Wednesday 24 October 2012

Numbers 25



 "We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died."
 {1 Corinthians 10:8}  (NIV1984)

I Corinthians 10 is a key passage in understanding the role of the Old Testament in a New Testament Christian’s life. These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us (vs. 11). This truth expressed in this verse means that one of the reasons 23,000 people died, was to teach us how we should live in Christ. As we start to grasp this truth of how the Old Testament relates to our lives, we wonder if God killing those people was just a warning. In other words did God react to them in such a “harsh” way so that the warning would reverberate through the ages. 

However, it wasn’t just a warning, it was an example. We should learn the truth that God will kill NT Christians for sexual immorality. Our Lord says in Revelation 2:23, "I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds." Boy this seems so harsh! What about grace we wonder! What about the forgiveness we have in Christ? Our mind turns to these questions, only because we don’t understand the terrible effect of sin on us. We do not think ill of a surgeon who cuts cancer out of our body, so we should not think ill of our gracious Lord who will not allow us to continue in sin! He will not give us back to our sin! 

Friend, we have a choice. We have freedom in Christ, through the presence of His Holy Spirit. May we choose this day to live by the Spirit and not to fulfill the lusts of our flesh. May we choose life!


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