Friday: Further Thought – Sin in the Church
Daily Lesson for Friday 24th of July 2026
Read Ellen G. White, “A Message of Warning and Entreaty,” Pages 298–308, in The Acts of the Apostles.
Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com
Interestingly, in the catalog of vices in 1 Corinthians 5:10-11 and 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, idolatry and drunkenness are listed along with sexual immorality. As Paul recalls in 1 Corinthians 10:7 (compare with Exodus 32:1-6), idolatrous festivals were usually marked with excessive eating and drinking, which opened the door for sexual immorality (1 Corinthians 10:8). Ellen G. White says:
“It is impossible for any to enjoy the blessing of sanctification while they are selfish and gluttonous. . . . The power of the human constitution to resist the abuses put upon it is wonderful, but persistent wrong habits in excessive eating and drinking will enfeeble every function of the body. In the gratification of perverted appetite and passion even professed Christians cripple nature in her work and lessen physical, mental, and moral power.”—The Sanctified Life, Pages 25, 26.
“When one is fully emptied of self, when every false god is cast out of the soul, the vacuum is supplied by the inflowing of the Spirit of Christ. Such a one has the faith which works by love and purifies the soul from every moral and spiritual defilement.”—Ellen G. White, The Home Missionary, November 1893.
“God is seeking to exalt us to His high, pure, heavenly standard. For this purpose His Spirit is constantly striving with us. . . . Our natural tendencies, unless corrected by the Holy Spirit of God, have in them the seeds of moral death.”—Ellen G. White, Manuscript 12, 1888.
Discussion Questions
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Sexual sin casts a long shadow and it would be remiss of us not to mention the effect when leaders either confess or are found out.
Phillip Yancey was a popular and influential preacher and writer, Many of us found some deep insights into our Christian experience with his books like, “What’s so Amazing About Grace”, and “The Jesus I Never Knew”. He preached in our church and I have his books. It came as a deep shock to hear him confess to an 8-year affair, that has essentially ended his ministry. Such events are devastating, particularly to those whose faith has grown as a result of his ministry.
And of course, Seventh-day Adventist leaders and inspirational preachers are not immune to moral lapses either. They may not be as widely known as Yancey, but their failures are just as devastating to those within their horizon.
However, the good news is that even when such revelations are embarrassingly public, redemption is still possible. I have seen it happen where leaders have been caught or confessed to immorality. The have repented and asked for forgiveness and have been supported by the love of their faith community. Their ministry may not be the same but their restoration of faith and belief is a testament to the saving grace of Jesus.
Salvation is not about living a perfect life. It is about repentance, forgiveness and restoration. Public humiliation may be hard to take; congregational disappointment may be palpable, but it does not need to be the end of the road.
When we reach the bottom of the barrel,and we feel we have let God down badly, it is good to know that Jesus is there for us. And for those of us who think we stand on high moral ground, it does us well to remember that our part is not to condemn but to compassionately provide the support and encouragement needed in Jesus’ name.
For our family worship this morning, we read a Chapter 38, “Importance of the Work, in Testimonies to the Church, Vol. 3, how Satan is especially on the track of those who are in positions to do the most good for Christ. Ellen White details how men in our early days were called to work at Battle Creek, only to succumb to Satan’s traps. Then people concluded that God or Ellen White must have made a mistake in calling them, but the truth was that the men started out well, but became self-confident and Satan successfully overcame them.
Some of our most prominent pastor/writers of the past have been involved in sexual exploitation of one of their congregants. This does not mean that their writings were/are wrong. But it should have resulted in their being stripped of their ministerial credentials – for their own good and the safety of vulnerable women in our congregations.
I see several practical lessons:
1. Those of us in positions of influence should not be surprised to be under demonic attack – either subtle or open.
2. When influential writers fail, it does not mean that what they wrote was not right or beneficial.
I just checked my bookshelf, and I still have these books by Philip Yancey: The Jesus I Never Knew, The Bible Jesus Read, and a couple of others I’m not sure I read. I remember being inspired by them the first time I read them, and I do not think they have lost their value because Satan took down the writer.
As for one extremely popular Adventist preacher/writer of the past, I think he was too weak on the discipline required in the Christian life, teaching that, essentially, nothing more was required than trusting in Jesus. While the latter is true, trusting in Jesus takes constant discipline of our thoughts as well as our actions, because self is ready to take over at any moment. Many listeners did not understand this and were thus easy prey for Satan. And the pastor himself clearly did not exercise such discipline and was involved in multiple affairs. At the same time, his emphasis on just trusting Jesus was needed when the prevailing attitude was more works-focused. It just lacked a bit of balance.
