Lust is the impregnated parent of all forms of sin.
Lust and Chastity, Tabletalk, May 2008, p. 10, Used by Permission.
Lust involves any strong desire, craving, or want that opposes the holy will and command of God. Lust perverts, twists, and defiles all that is good and beautiful, and this is particularly true with sexual or carnal lust.
Lust and Chastity, Tabletalk, May 2008, p. 10, Used by Permission.
What are we to think of a passage like Romans 1:26-27? The Bible defines homosexual desires as “contrary to nature,” not an equal alternative orientation. Homosexuality is a “dishonorable passion” that “consumes” men and women, leading to shameless behavior. The strong emotional pull of lust and the affections shared between persons in a homosexual relationship – whatever those affections may be called – cannot properly be called “love.” After all, love “does not rejoice at wrongdoing” (1 Cor. 13:6) and homosexuality is wrongdoing.
Lust and Chastity, Tabletalk, May 2008, p. 10-11, Used by Permission.
The church is that assembly of people who belong to the Lord, who are gathered together for Him. The gospel of Jesus Christ calls individuals out of the world of sin and death and into eternal light and life; it takes people who were no people and turns them into a special people for God (1 Peter 2:9-10). That’s what the church is. It’s the assembly of people living under the rule of Jesus and committed to each other in the faith.
The Local Church by Thabiti Anyabwile taken from Don’t Call it a Comeback, edited by Kevin DeYoung, copyright 2011, Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton Illinois 60187, www.crosswaybooks.org, p. 203.
The “altar call” teaches the congregation to evaluate the “success” or “effectiveness” of the ministry on outward, visible actions and results.
What About Altar Calls?
We desperately need the church for love, for maturity and preparedness, for spiritual care. It is arrogant, rebellious, self-reliant, God-indicting pride to conclude that the church is an optional extra to the Christian life. We need everything God designs for us. Everything. To reject what God designs for His glory and our good is spiritual suicide. To reject the church is to take your own spiritual life.
The Local Church by Thabiti Anyabwile taken from Don’t Call it a Comeback, edited by Kevin DeYoung, copyright 2011, Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton Illinois 60187, www.crosswaybooks.org, p. 211.