Article by: Kenneth J. Ester
A Crusade Against Sin, or an Attack on Sinners?
There is a woman who is young, beautiful and a mother of a three year old boy. She lives alone with the boy and has no family to help her. She has resorted to prostitution. She isn't evil, she just wants to supply for her child and quite frankly, flipping burgers just doesn't pay enough to have a car with insurance and pay rent and feed her kid and get him clothes as he grows so quickly.
One day a man walks up to her and asks her what a hundred bucks will get and she replies "anything you want." So he gives her the money and they go into the hotel and asks her to take a seat in the chair. When she does, he pulls another chair up and begins to tell her about Christ. He spends an hour talking to her and gives her a bible. Then he gives her another hundred dollars and tells her God wants him to give it to her. God is telling him she can use it. Then he leaves.
She has never had anyone treat her so kind and the story of Jesus dying for everyone really made her start thinking. For days she keeps thinking about it and one day she sees a preacher on TV talking about how we are saved. He says that most of the world has it wrong. Most churches have it wrong. We are not saved by refraining from sin. We are not saved by doing good works. We don't even need to say the sinners prayer. He says that all we need to do is believe in our hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead, and confess aloud to someone that Jesus is Lord. That's it! When you do that, you are saved and so long as you keep that faith in Christ in your heart, you will be saved when He returns.
Suddenly she realizes she does believe it. She knows it is all true. When she leaves to take her kid to school the next morning, she sees a neighbor in the apartment building and she drums up the courage to tell them she believes Jesus is Lord and continues on to the school and drops her kid off. Then she returns to her job as a prostitute.
Now some will read this and say she can't return to prostitution because it is a sin. That means she isn't truly saved.
Some may say they don't know if she is saved because what if she doesn't realize prostitution is a sin? Who has told her it is? Nobody.
The truth is even if she knows it is a sin, she is still saved so long as she truly believes in her heart that Jesus is Lord. She just got saved and she has no understanding of what is sin and what is not yet. She has not had a chance to study the Bible much or even go to church. And yet, even if she knows it is a sin, and she continues in prostitution anyway, she can still be saved. If you say she can't be, then you are saying that the only way she can be saved is if she is a perfect Christian. To be saved you must be perfect with no sin in your life. That is wrong.
1 John 1:8 (NASB)
8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.
There is nobody other than Jesus who is sinless. Everyone sins. Every Christian sins. Some may sin far less than others, but they still sin.
To say one sin will send someone who is saved to hell is wrong. The Bible never teaches that. Every verse that speaks of sin sending us to hell is speaking only about the unbelievers. There is not one single verse that says the believer will go to hell if they sin. In fact, there is a verse that clearly states that when Jesus returns to save us, he will not even consider sin.
Hebrews 9:28 (NASB)
28 so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.
Think about what this verse is saying. It's not hard to get it since it says exactly what it means. You don't need to interpret it at all. If sin (forgiven or not) could send the believer to hell, then when Jesus returned to rapture us, He would need to judge every single person's sins before he could rapture us. It would be impossible to only rapture those who are forgiven for their sins without referencing sin. Since this clearly states He will save us without reference to sin, it is saying that sin cannot send the believer to hell. He will come back and with a shout, He will call us to Him. First the dead in Christ will rise and then we who are alive will be changed and taken up to be with them in the sky. Those who will be saved will be those who eagerly await him. In other words, those who believe in Him as their Lord and Savior. What sins we commit will have nothing to do with it.
So even if that woman continues in prostitution because it is the only way she can make a living where she can actually survive, when Jesus returns, she will be called up just like any other person who believes in their heart that Jesus is Lord.
What the sin does is two things. 1) It comes between us and God. Not in our salvation, but in our relationship. Many Christians will try to say this gives Christians a free license to sin. Anyone who believes that needs to really take a long look at how little importance they place on their personal relationship with God. Anyone who desires a good relationship with God will know how dire it is still then to have our sins forgiven and refrain from sinning. The sin won't send us to hell, but it will make our life on earth like hell if we don't clean it up and get right with God. .... 2) It will affect our rewards in the afterlife. Those who sin a lot will lose a lot of their rewards. Those who strive to be right with God and do good works will receive more rewards. Keep in mind, this is not saying one will get a little less but can still work their way up like here on earth. This is also speaking of our status in the afterlife. Will you be given more authority or will you be a lower servant for all of eternity?
1 Corinthians 3:11-15 (NASB)
11 For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. 14 If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
That woman may lose some of her rewards because of her prostitution that she would not let go of, but she will be saved.
Now to take this to the next level. Let us replace that woman who is into prostitution with someone who is gay.
