A World of Sin Called Thoughts

A WORLD OF SIN CALLED THOUGHTS

Matt.5: 27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:
28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

Prov.23: 7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.

Rom.12: 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

Just when you believe, erroneously, that you have the Mosaic law accomplished Jesus moves the goalposts. The New testament explicitly reveals that sinful thoughts are sin. Well now, doesn’t that present a quandary for any self righteousness? But since thoughts, unexpressed, can remain clandestine they are the most clever of all sins. A pastor can look out on his congregation and lust after some woman even while preaching against adultery. And all this done under the cloak of hidden thoughts.

But since all of us have sinful thoughts that range from lust of things and persons to pride and judgment, I want to address another issue that is so often misrepresented. If a man lusts in his mind but never acts on that lust is it sin? Of course! But the orthodox community has been teaching that if a man has same sex attractions that they are not sin if he does not act upon them. And according the Jesus’ own words that is inaccurate.

So now we are faced with a colossal and far reaching question. Just how far and how deep does redemption run? So often some believers contend that no one can be saved and commit certain sins, or at least practice these sins. I know thousands of believers and pastors who “practice” sin every single day. For instance, they drive 35 in a 25 per hour zone and they know they are doing it. Is that not practicing sin? How many of us think unkind thoughts about some person? How many of us inwardly think too highly of ourselves?

And just what is the criteria for “practice”? If you commit a sin 50 times a year are you practicing that sin? And who among us recognizes each time we sin, to say nothing of actually speaking with God and repenting every single time? And then there are the sins we commit that we do not even recognize as sin. How many professing believers treat America as an idol and are even aggressive and unforgiving toward others when confronted, and not only do they not see that as sin, but they see it as righteousness? Is that forgivable? In fact, that sin begins in the heart/mind and they are acting upon it. In other words they are practicing sin. Are they genuine believers?

I Jn.1: 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Verse 8 can be rightly translated, “If we say we are having no sin, we deceive ourselves…”. And even though we may control and restrict the outward man, the Spirit still has access to our thoughts, intents, and motives. And with that we are all laid bare before Him. But there is a difference between being perfect in ourselves and being made perfect through Him. The regenerate man seeks God and tries to please Him, although no one can make the case we serve God with unrestrained abandon. But there is also a difference to be self righteous as opposed to being humble within His grace.

And now we return to the pivotal question once more. How far and how wide can the redemption that is only found in Christ cover? And if a sinner trusts Christ as His Savior, then does that redemption cover his thought life as well? I believe we significantly underestimate and minimize the scope of our sin life within our minds. Sin is not limited to lusting after sex, but so much of what muscles its way into our minds is sin as well. Had Jesus not amplified the thought life as equal to behavior we might have gotten away from all this. But now we must face it.

What happens when a man becomes born again but he deals with lusting after women? So often we have said that his thought lusts are not sin until he acts upon them. Or we have concocted some simple saying like “the first look is not sin, the second look is”. The only problem with that is that it isn’t according to the words of Jesus. In fact they are a blatant attempt to find some wiggle room. You might convince yourself, but you cannot convince God. We are all in the same boat here. So when a man gets saved but continues to have lustful thoughts toward women, those thoughts are sin. Is he still saved?

How about when a gay man gets saved and still has same sex attractions? We have been told that those attractions are not sin unless he acts upon them and that is Biblically incorrect. They are sin just like heterosexual lusts. OK, now roll up your pant legs and lets wade out somewhat further. What if the saved heterosexual man succumbs to his lustful thoughts and has an affair with his neighbor’s wife? Is he still saved? Probably every one who reads this blog either knows someone like that or who is someone like that.

So what about a gay man who trusts Christ? Can he be saved and still have same sex attractions? “Oh yes,” we so magnanimously suggest. But what if he acts on those same sex attractions and has an affair with another man? Can he still be saved?

And therein lies the penetrating question, because if that man cannot be saved, then neither can the heterosexual adulterer. But we quickly reason that if the adulterer was really saved, he would repent and cease his ungodly ways. How many of us know someone who has had an affair, divorced his wife, and married the mistress and is now actively serving the Lord? Can that person be a genuine believer? My point is this: We have placed requirements and parameters upon gay people who insist they know Christ that we never place upon heterosexual people.

Now no one can know who really is saved and who is not. We can get an idea, but the Lord alone knows with eternal accuracy. But that aside, redemption is found by faith through grace alone. Let us go even further. What about a person who trusts Christ but still has a love of money or worries about money etc.. Jesus spoke widely and often about those kinds of sins and yet how many believers in America whine and complain about money and voice their frustrations and worry? And their minds are obviously flowing with those kinds of sins. Can they be saved?

But believers by the millions, full of capitalism and the love of money on some level, will sit in evangelical pews and loudly shout amen when the preacher throws out some “homosexuality is a sin” red meat. The hypocrisy is colossal. Do you think believers ever go to church and judge someone when they see them in the congregation? Do they ever come to church without praying the entire week? Do they ever come to church after looking at pornography during the week? Do they ever come to church while abusing prescription medicine? On and on and on it goes.

Let us be clothed with humility when we speak of the redemption in which we stand. No one will see eternal life without trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ. But I have attempted to unmask our spiritual hubris, especially as it concerns a gay person who desires to be saved. If we require perfection from him, then we must require it from everyone. And if I require from everyone else, then I must require it from myself. And that includes the sins committed within the safety of my own mind. And I will say publicly that if that is the requirement for eternal life, I have long since been rejected.

But if salvation is by faith alone, and if my life was changed by the power of the gospel, and if I am no longer who I used to be, then I am still in Christ. And even though I have sinned every single day in the almost 40 years of my Christian walk, I still am in Christ. And if a gay man trusts Christ, and if his life was changed, and if he still struggles with varying degrees of success with his sin, I still will not discount him. And I have met many people who I believed were believers and had a born again experience who were blind in some area and still committed a sin without acknowledging that it was sin. So it is entirely possible that a man can be saved and still be blind to some sin, just like all of us. It does not mean that God condones that sin, it just means God forgives that sin. But if you still believe that a true believer cannot knowingly commit sin, then you must awake tomorrow and live the rest of your life sinless. That includes any and all sinful thoughts.

I wish you all the best, however I truly believe regardless of how hard you try, you will still need the grace of God and the forgiveness of sin. If we say we are having no sin…well, you know. Redemption comes only through Jesus Christ, but in our self righteous desire to construct walls that make us a part of the body of Christ, we may have constructed walls that keep others out.

Lk.11: 52 Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered.

Jesus told the lawyers and Pharisees that because of their rules they were keeping sinners out of God’s kingdom. Hmm…that just might be some good advice for us today.