Every Word and Act in the
Name of Jesus
Today's Three-minute Bible
Study
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Title: Every Word
and Act in the Name of Jesus
Keywords:
"chosen by God" "love"
Welcome to eXXit, the web site designed to help you
stand strong in the face of sexual temptation.
Passage:
Colossians 3:12-17*
12. And so, as those who have been chosen of God,
holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility,
gentleness and patience;
13. bearing with one another, and forgiving each
other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord
forgave you, so also should you.
14. And beyond all these things put on love, which
is the perfect bond of unity.
15. And let the peace of Christ rule in your
hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.
16. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within
you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms
and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your
hearts to God.
17. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in
the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the
Father.
Questions
1. From this passage, list the relational traits
that should characterize a Christian’s interactions with
others.
2. From this passage, list the REASONS Paul gives
for why these relational traits should be in place
v. 12 -
v. 13 -
v. 15 -
Practical help
Almost everything we do in life is, in one way or
another, to one degree or another, relational. Nearly every act we
perform and certainly every word we utter, has relational
ramifications! That is the way God created us and the way the world He
created works. In the matter of pornography, some have suggested that
it is victimless and therefore harmless. That, in fact, that viewing
it doesn’t impact what the viewer does or doesn’t do with anyone
else.
Verse 17 of Colossians 3, I believe, gives that theory
the lie! When Paul exhorts us to do all that we do (word and deed) in
the Name of Jesus, he is saying that EVERY act should be brought under
the same “rules of play” that he has been listing in verses 12-16.
That includes the lustful viewing of pornography.
Since Web
smut exists primarily to feed lust and not in any way to build up or
to benefit the viewer (see eXXit’s definition of pornography: click here) and since
it certainly doesn’t benefit the one who is being viewed, it follows
that porn is to be “off limits” for the very reason that it violates
verse 14. It isn’t loving.
Next time you are tempted to surf to
a porno site, remember that you have been chosen by God and that you
have been forgiven by God. The God who chose you and forgave you now
calls you to be loving.
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*"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."