This guy is gay and has a partner. He has even married that partner and they have adopted a child. Then one day a co-worker tells him all about the Gospel and the truth of it just hits him hard. Right then while with that Christian, he tells Him he believes and confesses that Jesus is Lord.
Think about the struggle this guy is in for. He is not just gay, but he is in a gay marriage. He loves the person he married and they have a great relationship. He goes home and tells his partner how He accepted Jesus as His lord and Savior and tells him everything He was told. His partner may or may not turn to Christ. They can't find it in them to end their relationship. They can't find it in them to destroy that child's secure setting. They may or may not realize homosexuality is a sin even. They might find a church to go to and it could be a church that teaches homosexuality is not even a sin.
Just to clarify at this point, there is zero doubt that homosexuality is a sin. It is a sin and there is no argument there. But it is possible they could still find a church that is teaching that doctrine wrong. If that church teaches everything else right but teaches homosexuality is not a sin, the preachers will pay the price for it. Those who attend the church who do not know better will not so much.
These two men who are gay and married could continue in their sin and do everything else right, and when Jesus returns they will be called up into the sky as well. How is that? Because as I explained earlier, when Jesus returns, sin will not even be referenced.
A lot of Christians are on a war path against homosexuals. They should not be! They should teach homosexuality is a sin when the subject comes up, but they should not attack the sinners for their sins.
Paul tells us that we are to judge our brothers but the world is not for us to judge, they are for God to judge. We should not be attacking sinners for their sins.
Of course, there are some churches that teach homosexuality is okay. There are some homosexual churches. Paul is not saying we should go to war with other churches.
Our jobs are to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. To bring more souls to salvation. Not to go to war with other churches or attack sinners. That will not serve any Godly purpose. Those who teach in those churches will pay a price for what they teach wrong. But if they are preaching the Gospel of Jesus dying for our sins so that we can be saved, we need to realize the most important thing is being done still.
If we happen to get into a conversation with someone about their church and we learn it teaches something wrong, we should be honest and tell them. Hopefully they will see the truth and tell others and something will get done. But if we just attack churches on line and protest the church etc... the world will only see it as a house that is divided against itself. We do no good by going to war with our brethren. Send their pastor a logical but polite letter explaining what they are teaching is wrong. Don't attack them on Facebook and such. That will do no good for God.
Think of it this way. You are wanting to go to war with another church for teaching one sin is not a sin. Yet they teach that Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead and is the son of God. They teach salvation correctly. But over one doctrine of a particular sin, you want to create a war and cause division. You might tell yourself it is because they are wrong for what they do. Sure it is. But what is worse? The gay church that teaches everything else right but says homosexuality is not a sin, or the Jehovah's Witness church that doesn't even teach salvation through Jesus Christ? Or what about the Mormons? Or how about the churches of satanic worship out there? Or how about atheism? There are so many things out there that are the cause of souls being burnt in hell and you want to attack a church over one doctrine? That clearly sounds like some priorities are really messed up there.
You may hate that they teach homosexuality is not a sin, but let's sit down sometime and talk about the church you go to. I am sure I can find some doctrines that your church teaches wrong as well. Shouldn't you worry about that before worrying about someone else's church? This is a clear case of drawing a line in the sand and saying, "Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone."
According to the Bible, homosexuality is a sin. It is not an unforgivable sin. According to the Bible, sin will not send the believer to hell. If you believe it does, then you are attacking a homosexual church for a bad doctrine while believing in a bad doctrine yourself. You hypocrite!
Before you attack another Christian church, or another Christian, no matter what sin they are into, you better first really dig in and find the truth of what God's Word says about sin. Because I promise you, it doesn't say that sin will send the believer to hell.
Satan loves to use hatred as a weapon. He will fill Christians with a self righteous hatred for homosexuals and make them believe they are doing God's work by condemning them instead of bringing them to Christ. The church today needs to stop doing the devil's work for him. It needs to start doing what Jesus sent it out to do. Preach the Gospel to the unsaved. All of the unsaved. Even homosexuals! When you go to war and attack sinners for their sins, or attack other Christian churches for what they teach wrong, that war doesn't serve God! It serves the devil! It makes the rest of the world see us as hateful bigots. It divides the church. What it doesn't do is get anything fixed!
Do you truly believe that by attacking homosexuals or homosexuality on Facebook posts that the homosexuals will see it and think, "You know what? You're right. I am going to stop being gay." Really? Do you think a church that teaches homosexuality is okay is going to see it and say "Wow! You are right! We will fix this right away!" Really? What are you truly trying to achieve? Are you even trying to achieve anything other than pushing your hatred?
Think about the way you are going about it and ask yourself how it will make anything better. Standing up for God and the Bible is not just making noise. There needs to be a goal in place. A plan to achieve that goal. If there is no good outcome from what you are doing, then stop doing it! If what you want to do is causing more trouble than it cures? Stop doing it!
