The Gospel of Peace, Sowing and Reaping

The Gospel of Peace

Sowing and Reaping

Many people fear that the Gospel of peace will promote a liberal lifestyle.

It seems that the negative minds sets retribution as the only way to curtail sin.

Through this fear of people taking advantage of God, we have, with good intentions, withheld the truth.

Rom 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

The Gospel of the peace is the power of God unto salvation.

Only the good news of faith-righteousness can bring about the kind of salvation God has provided and expects.

We must realize that there will be those who feel they can take advantage of the goodness of God.

A perverted heart will always pervert anything of self-gratification.

But we cannot let the perversion of some people license us to lie.

Paul warned of this in Galatians and in Corinthians.

Gal 5:13 For you, brothers, were called to freedom. Only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity to gratify your flesh, but through love make it your habit to serve one another.

Gal 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

The Phillips translation says it this way: “Don’t be under any illusion: you cannot make a fool of God! A man’s harvest in life will depend entirely on what he sows.”

AIDS is not the judgment of an angry God; neither is sickness, poverty, or all the other plagues of humanity.

The majority of that which hurts us is the product of sinful sowing and consequent reaping.

We should:

-         Warn people of the destruction of sin.

-         Make them realize how much pain sin can bring into a person’s life.

We should never try to make them think that the pain is God’s judgment against them for their sins.

This life is a series of decisions.

We must live with the consequences of the decisions we make.

When we act independently of truth, we will reap a crop of destruction.

When we make decisions based on truth, we will reap a good harvest.

The law of sowing and reaping is not a matter of God’s blessings or punishment.

It is a natural law that God set in place.

When people realize that sin the source of their pain, they will hate sin.

Since people think God is the source of their pain, they hate God.

God has not hurt anyone under the new covenant.

Under the old covenant God had to deal with people from the outside instead of dealing with them on the inside.

This is because God was not in us until after the cross.

God has set us free from the curse of the law, and He has given us the wisdom of His Word to know how to avoid painful decisions.

The law of sowing and reaping is a sure law, but there is a higher law.

It is the law of the Spirit of life (Zoë) in Christ Jesus.

Rom 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

When we are tired of the destruction of our own way, we can turn to a loving, merciful God, receive forgiveness, and be delivered from the law of sowing and reaping.

Does this mean a person could sin, ask for forgiveness, and never suffer any penalty of his sin?

Yes, if there is true repentance, confession, and turning back to the Lord.

But there is an effect of sin that is more devastating than any of the afflictions that come on our flesh.

The Bible warns that we should guard our hearts with all diligence, because all the issues of life come from the heart.

Pro 4:23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

Everything your life is or will be is a product of your heart.

We cannot rise above the condition of our heart.

We will ultimately live out of the abundance of our heart.

The most devastating effects of sin are seen in how it affects the heart.

Heb 3:13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called Today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

Sin hardens the heart.

It makes the heart insensitive to God.

Paul warned Christians in the book of Ephesians not to live like the Gentiles do.

Eph 4:17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,

Eph 4:18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:

Eph 4:19 Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

Living in sin will darken our understanding of God, which will result in our being alienated from the life, the abundance, the Zoë of God.

Alienation happens through ignorance of godly things, which is a product of blindness, or hardness, of heart.

Even after we have received forgiveness from our sins, there is still a problem with our hearts.

Hardness of heart refers to a callus on the heart.

When we as Christians get involved in sin, it is very painful to our hearts.

Since we have a righteous nature, we can no longer sin without feeling pain.

A person who continues in sin will callus their heart to the point of not being able to feel or detect the work, conviction, and direction of the Holy Spirit.

Often, a person even reaches a point of feeling that his sin is acceptable to God.

He does not feel any discomfort.

That lack of pain in the heart is not God’s approval.

It is the devastating, deceitful effect of sin.

Heb 3:12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.

The deceitfulness of sin:

-         Is not obvious.

-         Is the inward effect on the heart.

A hardened heart will eventually choose to turn away from God—and feel no pain.

Hebrews contains six strong warnings about sin.

These warnings are stronger than most preachers and Christians like to admit.

The basic warning is against apostasy.

An apostate is one who turns away, never to return.

An apostate is not one who loses his salvation; he is one who throws it away.

We have security in Christ, but we also have freedom of choice.

Through a long deceitful process, sin can bring a person to this point of destruction.

The reason it is so hard to turn around is that they feel no pain.

If you are backslidden, do not assume you have reached this point.

As long as you are alive, you can turn around.

God never quits loving you when you are in sin.

Jesus never turns against you.

1Jn 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:

God is forever for you!