In today’s culture, for quite a while, we have seen a great deal of ambiguity concerning what is right and wrong concerning sexual identity, sexual orientation, and what is acceptable regarding sexual relationships. We have now degenerated from ambiguity to apathy, with many people feeling that there are no clearly defined standards concerning these things, no absolute truths. This is both a symptom of and a cause of the degeneration of the spiritual and moral fiber of our society. We are bombarded with so much noise concerning sexuality that even some Christians sometimes get confused concerning what is right and what is wrong and the consequences of the wrong. Therefore, this will be the first in a three part series, concerning God’s Truth, as it relates to human sexuality. I want to begin by looking at God’s Truth concerning sexual sin.
Many people today say that, in God’s eyes, all sin is the same. Many people also say that, regardless of how we do or don’t live, the rewards will be equal for everyone in Heaven. Is this true?
The idea of all sin being equal is a relatively new one, at least in popular Christian culture. I believe that this way of thinking arose on a large scale, at least partially, because it was unintentionally popularized by the Billy Graham crusades. Many people resist coming to Christ because they believe that the sin in their past is too much for Christ to forgive. This is never true and, in order to counter this, Billy emphasized the fact that all sin is equally forgivable in God’s eyes, which is true. Popular culture has morphed this into the idea that all sin is simply equal in God’s eyes, which is not true. We know that it is not true because it is not Scriptural.
In order to demonstrate this, let’s first look at some of what Scripture has to say about punishment of sin for the unsaved.
There is worse punishment for those who have heard the Truth of the Gospel and then blatantly rejected Jesus. Consider these words of Jesus concerning this.
Matthew 11
20 Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent:
21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
22 But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you.
23 And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.
24 But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.”
In the above Scripture, Jesus condemned three Jewish cities, Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum. These were cities in which He had done mighty works and yet they still rejected Him. He compared them to three ancient pagan cities, Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom. All three of them had been destroyed by God, because of their extreme sinfulness, and yet, despite their great wickedness, Jesus said it would be better for them in the final judgement than for Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, because those cities had seen Him and His mighty works and, despite the truth having been clearly presented to them, they had still rejected Him.
Now consider these words written by the author of Hebrews, which convey the same basic idea but even more directly.
Hebrews 10
29 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?
30 For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. And again, “The Lord will judge His people.”
31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Those who have greater knowledge of God’s Truth and His will have greater responsibility to do what is right and greater punishment if they do not. Consider these words of Jesus.
Luke 12
47 And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
48 But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.
For the unsaved, punishment will be dealt out according to what specific sins have been committed. Consider what John recounted of what he saw of the White Throne Judgement.
Revelation 20
11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.
12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.
13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.
14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
We see in verse 15 that anyone not written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. So, those of us who have submitted to Christ as Lord and Master, who’s names are written in the Book of Life, don’t have that to worry about. However, the Book of Life is not the only book mentioned. In verse 12, we see that other books were opened, which it specifically says were separate from the Book of Life, and it says that “the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books”. This fact is again emphasized in verse 13. If all sin was punished equally, these other books and whatever is recorded in them would not be necessary.
Now, let’s look at rewards for those who are saved. No matter what we have done, Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross has payed for our sins, in full. He will save absolutely anyone who calls on Him (Romans 10:13) and our sins are then removed from us as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12). At that point, we need not fear punishment. However, we are commanded to live for Him and our level of reward appears to be connected to how well we actually do that.
Our salvation rests on the foundation of Jesus’ righteousness, not on the foundation of our works. However, our works will be tested. We may have great reward or just barely be saved. Consider these words of Paul.
1 Corinthians 3
11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw,
13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.
14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward.
15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
There is no foundation for true salvation, other than Jesus, and if we have built on that foundation, then we have salvation (verse 11). However, what we build on that foundation, our works, will be tested (verses 12 and 13). Only if our works survive the test by Fire, will we receive our reward (verse 14). If we stand on the foundation of Christ but our works do not survive the test of fire, then we will still be saved from the fire of Hell, but just barely, the Greek suggests as though with the smell of smoke on our clothes (verse 15).
Each person will be rewarded by Jesus according to what they have or haven’t done.
Matthew 16
24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.
For those who have submitted to Christ as Lord and Master, their sin has been forgiven and is covered by His blood and so they absolutely need not fear Hell fire. However, I think we have seen that Scripture clearly teaches that, both for the saved and the unsaved, how we live our lives does matter. The sins that we do or don’t commit and the works that we do or don’t do impact our lives both on this earth and for eternity.
This begs the question, are some sins worse than others and, therefore, are there things about the way we live our lives that have a bigger impact, positive and negative, than other things? Is it possible to know what these things are? I believe the answer to both of these questions is yes. I further believe that the decisions regarding how we identify sexually and how we live out our sexuality are some of the most impactful decisions we make.
There are two reasons I say this.
First of all, when you take all of Scripture, as a whole, you get the sense that God places more importance on sexual purity than on most other things.
For example, under the Mosaic Law, many sins were deserving of the death penalty but a highly disproportional number of these sins were sexual in nature, as opposed to other categories, which would suggest that these sins were disproportional in terms of their importance to God. But wait, that’s Old Testament law and we now live under grace. That’s true but the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament is the same God. He does not change (Malachi 3:6 and Hebrews 13:8). The things that we learn about His heart and His character from the Old Testament are just as true and relevant today as they were then. There is much Old Testament law that no longer applies under grace. However, things that we learn from the Old Testament can still be used to test our perceptions of God’s leading and help us to understand His heart and His character. If things concerning our sexuality were vitally important to Him then, they are still vitally important to Him now.
This makes sense, because God has established a close connection between our sexuality and our spiritual life. As with many things, the foundation for this is laid in the Old Testament but we see it more fully developed in the New Testament. As an example of this, consider these words of Paul.
1 Corinthians 6
15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not!
16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For “the two,” He says, “shall become one flesh.”
17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.
18 Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.
19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
You see, God equates sexuality with spirituality, in that the sexual connection between people is symbolic of the spiritual connection between us and Him. To defile the physical connection also defiles the spiritual connection. I will get into much more detail about all this in the next two articles, “God’s Truth Concerning Sexual Identity” and “God’s Truth Concerning Sexual Relationships”. The truth concerning our sexuality and the way we live that out is very closely connected to our spirituality and the way we live that out. That is why I have felt compelled to write this series, addressing various topics concerning sexuality, even though I feel sure that it will anger many people. However, I must preach and teach God’s truth, even when it isn’t popular, for His Truth is the only Truth.
