of their souls. It does not require us to withdraw from the world or isolate ourselves from those who need the gospel, as some take to extremes. But it does require faithfulness to God’s Word.

Loving the lost does not mean disinviting them from our table or separating ourselves entirely from them. Rather, it means welcoming opportunities to show them kindness, speak the truth, and point them to Christ. We do not celebrate sin, but neither do we withhold love from sinners. We demonstrate genuine love through both kindness and truth.

The church must hold fast to the goodness of God’s law, faithfully proclaim the gospel, and love every person as one made in the image of God, while refusing to celebrate or affirm what God has forbidden. Christian love does not compromise truth, nor does faithfulness require isolation. We can love sinners without compromising the truth, welcome the lost without affirming their rebellion, and hold firmly to God’s Word while extending the mercy of Christ.

Our hope is not found in redefining sin, but in the Savior who forgives and redeems sinners. Christ alone is the hope of salvation for all who repent and trust in Him.