Earlier I wrote a blog post about how Christians need to stop leading with a message of love but with a message of repentance. We always need to remember that God is holy, God is righteous, God is a consuming fire and God is love. God’s love flows through His other characteristics. It is for this reason that God can send us all to hell and still be a loving and righteous God. God is not the problem. Sin is the problem.

I wanted to delve into this topic more because it’s crucial to understand how sin and our hearts are intertwined.

If you haven’t read the previous blog post; Is Saying “God Is Love” The Wrong Approach, I highly encourage you to do so.

Sin separates us from God and when we sin we if effect chose satan’s dominion in our lives over God’s. This is why it’s important as born-again Christians that when we fall in sin we repent of it immediately. You notice I wrote “fall in sin” and not “willingly sin”.

What Does God Have to Say About Our Heart?

Jeremiah 17:9
The human heart is most deceitful and desperately wicked.

Proverbs 4:23
Above all else, guard your heart, for it affects everything you do.

God tells us that our heart is inclined to sin if left on its own. That’s why starting a sentence with “I feel” or “I think” can be very dangerous especially if we are talking about God. God warns us that we need to guard or protect our heart because everything we do flows from it.

What’s Our Protection or “Cure” Against A Deceitful Heart?

Ephesians 6:14
Stand your ground, putting on the sturdy belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness.

In some translations it says to put on the breastplate of God’s righteousness. It’s very appropriate that God states that we have to put on His righteousness which covers our deceitful hearts.

I want to make it absolutely clear that it says “God’s righteousness” not our righteousness and what we think to be right. This is where a lot of people get into trouble. Instead of protecting their heart with God’s righteousness they follow what their heart is telling them to do or telling them what is right. They make decisions based on what their heart is telling them and not what the Bible says. It’s because of this that many are being deceived on a variety of topics.

Since our hearts can deceive us in numerous ways, if we aren’t protecting ourselves, let’s look at just one example of where our hearts will lead us astray every single time.

Sexuality Immorality

This is huge even within the Church. What’s the saying, “love is blind?” People will say because God is love that means we can love whomever we want. God is love so He’ll understand me having sex before marriage if I really love the person. When it comes to “love” (which in today’s culture means lust) we will be lead down the wrong path every single time…if we don’t have God’s breastplate of righteousness on. So to understand God’s righteousness on this topic we need to define what sexual immorality is.

What is Sexual Immorality?

God is awesome! He knows what are our biggest stumbling block is going to be so He addresses it within the first couple of pages of the Bible. Here God tells us what an appropriate sexual relationship is…

God created Adam then Eve to be his companion.

Genesis 2:24
And this explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.

A man and a woman in the confines of marriage is the only sexual relationship that God supports. Anything outside of this is sin and sin leads to death. So living together outside of marriage, sex before marriage, homosexual relations, watching pornography etc. is NOT GOD’S RIGHTEOUSNESS. You can come up with any excuse but you’re just being deceived by your heart which is prone to all kinds of wickedness.

How Does God Want Us to Deal With Sexual Immorality?

1 Corinthians 6:18-20
Run away from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body.

1 Corinthians 6:13
Our bodies were not made for sexual immorality. They were made for the Lord, and the Lord care about our bodies.

James 4:7
Humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

God Has Called Us to a Holy Life

1 Thessalonians 4:7-8
God has called us to be holy, not to live impure lives. Anyone who refuses to live by these rules is not disobeying human rules but is rejecting God, who gives His Holy Spirit to you.

Romans 12:1-2
And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice – the kind He will accept. When you think of what He has done for you, is this too much to ask? Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect His will really is.

2 Peter 11
Since everything around us is going to melt away, what holy, godly lives you should be living!

Galatians 6:5
We are responsible for our own conduct.

The High Cost of Letting Your Heart Deceive You

Have you looked into the cost of letting your heart lead your life??

1 Corinthians 6:9-11
Don’t you know that those who do wrong will have no share in the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, who are idol worshipers, adulterers, male prostitutes, homosexuals, thieves, greedy people, drunkards, abusers, and swindlers-none of these will have a share in the Kingdom of God.

Ephesians 5:5
You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God.

Revelations 21:8
But cowards who turn away from me, and unbelievers, and the corrupt, and murderers, and the sexual immoral, and those that practice witchcraft, and idol worshippers, and all liars - their doom is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death.

Hebrews 13:4
Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery.

The Grace of God

We can praise the Lord because He is a just and merciful God!

Psalm 103:10-12
He has not punished us for all our sins, no does He deal with us as we deserve. For His unfailing love toward those who fear Him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.

There is grace and mercy for those that repent, turn away from their sins and turn to Jesus.

Acts 3:19
Now turn from your sins and turn to God, so you can be cleansed of your sins.

This is just one example of how our hearts can deceive us. I pray that in any situation in your life before making a decision you turn to God and what He says. I pray that you put on God’s breastplate of righteousness and never remove it. I pray that as you grow in Jesus Christ you become a living and holy sacrifice.

Your Sister in Christ,

Angela

Proverbs 3:5
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.