Things Your Lukewarm Pastor Won’t Tell You

Can someone claim to be born again while habitually practicing sin? According to several extremely clear (And neglected!) passages of Scripture, the answer is a resounding NO. When God's seed—His very nature—dwells within us through the Holy Spirit, we cannot continue to live in perpetual, intentional sin. This isn't about perfection or never stumbling, but about the fundamental trajectory of our lives. Are we characterized by righteousness or by ongoing rebellion? The lists in these passages—sexual immorality, idolatry, drunkenness, greed, reviling—aren't meant to condemn us but to wake us up from a coma of deception. They function like spiritual pain receptors, alerting us to danger so we can change course. We are called to examine ourselves honestly: do we possess mere intellectual agreement with gospel facts, or has Jesus truly taken residence in our hearts, producing a new nature that cannot coexist with habitual sin? Eternity for so many professing Christians hangs in the balance and how they respond to these truths that lukewarm leaders avoid.