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
Our passions are the very things our Lord warns us against as enemies of life and that from which we must be saved and delivered. Those very things which we have redefined as freedom of choice, alternate lifestyles, consensual sex—i.e. “pursuit of happiness”--Jesus tells us, ”These are what defile a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander." Matthew 15:20, 19
Yes, this is indeed a bitter pill. But it is a necessary one for us. Just as our Lord’s dear disciples had sorrow for a little while when He died and was buried for the sins of the world, so too each of our Lord’s dear baptized believers has sorrow for a little while over his own sins before the comfort and joy of the Gospel of forgiveness is revealed. Then forgiven, we have sorrow for a little while as the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh tempt and even fight with us to return to the very things we have been forgiven and baptized out of and away from.
To hear and/or read the entire sermon preached for Jubilate Sunday, click on this link. http://lcmssermons.com/index.php?sn=3265
Our passions are the very things our Lord warns us against as enemies of life and that from which we must be saved and delivered. Those very things which we have redefined as freedom of choice, alternate lifestyles, consensual sex—i.e. “pursuit of happiness”--Jesus tells us, ”These are what defile a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander." Matthew 15:20, 19
Yes, this is indeed a bitter pill. But it is a necessary one for us. Just as our Lord’s dear disciples had sorrow for a little while when He died and was buried for the sins of the world, so too each of our Lord’s dear baptized believers has sorrow for a little while over his own sins before the comfort and joy of the Gospel of forgiveness is revealed. Then forgiven, we have sorrow for a little while as the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh tempt and even fight with us to return to the very things we have been forgiven and baptized out of and away from.
To hear and/or read the entire sermon preached for Jubilate Sunday, click on this link. http://lcmssermons.com/index.php?sn=3265
No comments:
Post a Comment