Some time ago a young man who was struggling with homosexuality reached out to me. As I was driving up to the coffee shop where we were meeting, I asked the Lord what He wanted me to say, and He only gave me one thing: ask the young man whether he believed that he was saved. After we had gotten to know each other, I asked him that simple question, and he answered that he knew that Jesus was his Savior and had died for him. After we discussed his life as a Christian, he began to share with me the torment that he was under. My heart was broken as he described the details. I sensed that the Holy Spirit’s heart was broken, too, and then I heard a strong word: “Tell him he isn’t going to hell.” I repeated that sentence just as I heard it, and the young man broke down and bawled. He had been so desperate to hear those words! The enemy had tormented him for years with the lie that he was headed for hell. I told him that he was righteous before the Father. I unveiled Jesus to him and watched his hope return.
Whatever the sin is, the answer is to turn our focus OFF of it and ONTO Jesus. It would behoove all of us if we would refuse to be drawn into discussions about sin and only discuss the remedy. We are not required to get into endless discourse on all of the nuances of sin. If someone wants to theorize about sin, end of discussion. If somebody wants to talk about Jesus, let’s talk all night!
If a believer is struggling with sin, the best thing we can do is remind him of who he is in Christ.
In 1 Corinthians 6, Paul exhorted the Corinthians and rebuked them for behaving like the unrighteous. He said to them “Don’t you know that the unrighteous won’t inherit the kingdom of God?” In other words, “Why are you acting like them?!” He then gave them a long list of those whose identity is in their behavior and not in Christ – the unrighteous. Then he said this to the believers:
“Such WERE some of you; but you WERE WASHED, but you WERE SANCTIFIED, but you WERE JUSTIFIED in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:11, NASB)1
(from pages 269-270 of Unveiling Jesus)
Want more from Tricia Gunn? Check out excerpts from the Unveiling Jesus 20-part series!
Unveiling Jesus, by Tricia Gunn, is a verse by verse study of the pure gospel of grace. It’s an amazing journey of love, identity, and freedom in Christ.
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1Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible®,Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973,1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)”
