Jesus Is Beside Us! Series

The Bible is the Word of God and it is eternal, infallible, and life-changing. The Bible is our instructions manual for life.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 states, All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

So please open your instructions manual to 1 Corinthians Chapter 6. Read along with me verses 9-11………….

After Jesus Christ, there are only 2 types of people on earth:

v9 – the wicked who will not inherit heaven, and

v11 – Christians, who are washed, sanctified, and justified.

If you Jesus Christ returned to earth today, which one would He say you are?

Jesus knows your heart. You can only be washed, sanctified, and justified if you have humbled yourself before God and received Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord.

Do you accept the fact that you are a sinner and that God has all the right to judge you? Do you believe this?

Do you accept the fact that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, rose from the grave, and many witnessed His resurrection? Do you believe this?

Because there are 2 types of people in this world, there are 2 types of places for eternity, either joyous heaven or tormenting hell. Your belief in Jesus Christ determines who you are and where you will be headed for eternity. Please take a moment now and bow your heads in quiet prayer and tell God your beliefs……………

Perhaps some of you prayed a sinner’s prayer for the very first time. If you did, you have been born again by the Spirit of God and you are now a true Christian. But true Christianity is not private. God tells us in Romans 10:9-10, “If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” If you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord today, please tell someone.

Now, whether you are a new Christian or have been a Christian for a while now, you are to live the Christian life while here on earth. There are consequences to pay if the Christian does not live the right way. Let us learn from the last part of 1 Corinthians chapter 6.

Pray with me our commitment to God’s Word……….

Now, read along with me 1 Corinthians 6:12-20…………….

There is freedom in Christ! For those who believe in Jesus Christ, all their sins, past, present, and future, have been forgiven. But this freedom in Christ is not a license to sin!

The Corinthian Christians believed in Jesus Christ but they were living in sin. Many of them were sexually immoral! And so, God through the apostle Paul instructed the Corinthians.

Remember that these instructions are for all Christians also.

Look again at the first part of v12……….

Christians are not like robots programmed by God. Christians still have a free will to make decisions. The difference between a Christian and a non-Christian is the Christian has the Holy Spirit to help him/her do the right things. And so you see, a Christian is capable of either doing the right things or the wrong things.

When a Christian does the wrong thing, he/she sins against God and there are consequences to sins. We talked about this before. What are the consequences of sin for a Christian???

- causes a barrier to prayer

- breaks fellowship with God

- grieves the Holy Spirit

- brings injury (both physical and emotional) to the sinner and to those around the sinner

- poor testimony for Christ

Christians are forgiven but there are always consequences to sin. Everything is permissible but not everything is beneficial.

Now, we read in v12b..…….

In other words, everything is permissible for a Christian but Christians must have only one Master. A Christian must not have idols or addictions. A Christian has only one Master, one Lord, one King, who is Jesus Christ. Everything the Christian thinks and does must honor Christ.

And we note from v13 & 17, like food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, the body of a Christian is for Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ is for the body of a Christian. When one professes to be a Christian, their entire being is united with Jesus Christ. Are you a Christian? Then you are IN CHRIST and Christ is in you.

Now look again at v14-15…………….. v19-20……………..

Jesus’ body died and was resurrected for Christians. The body of a Christian has been redeemed for God. The body of a Christian is a temple, a home, for God! God who is Holy lives in the body of a Christian. The Christian body must not be united with anything ungodly.