Conversion

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 ESV

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And Such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Why did someone share the Gospel with you? Why do you read the bible? Why is the Bible read every Lord’s Day? Is not change part of that equation? The desire that in sharing the Gospel the hearer might repent of their sin and turn to Christ, undergirds all of what we do as a church. The recognition that it isn’t only the unchurched and unsaved that need to be constantly confronted with their sin, its heinous visage, staining their soul , but the saved as well. Seeing the hurt and pain sin causes, leads us to share hope. Knowing that beneath the fake smiles and foolish grins, is a foundation waiting to collapse wreaking havoc upon this person and all who are nearby. Longing to help avert the coming crisis the Gospel is shared that sin might be driven from darkness and wither in the light.

Knowing sin is a thing that is not safely in someone else's life and not also in our own. We read and let the word of God convert us again and again. Turning us from our sin and pressing us into the image of our elder brother, Jesus the Christ. This is the pattern of sanctification. The word of God reaches in and converts the sinner over and over. Starting with the first time the beloved message touched your ears that you had been made right with God by the blood of Christ and you were overwhelmed by the reality, such that, you turned from the sin you were aware of. It didn’t stop there, as every day more of your sin was shown to you as the text helped you see. To see how vile you were and you over and over, you came grateful and overwhelmed to the cross, again and again. At first you thought the chasm between you and God was great but the longer you see your heart for what it is and was, you see more clearly it was not simply massive it was insurmountable except; Christ did conquer it. Over and over, we come to see more precisely how great our conversion was, as the word of God converts us again and again.

We consent to God’s word being read that we might enjoy changing what was true and embrace what God desires for us. The simple reading of his word does this over and over. This act is about to be rendered illegal in western democracies. On January 7 of 2022 it will become illegal in Canada to: “practice, treatment, or service designed to (a) change a person’s sexual orientation to heterosexual (b) change a person gender identity to cisgender (c) change a person’s gender expression so that it conforms to the sex assigned at birth (d) repress or reduce non-heterosexual attraction or sexual behavior (e) repress a person’s non-cisgender identity; (f) repress or reduce a person’s gender expression that does not conform to the sex assigned to the person at birth.” (320.101 of the Criminal Code) It goes further and says that the person's consent for the action does not matter. Because a person would dare to read scripture in the hope that a person would be converted from their wicked way he or she becomes “guilty of an indictable offense and liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than five years” that goes for all that would advertise or promote a church service since the service is intended to bring about the conversion of all who come, and it does not matter according to this law that they consent to hear it read.

The 49^th Parallel is a nice line on a map but it will not hold back the tide. The favorable coverage of this law and the similar in Britain must alarm us to the point we pray. Pray for our brothers in the North who on Friday will begin functioning illegally simply waiting for someone to complain. Pray for our leaders and subsequent elections that God might hold back the tide and not judge us so severely as to turn us over to his wrath, but raise up men of ability, strength and skill, once again to help the faithful here in our blessed land. Pray God would raise up a church here, should he give our government over to his wrath, that courageously speaks truth, and wisely finds new ways to function in the face of government oppression.

CRUCE, DUM SPIRO, FIDO