The Bible Whispers About Sexual Sin?

JD Greear (quoting Jen Wilkin): "'We ought to whisper about what the Bible whispers about, and we ought to shout about what it shouts about.' And the Bible appears more to whisper when it comes to sexual sin compared to its shouts about materialism and religious pride."

It's religious pride to preach the Bible whispers about sexual sin. God said loud and clear, "Flee from sexual immorality" (1 Corinthians 6:18), or any kind of sex outside the marriage bed, since God created sex for a husband and a wife. Often when the Bible lists the sins God will judge, sexual sins are first on the list.

“Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” 1 Corinthians 6:9-10

“Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.” Galatians 5:19-21

“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming.” Colossians 3:5-6

Now someone might say, "Wait, I listened to Pastor Greear's sermon, and in context he was saying the Bible whispers about homosexual sin." Well was God whispering when He destroyed the Sodomites? Jude 7 says, "Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire."

Greear's sermon (delivered January 27, 2019 at The Summit Church in Raleigh-Durham, NC) was on Romans 1:24-32. Over half that section describes homosexual passions as the perverse behavior of a people given over to a debased mind. How does anyone preach the Bible whispers about this?

Many churches are embroiled in sexual scandal, and this is in front of the whole world. It does not help when church leaders say things like, "The Bible whispers about sexual sin." Bad doctrine causes these problems, and bad doctrine makes them worse. Do not whisper any word of God! Preach Christ and Him crucified for our sins, when we understand the text.

How is Christianity Different from Every Other Religion?

What separates Christianity from every other religion in the world? The answer is grace. "By grace you are saved through faith, and this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).

If you ask a Muslim, "Where will you go when you die?" he might say, "Paradise. I read the Qu'ran, I pay alms, I pray five times a day, I've made the pilgrimage. I am a righteous man."

If you ask a Jew, he might say, "We really do not know," where we will go when we die. "But if there is a life after this one, and a reward for what we do, then surely it will be dependent upon the kind of life we have lived" (quote from Rabbi Howard Jaffe).

A Buddhist might say he hopes to achieve Nirvana by following the eight-fold path, or being a good person. A Hindu strives to break the cycle of reincarnation and attain Moksha by being a good person. Even an atheist believes he should be a good person.

But ask a Christian, "Where will you go when you die?" he will say heaven. How does he know? He will say, "I was born in sin (Psalm 51:5). The intention of my heart has been evil from my youth (Genesis 8:21). I have rebelled against a holy God, and for this I deserve death (Romans 6:23)."

Wait, all these other guys say they'll be rewarded for their good. How can the Christian say he will get to heaven when he says he is not good? Because he knows no one gets to heaven on their own merit, but on the merit of Jesus Christ the righteous.

"All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus... to be received by faith" (Romans 3:23-25), when we understand the text.

Why Are There So Many Religions and False Teachers?

There are a lot of false teachings in the world. Paganism, Gnosticism, Buddism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Taoism, Confucionism, Shaminism, even Judaism, Polytheism, Pantheism, Deism, Darwinism, Naturalism, Secular Humanism, Feminism, Agnosticism, Atheism, and Islam...ism.

All these different ways to get to God or be a god or deny God. But Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one gets to the Father but by me" (John 14:6).

Of course, not everything that claims to be of Christ is truly of Christ (Matthew 7:21). Like Catholicism, Mormonism, Unitarian Universalism, Oneness Pentecostalism, Heaven Tourism, Jehovah's Witnesses, Eastern Orthodoxy, Word of Faith, the New Apostolic Reformation, and Rob Bell.

So why all these false religions and teachers? Why would God allow there to be so many, many lies? Two reasons: Testing and judgment.

The Bible says of those who refused to love the truth and so be saved, God "sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in their unrighteousness" or their sin (2 Thessalonian 2:9-12).

In Deuteronomy 13:1-4 we are told, "If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and he says, 'Let us go after other gods,' you shall not listen to that false prophet. For the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul."

When it comes down to it, there are only two religions: you either worship the created or the Creator, when we understand the text.