"Do
you not
know
that
when you
present
yourselves
to
someone
as
slaves
for
obedience,
you are
slaves
of the
one whom
you
obey,
either
of sin
resulting
in
death,
or of
obedience
resulting
in
righteousness?"
Romans
6:16
A
psychologist
in Los
Angeles
conducted
weekly
seminars
for
women
who had
experienced
or who
were
considering
an
extra-marital
affair.
The
purpose
was to
help
develop
excuses
that a
husband
couldn’t
check,
and
resist
the
temptation
to
confess
the
infidelities.
She was
teaching
the
women
how to
choose
their
partner
carefully
and how
to enjoy
the
relationship
without
feeling
guilty.
One of
those
attending
confessed
that her
guilt
had
nearly
ruined
her
mental
heath
but
after
the
seminar
she felt
guiltless
because
she now
understood
that she
too had
a "right
to
happiness."
It’s
amazing
what
lengths
some
people
will go
to
encourage
others
to sin.
And also
what
explanations
others
will
hold to
justify
sin.
Educating
a person
in the
art of
adultery
does not
make it
right.
Soothing
the
conscience
cannot
eliminate
guilt.
You can
always
make sin
palatable,
but you
can
never
make it
right.
You can
profit
from it
financially
but
never
spiritually.
You may
listen
to the
lies of
another
who
tells
you that
a
particular
sin is
okay
"for
you"
even to
the
point
that you
no
longer
feel
guilt,
but the
penalty
remains.
The
original
sin
introduced
by the
serpent
in the
garden
still
deceives
many
today.
When Eve
told the
serpent
that God
had said
that if
they ate
of the
forbidden
tree she
and Adam
would
die, the
serpent
responded
by
saying,- "You
shall
not
surely
die." The
old lie
that you
can sin
and yet
escape
death is
still
believed
today.
Many
think
that
their
personal
circumstances
are
different
and that
God
would
never
impose
this
judgment
upon
them.
They
come to
believe
that
they are
an
exception
to the
rule,
yet they
are
surely dead wrong. "For
the
wages of
sin is
death. .
." (Rom.
6:23)
Occasionally
I
receive
a call
for
financial
help.
Almost
always
they are
from
people
who have
already
exhausted
whatever
means
the
other
institutions
were
willing
to give.
My first
question
is "Is
your own
Church
helping
you?" The
answer I
receive
most
often
is- "I
am not a
member
of a
Church."
I then
lecture
them on
the
value of
having a
Church
family
who
knows
and
loves
you. I
explain
to them
that
regarding
financial
aid the
first
responsibility
of the
Church
is to
help its
own. It
is here
where I
explain
to them
that if
I give
them
financial
help it
will be
from me
personally
and not
from
Church
funds. I
usually
ask them
why they
are
calling
Churches
for help
when
they
don’t
attend
Church
themselves.
It is at
this
point
that the
truth
begins
to come
out.
Almost
without
exception,
it is a
young
woman
calling
in
behalf
of her
and her
"husband."
After
carefully
questioning
one
woman
who
wanted
money to
rent an
apartment,
I found
that her
"husband"
was not
her
husband
but
someone
who she
left her
husband
for. She
also had
her two
small
children
with
her.
They
were
living
in a
motel
and were
asking
me to
provide
them
money
for
housing.
I
asked,- "Do
you
realize
that you
are
asking
me to
pay for
a place
for you
to
commit
adultery?"
I
counseled
both the
woman
and the
man to
repent
from
practicing
this sin
and
admonished
them
about
how
wrong it
was for
them to
ask
God’s
Church
to
finance
their
sin.
They
admitted
their
wrong
but gave
me no
assurance
that
they
would
change.
They
reasoned
that
what
they
were
doing
was not
so bad
considering
their
circumstances
but I
could
still
sense
guilt in
them.
Sin is
always
wrong.
