Clobber passages

Have you ever heard of the term "Clobber Passages"? According to progressives, the six passages of Scripture that clearly forbid homosexuality are used by conservatives to make people feel guilty. These passages are Genesis 19:4-25 (the story of Sodom and Gomorrah), Leviticus 18:22, Leviticus 20:13, Romans 1:26-27, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, and 1 Timothy 1:9-10.

If you have been a follower of Jesus for very long, you understand that there are more than a few passages of Scripture that clobber us for a broad range of sinful attitudes and lifestyle choices. We take no pleasure in condemning anyone.

Hebrews 4:11-13 says, "Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of sprit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart."

The word "rest" in this passage refers to the eternal state of believers in Heaven. The point of the passage is that the Bible cuts us as we examine it. It exposes our sin so that we may repent of it, apologize to God and work on being a better person. Sin is offensive to God, so our aim is to sin less and know God better.

Imagine if we were to avoid difficult topics in our Bible study. Take racism for example, do we want racists to feel convicted and change their behavior? Or do we want to affirm them and avoid using the expression "God hates the sin (racism) but loves the sinner (the person who struggles with racism). Many who claim that people are born racists offer no hope for change.

What about adultery? The Bible condemns the practice of adultery. Jesus said we are guilty of adultery when we lust after someone who is not our wife. That is painful to hear.

Many people today struggle with pornography. We do not hear many sermons on pornography because it is an uncomfortable subject to talk about. Should we redefine passages that challenge us to have pure thoughts as Clobber Passages?

What about gluttony? The Bible also describes gluttony as a sin. How many of us continue to eat when we are full? How many of us are overweight? What about people who drink too much. The Bible calls them drunkards and points out all the problems associated with excessive eating and drinking.

Would we call the book of James a clobber book? James scolds everyone who fails to control his or her tongue. He also challenges those who favor the rich over the poor.

We must be willing to admit we have a problem with sin, then we will seek a savior. We will receive God's help to make it through this life when we put our faith in Jesus.

When God gave the 10 Commandments to Moses, it was to establish of a covenant relationship. God knows us, and we cannot hide from him. He loves us just the way we are, and he loves us too much to leave us in this condition. He promises to change Christians into the likeness of Jesus. One day we will lay our sin nature aside, we will be given a glorified body and live eternally in the Kingdom of God without sin.

How do we enter heaven? If our good deeds must outweigh our bad deeds for us to make it into heaven, then no deathbed profession of faith would be acceptable. The Bible says there are no righteous people. The only perfect person was Jesus. We get to heaven because he paid the penalty of our sin and gives us the gift of eternal life when we put our faith and trust in him. John 3:16; Romans 10:9-10.

The call of the Christian is to die to self and live for Christ. We are all sinners, and the only hope any of us has is in the grace of God. We deserve to be clobbered, but by grace through faith we are saved from sin and set apart to live for God.