The Three Cs

Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? I have written about this passage recently. But today, I am not taking a course you might expect as the country debates the front-and-center issues of our day: homosexuality, same-sex marriage, over-the-counter birth control pills for children. Although these are important topics that Christians have been discussing for more than 2,000 years, we clearly aren't the first people living in a place consumed by immorality. The folks of Corinth, Greece, had, at one time, a temple with 1,000 sacred prostitutes serving in the name of religion. No doubt sexual immorality is as rampant today in our culture as idolatry, adultery, theft, greed, debauchery. But as I was exploring this passage, I couldn't get past the realization of Hosea 4 as it relates here. Hear the Word of the Lord, you Israelites, because the Lord has a charge to bring against you who live in the land; "There is no faithfulness, no lov...

As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer  or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work—which is by faith.  The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.  Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk.  They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.    We know that the law is good if one uses it properly.  We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers,  for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and p...

For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel -- not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. This verse jumped off the page at me, probably for all the wrong reasons. When I read 1:17, I could think only of one particular TV preacher. I am not sure what his name is, but I can clearly see his face. I have tried to listen to him from time to time, but I am always struck by his incessant rambling about things other than either the law or the gospel. Actually, he normally is talking about the law. So when I see his show, I sometimes try to listen for the gospel -- that is, the good news. You caught that last phrase, didn't you? The good news? It's why I attend a Lutheran church. Lutheran pastors are trained to deliver the law with a heavy dose of gospel, in fact, more gospel than law. Clearly, as Scripture reminded me, quarreling doesn't advance our cause. But the Gospel does. Yet, too many "Christians...