Celebrate Recovery is a safe place with kind people who are working together to deal with hurts, habits, and hangups. Have questions? Contact our CR Leader - Tim Hughey

AWANA is our Wed night program full of fun, friends, and learning God's Scriptures. Have questions? Contact our Children's Coordinator - Shannon Curtis

Check our website for upcoming events and over 530 past teachings on many different topics.

Those who follow Jesus are genuinely forgiven & empowered to walk in purity, because we’re not who we used to be. It’s not that Christians can never sin again, but we can’t live in sin, if we belong to Him. Will this powerful passage confront you or comfort you?

• The church of God. The Greek term ekklēsia is what we translate as “church” - a gathering or “assembly” - never a building, but to the Body of Christ (a phrase Paul will use in this letter - 1 Cor 12:27). Quit calling this PLACE “the church”. Instead, let’s refer to each other as “the Church”.
• The assembly/church sanctified meaning, set apart for service to God,
• These are His holy people often simply translated as “saints”. 

Paul points to their POSITION in Christ - set apart, God’s holy people. While followers of Jesus have participated in slimy, nasty, sins...we are NOT WHO WE USED TO BE. Followers of Jesus have been forgiven much!

Paul has already commanded the church to discipline the man in sexual sin with his step-mother (1 Cor 5) - to remove him from their fellowship…and they did, which ultimately led to his repentance and restoration (2 Cor 2:5-11)!

According to Paul, there is coming a day that the saints (followers of Jesus) will judge the world and even judge angels. How could this be, especially since we have sinned ourselves? When Jesus returns believers will be transformed into the image of Jesus - no more sin and no more sin nature (1 Cor 15:49-55). If believers are going to sit to judge the world and judge angels at the end of time, we should sure be able to handle the trivial cases on earth right now.

The church should be able to settle these trivial cases and to keep from approaching the court as enemies rather than brothers/sisters.

• Note: This doesn’t mean we should never bring judgement to our courts. We are bound by our United States law to bring cases of child abuse, assault, and murder to the governing authorities God has put in place to protect the innocent and punish the guilty (Rom 13). 

In lesser cases, we need to handle this within the Body of Christ. What if the offender and the offended actually humbled themselves before spiritual leaders, settled their dispute, and walked out of the room as brothers/sisters rather than enemies! What would that say to our vengeful culture?

No one wants to be wronged and no one wants to be cheated, and certainly not by a brother or sister in Christ! It is never okay for us to do wrong and cheat, especially to do so to people in our own family.

To do so would be unrighteous, and that can’t be us anymore because...We can’t live in sin, if we belong to Him.

We can’t keep living for the sin that Jesus died to pay for, but many in our culture have bought the idea that we can be Christians without denying ourselves, taking up the cross, and following Jesus (Lk 9:23). Rather than crucifying their sin (Gal 5:24), many celebrate their sin (Rom 1:32).

Christians should no longer be living for the sin that Jesus died to pay for! Those who say anything different are not speaking the truth, so do not be deceived by them.

• Sexually immorality from the Greek word porneia (where we get our word - pornography), referring to any sexual activity outside of marriage, and in this context likely is targeted as those who are unmarried. Many who claim Christ are involved in sexual immorality, but this should NOT be so!!!! Listen to the warning shot - the unrighteous will not inherit the God’s kingdom.
• Idolaters seek out other gods beside the real God. Corinth was full of idolaters - over 26 different sacred sites and 6 temples have been found. People in our culture might not bow down to statues, but many worship a god made in their image. 
• Adultery not only impacts the marriage, but has the potential to blow up the family. Thankfully, genuine repentance to Jesus and to one another means that marriages can be salvaged, restored, and even become examples to give hope to others!
• Homosexual activity is forbidden to the follower of Jesus. Check our website for 2 teachings on this issue:  

What Does God Think About Homosexuality?  

The Sexual Tsunami & the LGBTQ Agenda

Some say Paul was only talking about same sex relationships that were not loving & monogamous (between 2 people). This is just not true…ANYWHERE in the Scriptures. 

