Scripture to Read: 1 Corinthians 10:8
Through Paul, God continued to lay out the acts of the flesh that the Israelites fell into, because God wants to ensure that all of His children avoid them. We read in 1 Corinthians 10:8, “Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day.” The children of Israel (in Numbers 25:1–9) had chosen to turn their backs on God and instead joined themselves to the false god, Baal of Peor. God’s anger burned against them, and 23,000 people died in one day, but the total number who died added up to 24,000. God never looks lightly on sin of any kind. We must remember that our Lord Jesus Christ took upon Himself all of God’s wrath so that everyone who surrenders to Christ as Lord and Savior is made perfect and complete in the eyes of God the Father. Sin always results in death. God makes this clear in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death,” and in James 1:15, “Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.” As Christians, we have so much to be grateful for through Christ our Lord. God tells us in 1 Thessalonians 4:3–5, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, 5 not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God.”—it’s His perfect will.
Challenge & Application
Why does sin always result in death?
How are you fleeing from the passions of your fleshly desires so that you honor our Lord in all of your actions?
Don’t forget to pray using the A.C.T.S. (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) method!