“Stop Sinning” (12/3)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from 1 Corinthians 15-16.

Many in the religious world believe that sin, though not necessarily desirable, is acceptable. They may not use the term acceptable, but when they affirm that God accepts one in sin before meeting His terms of forgiveness, or that Christians should accept one in sin without regard to what God’s word teaches about the bounds of fellowship, their point is essentially the same. To them, sin is acceptable, tolerable, or of no consequence. Yet this is not what the Scriptures teach.

“Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company corrupts good morals.’ Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame” (1 Corinthians 15:33-34).

Paul warned the saints in Corinth not to allow evil influences to corrupt their “good morals.” These evil influences would entice them to sin, trying to persuade them that there were no consequences for sinful behavior. Paul did not say that such corrupting of good morals was tolerable because God’s grace will unconditionally cover all sins. This is the deception that threatened the Corinthians and that threatens people of faith today.

Paul did not tell them that sin was inconsequential. He told them to “stop sinning.” Sin is shameful and wrong. Yet too many have forgotten how to blush (cf. Jeremiah 6:15). They feel no guilt for their sin because they have been convinced that God accepts a sinner in his sin. Yet we know that He does not. Notice what the apostle John wrote:

“If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth” (1 John 1:6).

We must not allow ourselves to be deceived and corrupted by the world and by erring brethren. We must constantly work to put sin out of our lives and never be content in it. We must strive to do what Paul told the Corinthians to do: stop sinning.

Tomorrow’s reading: 2 Corinthians 1-4

[I’m using the Chronological reading plan on the Bible Gateway website if you’d like to follow along, too.]

Daily Notes & Observations contains all 365 articles from this series and is available in paperback from Gospel Armory.