DQ’d No More! Today's Three-minute Bible Study Print, Study and Apply Title: DQ’d No More!------------------------------- Date: 4/6/2003 Keyword: “disqualification” Welcome to eXXit, the web site designed to help you stand strong in the face of sexual temptation. Passage: 2 Timothy 2:5* And also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules. Questions 1. Think about the athletic competitions you have witnessed or been a part of. Rules are indispensable parts of any game. What happens in a running event at a track meet if athletes don't stay in their lanes? In a basketball game if players double-dribble? In a soccer match if players pick up the ball with their hands?   2. Why did Paul use this illustration in speaking to Timothy? What do you think is the apostle's "point"?   Practical help Runners who don't stay in their lanes in a 100-meter sprint are disqualified, as are double-dribbling basketball players and soccer players who use their hands. But Paul writes about disqualification for believers. In what sense? Does a true-blue Christian who strays outside the lines (say, acts immorally) lose his salvation? No! The Bible is absolutely clear that once we have placed our trust in Jesus for salvation nothing — including our sin — can separate us from the love of God (see Romans 8:28-39). So in what sense is a believer “DQ’d” for not following the rules? First, when you or I stray outside the lines drawn in the Bible for a God-honoring life, we won't enjoy the full measure of peace, joy, and fulfillment that God wants His people to experience. Second, believers will "reap what they sow" (Galatians 6). The law of the harvest applies to Christians. In the future in Heaven, there are promised rewards for those who live for God's glory (see 1 Corinthians 3; 2 Corinthians 5). Does present involvement with porn disqualify you from experiencing God's fullest blessing now, and in the future, a reward? That's Paul's point in the verse above. If that is where you are right now, God is giving you a chance to start the race fresh. He'll let you start the game over again and again and again. In fact, as often as you come to Him and express your longing to obey, He will wipe the "DQ" away from your name. Put aside porn, and get back in the game of honoring God with your whole life! eXXit homepage Index of three-minute studies Copyright 2003 by eXXit *"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, © Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission." ---