But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

-1 Peter 2:9–12 (NIV)

First: You are a chosen people. That is your Position.

Second: You are a royal priesthood. That is your Purpose.

You are God’s ambassador of the good news as though God were making His appeal through you to the world.

Third: You are a holy nation. That is your Practice. 

You have the spirit of the living God in you if you truly made Jesus the Lord and Savior of your life.

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

2 Peter 1:3–4 (NIV)

Four statements are becoming popular that are in direct opposition to Jesus:

1. "Truth is subjective."

This is wrong philosophically.

Life becomes unlivable.

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

-John 14:6 (NIV)

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

-Matthew 24:35 (NIV)

Culture may change—Opinions may change—Feelings may change—but the word of God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

...Your word is truth. John 17:17B (NIV)

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

-1 Timothy 3:16-17

2. "All sins are equal"

Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

-John 19:11 (NIV)

All sins are not equal because sins have different impact and ramifications.

All sin is equal in the sense that we are all condemned before God and in need of a Savior. No one is righteous, not even one.

“All sins condemn equally but are not equally evil.” No sin is too small to eliminate the need for grace and forgiveness; however, all sins are not equally harmful, blameworthy, or serious.

Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit. Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own…

-1 Corinthians 6:15–19 (NIV)

While all sins separate us from God in unique ways, sexual sin has an added dimension of profaning the body that houses the Spirit of God, leading to internal destruction and spiritual ruin.

These two things cannot live together.

1. Either the Spirit will be totally quenched

2. Or you will stop inviting sexual sin into the house of God.

When you don’t flee sexual sin, you become blinded to the truth because you have suppressed the Spirit of the living God. You have brought the prostitute into the temple.

3. "Interpretation is individualistic."

When someone consistently uses interpretation to dismiss the Bible’s direction, they are using a form of moral relativism to avoid accountability.

4. "Grace is opposed to effort"

“Grace is not opposed to effort; it is opposed to earning.” —Dallas Willard

“Grace does not just have to do with forgiveness of sins alone.” —Dallas Willard

Rock of ages, cleft for me,

Let me hide myself in thee;

Let the water and the blood,

From thy riven side which flowed,

Be of sin the double cure,

Save me from its guilt and power.

Augustus M. Toplady, Rock of Ages (1776)

You and I are:

First: A chosen people — that is our Position.

Second: A royal priesthood — that is our Purpose.

Third: A holy nation — that is our Practice.

Our will and intention have been transformed by the Spirit of God who lives in us.

“It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” Galatians 2:20 (NLT)

• Sinning without repentance is defiant and leads to deep spiritual consequences.

• Continual repentance, even for repeated sins, signifies a heart change and a desire to follow God, though it involves struggle and real-life effects.

• Unrepentant sin is a deliberate rejection of Christ’s Lordship.

• Doing battle with sin and winning the war over it shows submission to God and reliance on Christ for forgiveness.

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

-Romans 6:1–4 (NIV)

Here are the reasons you go on sinning without repentance:

• Desire outweighs conviction
• Repeated sin weakens internal resistance
• Rationalization quiets shame and guilt

To my great shame, I confess that for eight years I willfully engaged in a sinful affair with a married woman. My conduct defied everything I believe about marriage. It was also totally inconsistent with my faith and my writings and caused deep pain for her husband and both our families.

-Phillip Yancey

When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.

-Psalm 32:3 (NIV)

The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.

-1 Timothy 5:17 (NIV)

Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.

-James 3:1 (NIV)

First: We have the right to expect more from our leaders—and many have not disappointed.

Second: Does God have the right to expect more from you?

We are...

A chosen people — that is our Position.

A royal priesthood — that is our Purpose.

A holy nation — that is our Practice.

We are a holy people given the grace to save us and the grace to empower us to say no to sin and death.

Have you convinced yourself that truth is subjective?

Your word is truth. John 17:17 (NIV)

Have you convinced yourself that all sins are equal? Have you convinced yourself grace is opposed to effort?

If you have done any or all of these things, it is because you have allowed the world’s thinking to overshadow the clear teaching of God’s Word.

You are one decision away from wiping the slate clean and kickstarting 2026 with proof of your commitment to Christ.

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

-1 John 1:5-9

But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.

-Joshua 24:15

Make a Decision