Topics: Deception, Holiness, Hypocrisy

I just finished watching a television program that outlined the early age that teenagers are having sexual relationships. 50% of girls, and 55% of boys between the ages of 15-19 have lost their virginity. One particular girl that was very outgoing, an excellent student, and a consistent church attendee who sang in the choir had been sexually active since the age of 13. When asked how did she justify her religious beliefs with her actions, she replied, "I try not to think about it - I don't connect them. Religion is one thing, and sex is another." Unfortunately, many people in our world have great difficulty connecting religion with their everyday actions. Jesse James killed a fellow in a bank robbery and shortly thereafter was baptized in the Kearney Baptist Church. Then he killed another man, a bank cashier, and joined the church choir and taught hymn-singing. He liked Sundays, Jesse did, but he couldn't always show up at church. On two Sundays, he robbed trains.

The Bible is very clear about the desire that God has to be a part of every action and decision that we make. The struggle of right belief and religious traditions have existed since the time of Christ. In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul taught against a sect of people called "gnostics" who thought that right beliefs in the mind really had no connection to the body and daily living. Even the vocabulary that some use today support the gnostic view. We still talk about "saving souls" when in fact, Christ wants to dwell in our total life. Paul wrote in

Romans 6:1 " What shall we say then? shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid!! How shall we who are dead to sin, live any longer in it?"

This same idea is shared when Paul was saying that if we are pure in our hearts, all things in our lives will be pure. There is a connection between Godly living and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. It is time that Christians in this world begin to live according to the teachings of the word of God. Sin is still sin, and holiness is expected by God. There is no dichotomy between soul and body while in this world.

Let us begin to set an example to others that Jesus Christ makes a difference in all that we say and do.

Ralph Nygard