Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.

Jude

Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. Jude 7

I proceed with my study of Jude using the Christ-Centered Exposition commentary series volume for this book.  Today, my study consists of a commentary-assisted review of Jude 5-7.  Per the commentary:

Main idea: "Learning from those who have rejected the Lord, Christians must continually run to and cling to the mercy of God available in Christ Jesus."

Excerpts from the introduction:

• RE: our culture, "unbelief, rebellion, and immorality (the three sins Jude highlights in vv. 5-7) characterize with greater intensity and influence our way of life....[it] has turned its back on God and his Word, shunned his standards, and mocked his character."
•  Unfortunately, "[u]nbelief, rebellion, and immorality run to and fro across the land and within the congregation of God’s people....So we must ask, What does God think about our current situation, and what will God do? Jude 5-7 provides the answer to these questions with three truths we ought never forget."

Divisions:

1. Remember the Danger of Unbelief (5): V5 "flows from" the preceding verses where we are warned of false teachers and v5 describes the judgement that awaits. We are encouraged not to forget the moments when God saved us just as He did Israel from the Egyptians.  We are prone to forget as Israel did but we should not - God interceded for us then and He still does.  Jude wants us to remember that these moments are every day. The commentary encourages us to not doubt the power of God today as it describes how Jude pointed us to Numbers 14, "when the twelve spies returned from their reconnaissance mission into the promised land." Although the other spies came back afraid both Joshua and Caleb were undeterred as God was on their side and they were confident they could overtake those possessing the land God promised them. [The others] missed the promised land. They missed God’s best. Forgetting God’s grace and greatness, they dug their graves in the wilderness within sight of the land God had promised[.]"  We are encouraged to avoid the mindset that God is not with us now and every moment. 
   
2. Remember the Dishonor of Rebellion (6): The commentary postulates that Jude 6 refers to Genesis 6 where "where fallen angels had sexual relations and cohabited with women and produced an evil race of men who brought God’s judgment on the world through the flood." In light of the ambiguity of this verse, the commentary highlights instead clear application where we must accept God's plan for our lives and instead let ambition and arrogance subvert God in our lives. We must rest in the goodness of God's providence and His plan.  Otherwise, if we reject God as these angels did then we face being slaves to sin now and eternal damnation.
   
3. Remember the Destiny of the Immoral (7): The commentary points to how Sodom and Gomorrah's destruction is referenced 20 times in the Bible, showing how powerful a sin sexual immorality is and how God deals with it harshly, along with other sins such as poor treatment of the weak. We are encouraged to think carefully and in awe about the reality of Hell avoid getting close to any sin that might drag us closer to this reality.
   

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer:  Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who provides for my all and all - You give me peace about my future.  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of how You provide for all of my needs and how You are saving a place for me in Heaven.  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving one bit...my sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

 1 Corinthians 6

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31

I continue my study of 1 Corinthians.  I am assisted in my study by the Christ-Centered Exposition Series commentary for this book.  Today my focus is a review - aided by the commentary - of 1 Corinthians 6:12-20. The main idea for this text provided by the commentary*: "God purchased our bodies by the resurrection of Christ and united us with him so that we would be his temple and glorify him."  The commentary's* introduction for the text shares that "God is not indifferent to what we do with our bodies. They matter to him, and they matter a lot." It refers to 1 Corinthians 8:1-3 where it describes how the church in Corinth "reasoned...[that] the body and food and drink and sex are going to be destroyed in the end. There will only be free spirits. So, the body does not matter."  Paul tackles and refutes this view in today's text.  The commentary* unpacks the text via five divisions:

1. God Has Principles for My Body (6:12-13): Paul admonishes the Corinthians' laissez-faire view of the gospel where "all things are lawful."  He challenges them by rhetorically asking them whether all things are "helpful" in building up the church and supporting its mission, and whether it is possible you idolize something you do over God.  He reminds them that we were made for a purpose - of course that purpose is to glorify God. 
   
2. God Has Plans for My Body (6:13-14): We are referred to Romans 12:1 where we are commanded to offer our bodies as living sacrifices to the Lord - for His glory. Paul points us forward where believers' bodies will rise with Jesus in glorification when He returns.  The commentary then states that "[w]here we are headed in the future should impact how we live today. What God will do with my body in the future should affect what I do with it today."   
   
3. God Has Protection for My Body (6:15-18): Quoting Shreiner, the commentary shares that: "[t]he relationship between believers and Christ is remarkably intimate such that believers represent Christ in what they do with their bodies." It also quotes (slightly modified) Rick Warren's "10 Commandments to Help Church Staff Maintain Moral Integrity."
   
4. God Has Proprietorship of My Body (6:19): The commentary* reminds us that believers' bodies are "important and valuable" and "at conversion [God] makes [them] his home, his temple, his holy place."  This is of course an "honor", "privilege", and "gift".
   
5. God Has Paid for My Body (6:20): Paul concludes the text by emphasizing how believers' were bought and redeemed for a great price - such that we can glorify Him with out bodies.  See also 1 Corinthians 10:31. 

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves and who is full of grace and compassion for me - You paid a great price for me.  Thank You.  Yet of course I am undeserving - my sin was and continues to be great.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me turn from and overcome my sin and turn towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

*Akin, Dr. Daniel L.; Merritt, James. Exalting Jesus in 1 Corinthians (Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.

