Hope and HolinessSample

Do You Not Know?— The Hope of the Gospel

Key Question: How does God’s good creation of men and women provide a solid foundation for gospel hope in our struggle against sexual sin?

If you are struggling to overcome sexual sin, there is good news. You don’t have to remain powerless. There is hope. There is a solution. Eternal life begins right now.

In terms of human nature, the Bible doesn’t begin with the Fall and the doctrine of total depravity. If we begin with the Fall rather than God’s good creation, we easily assume that humans are rotten from the beginning, void of any good and intrinsic dignity. The Bible, however, begins by setting forth the goodness of God’s creation (cf. Gen. 1). From the beginning, God declared His creation to be “very good” (Gen. 1:31).

The body's desires for sensual pleasure indicate what it is to experience human nature as God created it. Even after the Fall, man still retains the image of God, although it is now greatly obscured and marred by sin. Because of the Fall—rather than a weakness or defect in human nature as created by God—our bodies and minds, hearts, and wills are all under the enslavement and rule of sin and death.

Over the next several days, you will learn the gospel and its relevance to helping you solve your problem with sin—in this case, sexual sin. Gospel power and purity over sexual sin flow by examining a vital question the Apostle Paul repeatedly asked another group of Christians mired in sexual sin—the church in ancient Corinth: Do you not know?

You will find Paul’s question throughout 1 Corinthians 6:9–20. He appeals to eight gospel truths, which the Corinthian believers didn’t know (but should have known), to enable and empower them to live a life of sexual purity. These eight gospel truths are how you can live a holy life.

Prayer: Almighty and everlasting God, teach us the way of holiness and grant us hope. Direct our hearts into the love of God that we might live to the honor and glory of your name through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.