Sin and the Church: Perspectives and Principles for Powerful Christian Living

By Crystal Maria Scott

Sin and the Church: Perspectives and Principles for Powerful Christian Living is a timely message for today. This book is born out of Crystal Scott's own personal Christian experience and journey, and is a reflection of God's grace, patience, and providence; she discloses that while forever a work-in-progress, she has received revelation and understanding through her relationship with God that affords her the opportunity to enlighten others as she has been enlightened.

WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW CAN HURT...!
As related to the issue of Sin and the Church, I consider this more than a mere clich: what you don't know can indeed hurt you; and this hurt is more and more apparent in the Church, which is the body of Christ (His believers and followers). There is a rapid increase of spiritual decline in the Church that is quite alarming and its impact is far-reaching. All too often there seems to be very little difference between Church people and those who do not claim to be followers of Christ. I contend, without apology, that there is an expectation of the Church that God has, which is not being carried out as it should be.

In the face of what seems gloom and doom for the Church, God raises a word of enlightenment and encouragement. God knows there are some who are innocently led astray by erroneous doctrine and confused, and He cares. He also cares about those who innocently or deceptively lead others astray and He offers grace, forgiveness, and restoration to the repentant heart. Included in this book are the following:

True Christian Doctrine

Lifestyles that are not indicative of Christianity and holiness

Essential keys for powerful Christian living

Statistical Data

Personal testimonies and interviews

And much more

SIN AND THE CHURCH: PERSPECTIVES AND PRINCIPLES FOR POWERFUL CHRISTIAN LIVING...GOOD NEWS in confusing and troubled times!

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jun 6, 2014
• ISBN: 9781496913050

Crystal Maria Scott

Crystal M. Scott is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in the states of Texas and California, in private practice in Irving, Texas. She holds a Master's Degree in Counseling Psychology and a certificate in Pastoral Counseling. Crystal is also the author of the book, "Take Back Your Life," Her passion and desire is that all people might come into the full knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, live holy and consecrated lives, and make a huge impact in the world according to the will of God; that THE CHURCH may ultimately live perfected lives as taught in Ephesians Chapter 4..."Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. That we henceforth be no more children; tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine..." All to the glory of God, AMEN!

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© 2014 Crystal Maria Scott. All rights reserved.

Cover photo taken by Hector Torres

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Scripture quotations marked AMP are from The Amplified Bible, Old Testament copyright © 1965, 1987 by the Zondervan Corporation. The Amplified Bible, New Testament copyright © 1954, 1958, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James Version (Authorized Version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic Reference Bible, Copyright © 1983 by The Zondervan Corporation.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. [Biblica]

Published by AuthorHouse    06/04/2014

ISBN: 978-1-4969-1306-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4969-1305-0 (e)

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Appreciations

Introduction

Chapter 1 True Christian Doctrine

Chapter 2 Lifestyle

Chapter 3 Following the Leader

Chapter 4 Leaders: Called and Chosen to Empower

Chapter 5 From Sinful to Saintly

Chapter 6 Good Ground—Good Fruit

Chapter 7 Keys for Successful Christian Living

Chapter 8 Personal Testimonies

Chapter 9 A Final Word

Glossary

About the Author…

Appreciations

Humble Thank You To—

God my Father, Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior, and The Holy Spirit my comforter, teacher, and guide.

Everyone who participated in the interview and testimony process.

My spouse who is a significant part of my spiritual journey.

My wonderful children who are great blessings and always supportive and encouraging.

My siblings and parents for contributing to the Christian woman I am today.

Pastors/leaders, past and current, who have poured into my spiritual growth and development.

My very close and dear friends for allowing me to share ideas and for helpful feedback.

Introduction

If you were traveling down a road leading to danger would you want to be warned? If I had escaped a fire or harmful situation that you were headed toward would you want me to alert and help you? No sane person would respond to these questions by saying NO! Thus, the purpose for writing this book is to WARN: to warn of the danger of sin in the Church, and to bring a message of hope that we can overcome sin that increasingly plagues the Church and live lives of holiness.