Yes, the good news is that no one who sincerely repents and confesses sin is ever cast off by Jesus. In the meantime, we need to pray for our leaders and ourselves – that we recognize when we start becoming self-confident, instead of self-distrustful.
We haven’t tossed the Psalms out of the Bible because David murdered and committed adultery and failed as a father in favouring his son Absolum.
As much as the contemporary culture often celebrates sexual expression as an essential aspect of personal fulfillment and freedom, Scripture presents a different perspective. Some Christians in Corinth believed that the gospel had freed them to do whatever they desired, including engaging in sexual activity according to their own standards. They argued that just as the stomach was made for food, the body was made for sex, and sex for the body (1 Cor. 6:13). Paul firmly rejects this reasoning, explaining that it misrepresents Christian freedom. Instead, he teaches that sexual immorality is incompatible with the believer’s identity in Christ and that the freedom granted through the gospel is not a license for self-indulgence but a call to live in holiness and honor God with one’s body (Rom. 8:2; Gal. 5:13).
God is seeking people who can exalt Him by living a high, pure, heavenly standard and for this purpose His Spirit is constantly striving with us (Ezek. 36:26–27; Phil. 2:13). With our natural tendencies having seeds of moral death meaning we are bound to sin even when we intend not to then as believers we are called not to gratify the desires of the flesh but to walk by the Spirit, who transforms the heart and enables us to live a life of purity and obedience in God (Gal. 5:16–17; Rom. 8:13–14). In this way, Christian freedom is expressed not in self-indulgence but in holiness that reflects the character of Christ and brings glory to God (1 Cor. 6:19–20).
Yes, Phillip Yancey fell, but he repented. His confession [below] repentance and restoration is not only an inspirational testimony but a warning for all believers, as was King David’s at Psalm 51:-
‘To my great shame, I confess that for eight years I wilfully engaged in a sinful affair with a married woman.
My conduct defied everything that I believe about marriage. It was also totally inconsistent with my faith and my writings and caused deep pain for her husband and both of our families. I will not share further details out of respect for the other family.
I have confessed my sin before God and my wife, and have committed myself to a professional counseling and accountability program. I have failed morally and spiritually, and I grieve over the devastation I have caused. I realize that my actions will disillusion readers who have previously trusted in my writing. Worst of all, my sin has brought dishonor to God. I am filled with remorse and repentance, and I have nothing to stand on except God’s mercy and grace.
I am now focused on rebuilding trust and restoring my marriage of 55 years. Having disqualified myself from Christian ministry, I am therefore retiring from writing, speaking, and social media. Instead, I need to spend my remaining years living up to the words I have already written. I pray for God’s grace and forgiveness—as well as yours—and for healing in the lives of those I’ve wounded.”
https://www.christianitytoday.com/2026/01/author-philip-yancey-confesses-affair-withdraws-from-ministry/
Thank you so much for posting this! Yes, this does sound like genuine repentance, because it is accompanied by appropriate action, including retiring from ministry.
For Phillip Yancey, this is so appropriate:
Let us pray that any Adventist pastors who have engaged in similar behavior that violates God’s law will repent in like manner.
Just this morning, in our family worship we read from Testimonies to the Church, Vol. 3, in reference to minister, “Praise should not be given or expected; for this will have a tendency to foster self-confidence rather than to increase humility to corrupt rather than to purify.” (Chapter 30) That puts some responsibility on us as listeners in the pews: We need to pray for our pastors, but we should not praise them, such as I have heard, “That was the best sermon I ever heard,” or anything else that lifts up the pastor, rather than Jesus.
I imagine the books Phillip Yancey wrote were written during a period when he was not engaged in the extramarital relationship. But even if he was, I evaluate books by the truth in them.
When the scandals of Ravi Zacharias came out, after his death, I remember reading an Adventist author’s commentary on him and his ministry. Basically the gist of what he said was that the gospel is such good news, that evil people can use it for their own purposes. That’s not so different from what Paul talked about in 1:15-18. Even though Paul knew some preached the gospel with bad motives, he didn’t mind. Truth is still truth, regardless of who proclaims it.
We have deliberated so much about this week’s lesson, proffered so many solutions and helpful approaches to help our church maintain her integrity and sanctity, beautiful and engaging deliberations I must say, but if all of these does not translate to a pure church reflecting in the life and character of members in righteousness and good judgement, then we have not achieved anything.
May God help His church in this critical time of salvation to remain a purified, justified and sanctified church and move in the power of the Holy Spirit to cleans and change the hearts of His children were necessary and never His church, in Jesus Christ’s mightiest name I pray, Amen
If we love our church we will uphold her values and mission not the opposite!!!!!!