• The Scriptures teach that sex outside of marriage is sin, and marriage is ONLY between a man and a woman.

Paul uses 2 terms: One refers to the passive partner while the other is arsenokoites, a compound of 2 words: arsenos (men) & koites (sexual intercourse). Paul likely coined this phrase combining the same two words found in the Septuagint (Greek translation of Hebrew Scriptures) in Lev 18:22 and Lev 20:13. The NIV and CSB both translate this well as males who have sex with males. The Scriptures do not allow for lesbianism, which is condemned in Rom 1:26-27. 

Check out the video teaching HERE.

Check out the video teaching HERE.

We should love these people who live in these sins (sexual immorality, idolatry, adultery, and homosexual activity), but we should NEVER condone nor applaud such sin. The local church must confront Christians who live in any of these sins, correct them, and restore them…UNLESS…they refuse to turn from this sin - for which they should be disciplined like the man in 1 Cor. 5.

• Thieves or Greedy. Thieves steal what they wish they had and the greedy keep what they have to themselves, ever wanting more and more. Followers of Jesus are to be image bearers of Jesus to others. Jesus wasn’t stingy with his stuff & acting like material possessions were more important than people.
• Drunkards live for the fix that blurs the line between reality and fantasy. Christians should never be out of control and not focused on making a spiritual impact.

Ephesians 5:18 (CSB) And don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless living, but be filled by the Spirit:

• Verbally abusive people hurt other people with their words. 
• Swindlers lie, cheat, and take advantage of other people for financial gain. They don’t love others. They love themselves too much.
• These people will NOT inherit the kingdom of God. WHY? 

If you CAN live in sin, then you CAN’T be a follower of Jesus.

• People don’t live right to be made right with God, but people who have been made right with God, live right. The Holy Spirit inside of you won’t allow anything less. 

If you have lived in those sins in the past, you CAN BE FORGIVEN because Jesus died to pay for ALL of that! 

›When you turn from your sin and trust Him...

• Your sin has been washed away!
• You have been sanctified - set apart and claimed by God as a son/daughter of His!
• You have been justified - set free from judgment - no longer viewed as guilty.

All of this is possible in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ - by His authority and because of His obedience to go to the cross to pay for your sin. Now He lives in His followers by the Spirit. 

• Are you a FOLLOWER of Jesus? Have you turned from your sin and trusted Jesus?
• Does your life demonstrate that you are washed, sanctified, and justified?

3 Questions

1. Do you belong to Jesus?
2. Are you seeking Jesus & fighting to kill sin in your life?
3. Are you walking with other believers?

Take some time to discuss these questions with your family, friends, or group.

1. What challenged or encouraged you most from today’s teaching? Explain your answer.
2. Read 1 Cor 6:1-8. What does Christians taking other Christians to court say to our Christ-less community? What are some advantages to handling issues within the church family and not taking them to non-Christian courts to settle?
3. Read 1 Cor 6:9-10. Today’s BIG TRUTH was: We can’t live in sin, if we belong to Him. Why should those who claim Christ, yet live in habit sin, pause and question whether their trust is Jesus is legitimate?
4. Read Gal 5:24. Name some practical ways that you can kill sin habits in your life. 
5. Read James 5:13-16. How can Christians help one another overcome sin habits?
6. Read 1 Cor 6:11. What are some of the sins the Corinthian Christians had been forgiven of and walked away from? What would you say to the person who says “You can’t change, because you’re born that way?” All of us have sin nature to lures us to disobey Jesus, but is this justification to continue to sin? Why/why not? 
7. Look back to your notes and discuss what it means to be washed, sanctified, and justified. How does this encourage you to trust that Jesus has really forgiven you and help you to walk in obedience? 
8. What other questions has this teaching or discussion prompted for us to talk about?
9. Share prayer needs and pray for one another. Continue to pray for our Supreme Court decision on Roe v Wade. Pray for Christians in Ukraine and Russia to carry the message of Jesus with them wherever they go. Also, PRAY that God will greatly use us during this Easter season, to impact people who need to follow Jesus.