“Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?” Is a spiritual sin less than a physical one? Is a sin against God of lesser importance than one against man? It may be well to remember that it is the spiritual sin of rejecting Christ, and not a physical one that sends a person to hell.
We Christians are prone to look down our pharisaical noses at an adulterer or adulteress. How upset we become if one of our own commits such a hideous sin. And are we not the first to demand church discipline in such cases? Certainly, these people are to be put out of the assembly, we say. Do I agree with this? Yes, but only if the person in question is not repentant.
On the other hand, what is to be done with the spiritual adulterer and adulteress? If we took the same action on them, many churches would drop drastically in membership. Not only that, a lot of them would lose their leading deacons, elders, and even their pastors. I do not profess to have the answer to this dilemma. I do know I need to be slower to condemn, and quicker to forgive, if for no other reason than for my own sake. For there’s been a few times; I have fallen into this latter category, that is, of having a secret love affair with this world. Haven’t you?
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