 1 Corinthians 6

Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. 1 Corinthians 6:18

I continue my study of 1 Corinthians.  I am assisted in my study by the Christ-Centered Exposition Series commentary for this book.  Today my focus is a review - unaided by the commentary - of 1 Corinthians 6:12-20.  Here the focus of the text is sexual immorality - partially defined in v9 as homosexuality, but also to include sex outside marriage based on text found throughout scripture.  Reinforcing v9, Paul is explicit in today's text in how sexual immorality is not God's intent.  Although He created sex, He has intended it for the enjoyment of man and woman inside the union of marriage.  He reminds the church in Corinth how their bodies belong to Christ and are intended for His glory not for our own gratification.  By extension, pursuit of sexual immorality is described by Paul as "a sin against [our] own bod[ies]."

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for the institution of marriage and for the blessing of Lisa my wife of 25 years!  I am not deserving of such a blessing.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?

Hebrews 13

The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me? Hebrews 13:6, Psalm 27:1, Psalm 118:6, and Isaiah 51:12

I continue my study of Hebrews, and today my focus is Hebrews 13:1-6, and my unaided observations of the text. As the concluding chapter of Hebrews - where the primary focus of the book overall is to encourage Jewish believers, familiar with the Old Testament and the heroes of the faith as described in chapter 11 (aka the "hall of faith") - the author of Hebrews pivots to encourage readers with practical ways to lead a Godly life, one pleasing to Christ.  We are encouraged to: 

• love our brothers and sisters in Christ (v1)
• show hospitality to strangers (v2) 
• support and encourage the persecuted (v3)
• hold up marriage as honorable and that it be "undefiled by sexual immoral[ity] and adulter[y]" (v4)
• avoid love of money and envy (v5)

The text for today concludes (v6) by exhorting readers to heed words similarly spoken in Psalm 27:1, Psalm 118:6, and Isaiah 51:12.

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Lord, You are a great God full of amazing grace and compassion for me - thank You Jesus! I am not deserving of Your amazing grace and compassion.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo. Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.

1 Peter 2

Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 1 Peter 2:11

I paused my studies of both Isaiah and Proverbs to listen to DesiringGod.com's Solid Joys daily devotional, which focuses on lust. Here, Piper provides a stern warning to believers to make war with lust as it deserves such a posture as we can lose our salvation over such sin.  More so, Piper provides Colossians 3:5-6 as another text to support this view - here Paul describes that God's wrath is coming "on account" of "sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry."  We are to take these sins seriously and as an example of the seriousness, Piper provides Matthew 5:29, where in the context of lust (Matthew 5:27-28) Jesus urges us to gouge out one of our eyes over such "wandering."  

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an amazing God who loves me and who is full of grace and compassion - You have helped me with my battle over sin, including lust - thank You Jesus!  Thank You for sanctifying me and for never leaving or forsaking me.  I am not deserving of such love, compassion and grace.  My sin is great and it continues.  Please forgive me.  Help me turn from and overcome my sin and turn towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin. Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others. Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Romans 13

Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. Romans 13:13-14

This morning, I pause in my study of Isaiah to listen to DesiringGod's devotion for today - which focuses on digital dangers and temptations. My commentary for Romans indicates that "in view of God's mercy displayed in Christ and in view of the coming day of Christ, believers' ethical lives should be driven and shaped by the realities of the gospel...Paul wants the gospel to saturate every aspect of the Roman believers' thinking and living."  The devotion warns us of five digital "dangers:"

1. the hook of constant curiosity
   
2. world of virtual (un)reality
3. "personal" relations with a machine
   
4. the risk of tryst
   
5. porn

Indeed these are all dangers and we face many other temptations.  Piper urges us to resolve to avoid these temptations.  Of course the anti-dote for these temptations is to lean into God and ask God to "renew" your mind (Romans 12:2).  Paul offers these words as well:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. Ephesians 6:10-18

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God and You have protected me and armed me against temptation - thank You Jesus!  Although I continue to trip and fall - my sin continues.  Please forgive Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me. Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women, who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods. The people ate the sacrificial meal and bowed down before these gods. So Israel yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor. And the Lord’s anger burned against them.

Numbers 25,31

While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women, who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods. The people ate the sacrificial meal and bowed down before these gods. So Israel yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor. And the Lord’s anger burned against them. Numbers 25:1-3

Day 42 of my chronological study of the Bible with The Daily Bible® - In Chronological Order (NIV®) (available by purchase through Amazon - author F. LaGard Smith) focuses on God's wrath against both the men of Israel who lusted after the women of Midian and yoked themselves to their god, as well against Midian itself, which was completely destroyed save young virgin girls and plunder of livestock and valuables. 

Lust and sexual immorality are enticing sins for many and per my link (which is not exhaustive) the Bible addresses it quite often.  John Piper offers advice to man struggle here.

Jesus refers to adultery or sexual sin as a matter of the heart - even your illicit thoughts are sinful (Matthew 5:27-30).

John Piper's post is spot on here as I have felt the power of the Spirit to gain victory over sexual sin.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who has helped me gain power of sexual sin and many other sins - thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such love and protection.  I sin...daily.  Please help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind, and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.