JD Greear (quoting Jen Wilkin): “‘We ought to whisper about what the Bible whispers about, and we ought to shout about what it shouts about.’ And the Bible appears more to whisper when it comes to sexual sin compared to its shouts about materialism and religious pride.”
It’s religious pride to preach the Bible whispers about sexual sin. God said loud and clear, “Flee from sexual immorality” (1 Corinthians 6:18), or any kind of sex outside the marriage bed, since God created sex for a husband and a wife. Often when the Bible lists the sins God will judge, sexual sins are first on the list.
“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.” 1 Corinthians 6:9-10
“Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.” Galatians 5:19-21
“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming.” Colossians 3:5-6
Now someone might say, “Wait, I listened to Pastor Greear’s sermon, and in context he was saying the Bible whispers about homosexual sin.” Well was God whispering when He destroyed the Sodomites? Jude 7 says, “Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.”
Greear’s sermon (delivered January 27, 2019 at The Summit Church in Raleigh-Durham, NC) was on Romans 1:24-32. Over half that section describes homosexual passions as the perverse behavior of a people given over to a debased mind. How does anyone preach the Bible whispers about this?
Many churches are embroiled in sexual scandal, and this is in front of the whole world. It does not help when church leaders say things like, “The Bible whispers about sexual sin.” Bad doctrine causes these problems, and bad doctrine makes them worse. Do not whisper any word of God! Preach Christ and Him crucified for our sins, when we understand the text.