I can absolutely guarantee you that bringing more homosexuals to Christ will get a whole lot more done for God than pretending you are on some crusade against sin.
One day a man walks up to her and asks her what a hundred bucks will get and she replies "anything you want." So he gives her the money and they go into the hotel and asks her to take a seat in the chair. When she does, he pulls another chair up and begins to tell her about Christ. He spends an hour talking to her and gives her a bible. Then he gives her another hundred dollars and tells her God wants him to give it to her. God is telling him she can use it. Then he leaves.
She has never had anyone treat her so kind and the story of Jesus dying for everyone really made her start thinking. For days she keeps thinking about it and one day she sees a preacher on TV talking about how we are saved. He says that most of the world has it wrong. Most churches have it wrong. We are not saved by refraining from sin. We are not saved by doing good works. We don't even need to say the sinners prayer. He says that all we need to do is believe in our hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead, and confess aloud to someone that Jesus is Lord. That's it! When you do that, you are saved and so long as you keep that faith in Christ in your heart, you will be saved when He returns.
Suddenly she realizes she does believe it. She knows it is all true. When she leaves to take her kid to school the next morning, she sees a neighbor in the apartment building and she drums up the courage to tell them she believes Jesus is Lord and continues on to the school and drops her kid off. Then she returns to her job as a prostitute.
Now some will read this and say she can't return to prostitution because it is a sin. That means she isn't truly saved.
Some may say they don't know if she is saved because what if she doesn't realize prostitution is a sin? Who has told her it is? Nobody.
The truth is even if she knows it is a sin, she is still saved so long as she truly believes in her heart that Jesus is Lord. She just got saved and she has no understanding of what is sin and what is not yet. She has not had a chance to study the Bible much or even go to church. And yet, even if she knows it is a sin, and she continues in prostitution anyway, she can still be saved. If you say she can't be, then you are saying that the only way she can be saved is if she is a perfect Christian. To be saved you must be perfect with no sin in your life. That is wrong.
1 John 1:8 (NASB)
8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.
There is nobody other than Jesus who is sinless. Everyone sins. Every Christian sins. Some may sin far less than others, but they still sin.
To say one sin will send someone who is saved to hell is wrong. The Bible never teaches that. Every verse that speaks of sin sending us to hell is speaking only about the unbelievers. There is not one single verse that says the believer will go to hell if they sin. In fact, there is a verse that clearly states that when Jesus returns to save us, he will not even consider sin.
Hebrews 9:28 (NASB)
28 so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.
Think about what this verse is saying. It's not hard to get it since it says exactly what it means. You don't need to interpret it at all. If sin (forgiven or not) could send the believer to hell, then when Jesus returned to rapture us, He would need to judge every single person's sins before he could rapture us. It would be impossible to only rapture those who are forgiven for their sins without referencing sin. Since this clearly states He will save us without reference to sin, it is saying that sin cannot send the believer to hell. He will come back and with a shout, He will call us to Him. First the dead in Christ will rise and then we who are alive will be changed and taken up to be with them in the sky. Those who will be saved will be those who eagerly await him. In other words, those who believe in Him as their Lord and Savior. What sins we commit will have nothing to do with it.
So even if that woman continues in prostitution because it is the only way she can make a living where she can actually survive, when Jesus returns, she will be called up just like any other person who believes in their heart that Jesus is Lord.
What the sin does is two things. 1) It comes between us and God. Not in our salvation, but in our relationship. Many Christians will try to say this gives Christians a free license to sin. Anyone who believes that needs to really take a long look at how little importance they place on their personal relationship with God. Anyone who desires a good relationship with God will know how dire it is still then to have our sins forgiven and refrain from sinning. The sin won't send us to hell, but it will make our life on earth like hell if we don't clean it up and get right with God. .... 2) It will affect our rewards in the afterlife. Those who sin a lot will lose a lot of their rewards. Those who strive to be right with God and do good works will receive more rewards. Keep in mind, this is not saying one will get a little less but can still work their way up like here on earth. This is also speaking of our status in the afterlife. Will you be given more authority or will you be a lower servant for all of eternity?
1 Corinthians 3:11-15 (NASB)
11 For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. 14 If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
That woman may lose some of her rewards because of her prostitution that she would not let go of, but she will be saved.
Now to take this to the next level. Let us replace that woman who is into prostitution with someone who is gay.
This guy is gay and has a partner. He has even married that partner and they have adopted a child. Then one day a co-worker tells him all about the Gospel and the truth of it just hits him hard. Right then while with that Christian, he tells Him he believes and confesses that Jesus is Lord.
