Don’t you know the unrighteous will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be deceived: No sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, or males who have sex with males, no thieves, greedy people, drunkards, verbally abusive people, or swindlers will inherit God’s kingdom. And some of you used to be like this. 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. (1 Cor. 6:9-11)
You and I and all of humanity were born unrighteous—incapable of entering or living in the Kingdom of God. Why? Because all of humanity fell in Adam’s fall. We are born in original sin, which manifests differently in each of us, but is all unrighteous. None of this was God’s idea, but He sure gets blamed for it often!
The list above is wide-ranging and frankly covers us all in one way or another. It also levelized the sin field. Homosexuality is no worse than greediness. Verbally abusing another is no different than adultery…
The list above renders the whole idea of “better” or “worse” sins ridiculous. It also makes clear that in our sin, we cannot, will not, and never will be able to enter God’s Kingdom—into heaven, into ruling and reigning, into God’s presence and an eternal life in perfection.
You see, the Fall lit a fire of fallen flesh inside you and me that is unquenchable, unfightable, and fearsomely powerful…
…UNLESS, you fight fire with FIRE!
One of the most beautiful things we will ever hear is this: You USED to be like this. You WERE once like this… God heals and delivers us from the flesh-fires that consume us! He washes us of our iniquity. He sanctifies—sets us apart from our old nature, making us a sanctuary of His presence. He justifies—saves us and declares us not guilty of all the unrighteous and outrageous behavior that once marked and controlled our lives…!
The only way to be free from the fires of our flesh-nature is to be set on Fire by the Spirit of the living God in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ!
As a congregation, we are a place where anyone and everyone can experience the Fires of our Holy God and be set free from the heart-burns of the flesh. That means we don’t pretend that unrighteousness is now righteous—instead we love people where they are and introduce them to the washing of the Word, the Sanctuary of God’s Holiness, and the saving power of His Name.
Surprisingly, this is not a popular stand in much of the American Church world. The world and the “progressive” church would have us forget there was a FALL, pretend that flesh-fires are healthy, and deny that we were born unrighteous or need to be made righteous by a power outside ourselves—by the Fires of a Holy God.
Popular or not, we stand on the truth and enjoy on a very regular basis watching the Lord fight fire with FIRE…!