Lesson 8: Gospel Counsel
Questions 4 and 5
Dear friend, God has not withheld from us anything we need in His Word (2 Peter 1:3). We might be tempted to think we need something more, but we don’t. Jesus and His gospel completely and fully address every need that we have. Jesus and His gospel are God’s final word.
And the message that Jesus communicates is one of resounding mercy, love, and grace. If you will listen and apply Jesus’ message to your life, you will be transformed. Worldly counsel can make no such promises.
For example, when I look to the cross of Jesus, I see Jesus dying for my sins, which gives me a new outlook on my life. The cross tells me that I am a sinner in need of a Savior; this is humbling, but it helps me abandon sinful anger about my husband's sin and self-pity. When I consider the resurrection of Jesus, I rejoice that sin no longer has controlling power in my life and my husband’s life. Jesus has overcome for us, and He gives me hope that I can have a marriage that is free from sexual impurity and fully restored. Thinking about this removes my despair and fear that my life will never change. Do you see the value of and the hope that gospel counsel provides?
Question 4. As you consider the death and resurrection of Jesus today, how does it affect your heart and your attitude toward your spouse?
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Briefly, I want to show you a biblical illustration of gospel counsel in action within a local church. Paul writes to the church in Corinth:
“It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife. 2 And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.3 For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing.4 When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5 you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 5:1-5
The situation was this: a man in the Corinthian church was unrepentantly and openly having an immoral relationship with his stepmother. Paul got word of this and wrote to the local church with instructions on what to do.
Question 5. According to 1 Corinthians 5:4-5, what did Paul tell the Corinthians to do about the immorality in the church?