When I heard about Philip Yancey’s moral failure and fall, I groaned. The enemy of our souls knows that if he can take down “giants of the faith” that the ripple effect can and will hurt the cause of Christ. It is a tragedy on so many levels, and the pain and damage done is tremendous. There are always unintended consequences of sin, that we are often blinded to.
1 Corinthians 10:12 gives salient advice and warning to all that believe that they are beyond such a fall. May we remember the idiom derived from that passage of scripture. “There, but for the grace of God, go I” is a famous idiom acknowledging that your own successes or avoidance of misfortune are due to divine grace rather than personal superiority. It is a reminder to remain humble, empathetic, and non-judgmental when witnessing others’ struggles.The phrase is traditionally attributed to the 16th-century English Protestant martyr John Bradford. Legend says he uttered, “There, but for the grace of God, goes John Bradford,” upon seeing prisoners being led to their execution, recognizing that he, too, was capable of the same sins or fate.”
(History and Meanings, Origins)
May we never overestimate our own stedfastness or strength, for in doing so we are setting ourselves up for failure. If we take our eyes off of Christ we are sunk, as surely as Peter did when walking on the water.
Sin never develops in a vacuum. Step by step we make choices that lead us places that we wouldn’t go if we hadn’t started the process. Often these choices begin in the mind. I don’t believe anyone just wakes up and falls into adultery or other serious sins. There is a process that takes you there.
I understand what you are saying about “there but for the grace of God go I” and keeping our eyes on Jesus. That being said, I don’t really see sins like adultery to be equal to Peter taking his eyes off Jesus and sinking. There is a vast difference in degree there. The way Jesus related to Peter after he began to sink was very different from how Nathan related to David after his fall.
Also, there are non-Christians who are faithful to their spouses, choose not to be abusive and so on. I’m not saying they get credit for this, but it is something to keep in mind when we talk about sin.
Christian identity is at a high risk of being run over by cultural approval. Christian’s approach to this challenge is being selective between Christian identity and cultural approval.
When Biblical principles and church doctrines don’t favor our desires and our needs,we turn to cultural norms. An example of many such instances is the interpretation of 1 Cor. 6:1-11 by christans. We need God’s power to make us decisive and wise in His ways.
How do we to understand Rom.4:15 – ”For the Law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression”?
Can one break a law that one is not aware of? I think that our God holds the sinner within the church to a different, higher standard than the the one who does not know that God set a standard for man’s conduct to live ‘righteously’.
Using this perspective, it might help the believer to see that ‘sin’ and ‘sinnig’ is the gateway to the believer’s separation from God, rather than the evidence of our condemnation. God’s Grace is the evidence that ‘sin’ is not the end of life, but rather the warning sign of separation from God. After becoming aware that life is being forfeited by/through sinning, one needs to make a choice – repentance or willful ignorance.
The Holy Spirit has taken the place of the Law to reveal the Light of God’s Truth to the heart and mind of the believer. Because we have ‘seen the Light’, ‘sin and sinning’ does not happen in a ‘vacuum’ any longer. It is now the gateway by which God’s adversary draws us away from our fellowship with our heavenly Father and His Son, our Savior Jesus Christ.
God is no respecter of the person’s standing within the Ecclesia. Is our conviction strong enough to cling to our life within the Spirit of Jesus Christ, or is it shallow and weak, exposing us continously to the endless temptations of God’s adversary? Matt.16:16-18; Matt.13:19-23.
Only by God’s grace, Jephthah.
“When one is fully emptied of self, when every false god is cast out of the soul, the vacuum is supplied by the inflowing of the Spirit of Christ. Such a one has the faith which works by love and purifies the soul from every moral and spiritual defilement.”—Ellen G. White, The Home Missionary, November 1893.
Amen!
This passage serves as a reminder, as well, that we are not left alone … not left at the mercy of enemy strongholds. Scripture underscores, in Matt. 28: 18, that Jesus – who conquered sin and the grave – said, “ALL power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” Then, thankfully, Philippians 4:13 exhorts, “I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me.”
Praise God for the blood of Jesus Christ which generates the power that enables us, through the Holy Spirit, to fight the fiery darts of the devourer-of-souls. The Great Physician stands ready to help: He alone guarantees the sure remedy for our sins. We CAN reconsecrate ourselves to Him and receive His righteous by faith, while probation remains open.
The importance God gives to marriage is the same as the importance He gives to His relationship with the church. Now, the question lies in who His church is. Since God is the only One Who can truly judge people (Romans 2:12-16), His church is “in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him”(Acts 10:34-5); God’s people are scattered (Rev 18:4), but will hear His voice (John 10:16); ultimately, the church will be brought together from all nations to stand up at the marriage feast (Rev 7:9).