Today there is a problem in our churches, and it is that pastors and church members are committing adultery at about the same rate as the general population.  In reflecting on the reasons for this I reviewed my experience in counseling people who had been in adultery and victims of adulterous relationships in their marriage.  I found that there are a number of reasons for this problem.

Before we inquire into these we do need to review again the problem of sin.  W. M.  McKay, a Cambridge theologian, has stated in his book on the Disease and Remedies of Sin that we live in a morally polluted environment, and since sin is an infectious disease we can all get infected.  Now as in all environments the pollution may be localized or widespread. In our environment today it is widespread.  It is impossible to escape from the “sin evangelists” for they are on TV, in music, and in both regular and adult bookstores, and online on the Internet.  We cannot avoid or escape sexual stimuli for many young women at some time or the other dress in sexually provocative ways. In addition, we have the problem of drugs and alcohol all around us and when used, can give rise to sexual sins. Remember these facts as we look at the ways in which they are contributing to the problem.

Satan is a major factor.  He goes around as a roaring lion seeking those he can destroy. He is particularly anxious to draw pastors and church laity into sin so they will serve as horrible examples of what a Christian should be. The only way he can do this is to exploit strongholds that are established when a person succumbs to the infection of the polluted environment we live in.  It is in not being immune to the infection that a stronghold is established, if it was not brought from their pre Christian life, that makes them susceptible to temptation.  Strongholds are habitual ways of thinking that lead to sinful behavior. These develop when we buy the lies of Satan that he evangelically propagates in the world about us.

Now, we have to face that fact that Satan has his evangelists just like Christ has.  The music industry is filled with them. The advertising agencies have them on their staffs. We call their activities marketing, but there is no question that they appeal to the public and their human nature.  At the present time if one looks at the Coors beer advertisements on TV you will see that young men and skimpily clad girls are drinking Coors beer and having fun, fun, fun!!  The message is if you drink Coors beer you will have fun too.  Since we all know that alcohol decreases people=s inhibitions, the message is that sex will be part of the fun. But Coors is not the only offender.  There are numerous advertisements for all kinds of products in which there are young women who seductively encourage us to use the product being advertised.  Sex sells!

But that is not all.  There are others who are selling murder.  The pro choice (murder) people are evangelizing the young girls of today with the idea that they own their own bodies and can do with them what they want. They are like God.  They believe we own our body.  But it belongs to God because it was bought with a price (1Cor. 6:20). The price was the life and blood of his Son Jesus.  How can they encourage a woman to defile the temple of the Holy Spirit that belongs to God?  Yet that is what they are doing these days. Satan who is a murderer from the beginning has his evangelists to encourage people to murder little babies (Rom. 1:32 NLB)

Homosexual activism also has its evangelists.  Using all kinds of lies, they have convinced the public they should have free reign to sin. The Bible is explicit in saying that homosexuality is a sin.  Even so they want to continue to sin, but are also using all kinds of ruses to convince the public that they should be allowed to practice their sin, infect their partners with STD=s and seduce children.  It is not pedophiles alone who seduce children, but almost all homosexuals molest or have sex with someone less than 15 years of age. The homosexual world also uses the law and the media to advance their cause. They have good press even though they distort the truth or lie to support their position.

If one listens to talk radio very much you will find that marijuana users are evangelical.  If marijuana is the subject under discussion and it is possible to call to discuss the medicinal use of marijuana or the legalization of its sale, some guy who obviously is a user calls and offers all kinds of specious reasons why it should be used medically, and most of all, why it should be sold legally. They argue their point with great fervor. After all, they do not want to pay a price for sinning. They know what happens if they get caught growing, selling or using it. Recently one of the star high school basketball players in our state had his potential career ruined when he was caught selling the weed.

Now in all the preceding we have shown that there is much sin in the world; it is infectious, and anyone can catch it. How do Christians catch the disease of sin? The answer is that they have little spiritual immunity and, therefore, with all the temptation that exists around them they succumb.  Spiritual immunity is like the immunity we get when we are vaccinated for typhoid fever.  It simulates an infection and our T-cells make antibodies to combat what they think is an infection. Two things happen.  We have antibodies that circulate in our blood, and we have T-cells that can make more if an infection really occurs.  Let’s suppose that we drink some water that is contaminated with the typhoid bacillus.  In our gut it will begin to multiply and will invade our blood stream. The antibodies that are there will immediately attach themselves to the bacteria and killer cells will descend on the bacteria and destroy them.  The result is that we do not get infected in a way that causes sickness. It is true that we need booster shots at given intervals to maintain our immunity, but if we get these we are protected for another period.

If we have not been vaccinated the bacteria can multiply unhindered and even when our immune system tries to respond it is overwhelmed. It is the same for sin. Our environment is so polluted we are massively infected and we become morally paralyzed. Can we develop spiritual immunity?

Yes! This is how we get spiritual immunity to infection by sin.  Our initial vaccination comes when we are born again. Now I have to say that this has to be a real experience. A real experience occurs when we confess with our lips that Jesus is Lord who we invite into our lives, and we believe in our hearts he was resurrected from the dead.  We have to become a new person for it to be real.  When we are born again the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us and becomes our T-cell. This powerful T-cell leads us into the Bible.   There we get ideational antibodies to combat the lies that our human nature has accumulated.  It is true that our immunity needs to be enhanced through daily prayer, Bible study and worship in the community of believers.  This brings about spiritual growth that enhances our immunity.