It is important to interject here respect for the argument that positional holiness and practical holiness are different concepts; however, let’s think (together) and ask: would God make a way for us to be in the position of holiness (through Jesus Christ), and not make a way and provide help for us to be practically holy? As we ponder this idea together may we gain insight into God’s thoughts and heart concerning the matter.

I write this book with sadness on one hand and gladness on the other. Sadness because the last place anyone should have sin modeled before them is in the assembly of and in relationship with Christians. I write with gladness because God has not left us without hope. We know the hard, ugly facts about sin in the Church, but God is merciful and has given His truths to His servant to share so that blind eyes can be opened to God’s heart and mind toward sin.

Not only do I write out of sadness due to sin being modeled in the Church, but as a result the character of Jesus Christ is not truly reflected by some claiming to be Christians; I say this because in today’s church, for some, there seems to be a form of Christ-likeness. When we look into the word of God (the Bible) and learn of the life of Christ we must conclude that there is a vast difference between what Jesus said and how He lived when he was on earth and what is represented in the lives of some Christians. While there may be some difficulties with understanding the Bible and how God’s principles apply to our lives today, one does not need to be a profound theologian to have a basic understanding of right and wrong and to know what God commands and desires of those who say that Jesus is their Lord and Savior. Yet, there are some in the church of Christ who are deficient in carrying out the principles and character of Christ.

The majority of this book addresses the issue of sin in the church using universal pronouns such as we, us, and our since sin in the church is a universal matter and no one is exempt from temptation to sin. Knowing this, we ought to tackle this issue of sin together. If we are going to be successful in doing so we must first realize the need for an individual commitment to address and overcome sin in our own, personal lives. Do not buy into the devilish propaganda that you should learn through your own mistakes—you CAN learn from the experiences of others as to what you should not do; you CAN avoid similar experiences, pitfalls, and consequences of sin.

When it was impressed upon my heart (by the Holy Spirit) to deal with the topic of sin in the church I struggled with this burden, I did not want to come across as controversial to some who do not teach principles that are purely Christ’s. This is to say, some do not stress Christian principles as imperative, as if there is the suggestion that holiness and obedience are optional. Consequently, beliefs regarding such erroneous teachings can ultimately become firmly fixed or embedded in the way individuals think and challenging them proves to be a challenge. However, after a conversation with one of my sisters in Christ who spoke about the strong hand of the Lord being on His chosen vessel to speak a word in season I realized that the burden I experienced came directly from God and woe unto me if I fail to do as God has spoken unto me.

Though it was stated earlier, some preach in a way that might imply holiness is optional, this writing is not intended to blame others for our choices; rather, this writing is intended to address basic principles of godliness and righteousness, provide insight into the character of Christ, and demonstrate how true Christians (followers of Christ) indicate a connection to God through Jesus by the lifestyle they live. Additionally, in this writing we will learn of behaviors in the Church today that are opposed to the characteristics and behaviors of Jesus Christ. Let me parenthetically insert: the Church is not the building, but a collection of individuals, those who profess to be believers, followers of Christ, children of God—those who have been regenerated.

Unfortunately, some who profess to be believers are the ones giving in to sinful pleasures and practices (note here that practice means to do something repeatedly, as in accordance with what one believes). Such practice are not only common among Christians who are new in their relationship with Christ and not fully aware of what it means to be totally committed to Christ, but we find such behaviors among leaders, pastors, preachers, deacons, singers, etc. Practicing or continuing sinful behaviors tends to demonstrate a belief that God will always forgive just as long as we ask for forgiveness. This is true; however, we must realize three things: (1) a mindset that is comfortable with repetitive sinning and confessing makes for a questionable relationship with God (indicating no true repentance has taken place), (2) although God is forgiving, sin has consequences, and (3) we must stop choosing certain parts of God’s word to justify our actions. For example: There is now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1); we read this passage yet we leave out the second part of this verse: "Who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit." Thus, we who do not walk after the flesh (live according to our fleshly desires) are not condemned.

As a psychologist I am aware that sometimes strongly held beliefs can lead individuals to seek information that confirms or validates what is already believed, even if what is believed is bogus. This is what some have been doing in the church, rather than critically examining and challenging erroneous beliefs with God’s word and standing on our faith in God and in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ we continue believing lies, lies that we are just