Think about the struggle this guy is in for. He is not just gay, but he is in a gay marriage. He loves the person he married and they have a great relationship. He goes home and tells his partner how He accepted Jesus as His lord and Savior and tells him everything He was told. His partner may or may not turn to Christ. They can't find it in them to end their relationship. They can't find it in them to destroy that child's secure setting. They may or may not realize homosexuality is a sin even. They might find a church to go to and it could be a church that teaches homosexuality is not even a sin.
Just to clarify at this point, there is zero doubt that homosexuality is a sin. It is a sin and there is no argument there. But it is possible they could still find a church that is teaching that doctrine wrong. If that church teaches everything else right but teaches homosexuality is not a sin, the preachers will pay the price for it. Those who attend the church who do not know better will not so much.
These two men who are gay and married could continue in their sin and do everything else right, and when Jesus returns they will be called up into the sky as well. How is that? Because as I explained earlier, when Jesus returns, sin will not even be referenced.
A lot of Christians are on a war path against homosexuals. They should not be! They should teach homosexuality is a sin when the subject comes up, but they should not attack the sinners for their sins.
Paul tells us that we are to judge our brothers but the world is not for us to judge, they are for God to judge. We should not be attacking sinners for their sins.
Of course, there are some churches that teach homosexuality is okay. There are some homosexual churches. Paul is not saying we should go to war with other churches.
Our jobs are to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. To bring more souls to salvation. Not to go to war with other churches or attack sinners. That will not serve any Godly purpose. Those who teach in those churches will pay a price for what they teach wrong. But if they are preaching the Gospel of Jesus dying for our sins so that we can be saved, we need to realize the most important thing is being done still.
If we happen to get into a conversation with someone about their church and we learn it teaches something wrong, we should be honest and tell them. Hopefully they will see the truth and tell others and something will get done. But if we just attack churches on line and protest the church etc... the world will only see it as a house that is divided against itself. We do no good by going to war with our brethren. Send their pastor a logical but polite letter explaining what they are teaching is wrong. Don't attack them on Facebook and such. That will do no good for God.
Think of it this way. You are wanting to go to war with another church for teaching one sin is not a sin. Yet they teach that Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead and is the son of God. They teach salvation correctly. But over one doctrine of a particular sin, you want to create a war and cause division. You might tell yourself it is because they are wrong for what they do. Sure it is. But what is worse? The gay church that teaches everything else right but says homosexuality is not a sin, or the Jehovah's Witness church that doesn't even teach salvation through Jesus Christ? Or what about the Mormons? Or how about the churches of satanic worship out there? Or how about atheism? There are so many things out there that are the cause of souls being burnt in hell and you want to attack a church over one doctrine? That clearly sounds like some priorities are really messed up there.
You may hate that they teach homosexuality is not a sin, but let's sit down sometime and talk about the church you go to. I am sure I can find some doctrines that your church teaches wrong as well. Shouldn't you worry about that before worrying about someone else's church? This is a clear case of drawing a line in the sand and saying, "Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone."
According to the Bible, homosexuality is a sin. It is not an unforgivable sin. According to the Bible, sin will not send the believer to hell. If you believe it does, then you are attacking a homosexual church for a bad doctrine while believing in a bad doctrine yourself. You hypocrite!
Before you attack another Christian church, or another Christian, no matter what sin they are into, you better first really dig in and find the truth of what God's Word says about sin. Because I promise you, it doesn't say that sin will send the believer to hell.
Satan loves to use hatred as a weapon. He will fill Christians with a self righteous hatred for homosexuals and make them believe they are doing God's work by condemning them instead of bringing them to Christ. The church today needs to stop doing the devil's work for him. It needs to start doing what Jesus sent it out to do. Preach the Gospel to the unsaved. All of the unsaved. Even homosexuals! When you go to war and attack sinners for their sins, or attack other Christian churches for what they teach wrong, that war doesn't serve God! It serves the devil! It makes the rest of the world see us as hateful bigots. It divides the church. What it doesn't do is get anything fixed!
Do you truly believe that by attacking homosexuals or homosexuality on Facebook posts that the homosexuals will see it and think, "You know what? You're right. I am going to stop being gay." Really? Do you think a church that teaches homosexuality is okay is going to see it and say "Wow! You are right! We will fix this right away!" Really? What are you truly trying to achieve? Are you even trying to achieve anything other than pushing your hatred?
Think about the way you are going about it and ask yourself how it will make anything better. Standing up for God and the Bible is not just making noise. There needs to be a goal in place. A plan to achieve that goal. If there is no good outcome from what you are doing, then stop doing it! If what you want to do is causing more trouble than it cures? Stop doing it!
I can absolutely guarantee you that bringing more homosexuals to Christ will get a whole lot more done for God than pretending you are on some crusade against sin.
