Today it is taught that a genuine Christian would never commit incest. The truth is, the churches of today are filled with sinning believers. Are we to claim that none of them are true Christians?

There is absolutely no indication whatever that the man of the Corinthians church was not considered to be a genuine member of the assembly. The inference is that he was a believer who had lapsed into sin.

It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. (I Corinthians 5:1)

"There is fornication among you." This means there was a believer in the assembly in Corinth who was practicing sin. Paul did not say, "It doesn't matter if the man is practicing incest because God sees only Christ's righteousness covering him."

Rather, Paul responded in the following manner:

For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, (I Corinthians 5:3)

Paul did not state that the man was not a believer. Paul declared that the individual needed a severe chastening that his spirit might be saved in the Day of the Lord.

Those who avoid the truth by vain reasoning, claiming that a true believer would never act like the man in Corinth or Ananias and Sapphira, actually are supporting our argument that the only reliable proof of salvation is a godly life—not godly because God regards us as godly but godly because our personality and behavior are godly.

It is not true that God sees Christ and not our personality and conduct. This is a fantasy, and when it is examined in terms of practical consequences and judged by what the Scriptures state it is seen to be completely without foundation.

Currently it is stated that since Christ is God's Conqueror, having overcome every temptation of the world, the flesh, and Satan, we too can be a conqueror by identifying with Christ's victory. We do not actually overcome any temptation, rather, we are an overcomer by identifying with the One who did overcome while He was in the world.

This sounds so reverent, so devout, so lofty! But it is utterly false. How the Lord Jesus must groan when He witnesses the deceptions that abound in His churches!

Do we or do we not have to overcome through Christ's Virtue the world, the flesh, and our self-will? What do you think?

To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. (Revelation 3:21)

Is the Lord Jesus saying we are to overcome as He overcame, or is He stating that we overcome by identifying with His victory?

To be continued.