Recently in the sporting world we have witnessed the fall of Arkansas football coach, Bobby Petrino. For those who don’t know the story, Petrino had a motorcycle accident and lied to the police and to others stating that no one was with him on the bike. Comes to find out he was with a 25-year-old young woman who also worked for Arkansas’ football program. Further news came out that he was committing adultery with the woman who was likewise engaged to be married in June herself. Furthermore, Petrino lied to the university when he failed to disclose their relationship during the hiring process of the young woman who was among 158 others for the job. Petrino also gave the woman $20,000 for an unknown reason. Petrino was fired on April 10 for not just his adultery with the woman but his lying to the university time and time again.
Petrino has never been known as a man of integrity. He has often been seen as a man who will do whatever it takes to get a job or overcome his opponents. Before becoming the head coach at Arkansas, Petrino had been the coach for the Atlanta Falcons in the NFL where he lasted less than a full season and quit the Falcons in mid-season in December of 2007 to take the Arkansas job. Arkansas fans saw his move as a positive move (of course) but most fans saw his move as a quitter and a man who did not honor his word with the Falcons. Before this Petrino often was behind the scenes always trying to land a better job. Most can’t blame his for this since most of us have done this ourselves but he often lied to his employers saying that he was happy and committed while having secret meetings with other teams in the middle of the night seeking better jobs.
The point of all this is not to bore you with facts about the former Razorbacks coach. It’s about sin. Sin always destroys. Always. Romans 6:23 is still true today as it was 2000 years ago. Sin has not changed from the time of Adam to the modern times. Sin always kills. Always destroys. Sin always ruins lives. In this case, Petrino ruined his own life, loss over $15 million dollars, ruined his family and marriage, ruined the life of this 25-year-old woman who likewise is to blame for her own sins, and has ruined the lives of many Arkansas players he leaves behind. He was hired not just to lead Arkansas to wins but to enable the young man under his care to become better men. Sadly, most coaches do a poor job of helping young man become godly men. Sin has ruined many lives in the process.
The Bible doesn’t paint a pretty picture about sin. I am glad it doesn’t. Most of us like sinning. Sinning feels good. Sinning is fun. Sinning brings momentary satisfaction. But sin is a killer. Like a deadly disease, sin is in our blood and the only cure is the blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7) and also empowers us to overcome sin (Romans 6:11-14). Sin cannot be conquered through rehab or through self-help programs. Sin can only be overcome through the Spirit of God (Galatians 5:16-17). If left unchecked, sin always leads to death (James 1:12-15). God can help us overcome sin (1 Corinthians 10:13) but we must be wiling to look to Him for help in overcoming sin. The minute that we begin to believe that we can overcome sin in our own power or that we are strong enough to overcome sin, sin will creep into our hearts and destroy our lives.
The only hope for conquering sin is the cross of Christ. We must die to self. We must die to this world (Luke 9:23-25). We must die to everything in the light of Jesus and His gospel (Luke 14:25-35). The cross testifies to the satisfaction of God’s wrath against sin (Romans 5:8-9) but also shows us the power of God to help us conquer sin (Galatians 2:20). The cross shows that we understand that we are sinners before God who deserve His just wrath against sin but we understand His grace in light of the cross (2 Corinthians 5:18-21). Our passion, through the cross, is to be like Jesus in all that we say or do (1 Peter 1:15-16). This motivation for holiness doesn’t come through our own will-power to conquer sin but only through the grace of God given to us in Christ Jesus (Titus 2:11-14).
I have been praying for Bobby Petrino. I have been praying for his salvation. I have been praying for his family to see his repentance (Matthew 3:8). The Church can learn from this fall, that integrity is important and sin destroys. God calls His people to be holy and pure before Him and to be blameless in this wicked generation (Philippians 2:15) and He calls us to be people of integrity (1 Timothy 4:16; Titus 1:16). I pray that 1 John 2:15-17 would be our heart’s cry. Let us forsake sinning and seek God. Let us be holy as He is holy (1 Peter 1:15-16). The standard of God is not a little bit of sin and a little bit of holiness but He calls us to complete holiness (2 Corinthians 7:1; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; Hebrews 12:14). I pray that we would be those type of disciples of Jesus (Matthew 5:48).
Thank you to the SEEKING DISCIPLE for this guest post. You can find his full post with comments at http://arminiantoday.com/2012/04/11/sin-always-destroys-always/
BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.
Petrino has never been known as a man of integrity. He has often been seen as a man who will do whatever it takes to get a job or overcome his opponents. Before becoming the head coach at Arkansas, Petrino had been the coach for the Atlanta Falcons in the NFL where he lasted less than a full season and quit the Falcons in mid-season in December of 2007 to take the Arkansas job. Arkansas fans saw his move as a positive move (of course) but most fans saw his move as a quitter and a man who did not honor his word with the Falcons. Before this Petrino often was behind the scenes always trying to land a better job. Most can’t blame his for this since most of us have done this ourselves but he often lied to his employers saying that he was happy and committed while having secret meetings with other teams in the middle of the night seeking better jobs.
The point of all this is not to bore you with facts about the former Razorbacks coach. It’s about sin. Sin always destroys. Always. Romans 6:23 is still true today as it was 2000 years ago. Sin has not changed from the time of Adam to the modern times. Sin always kills. Always destroys. Sin always ruins lives. In this case, Petrino ruined his own life, loss over $15 million dollars, ruined his family and marriage, ruined the life of this 25-year-old woman who likewise is to blame for her own sins, and has ruined the lives of many Arkansas players he leaves behind. He was hired not just to lead Arkansas to wins but to enable the young man under his care to become better men. Sadly, most coaches do a poor job of helping young man become godly men. Sin has ruined many lives in the process.
The Bible doesn’t paint a pretty picture about sin. I am glad it doesn’t. Most of us like sinning. Sinning feels good. Sinning is fun. Sinning brings momentary satisfaction. But sin is a killer. Like a deadly disease, sin is in our blood and the only cure is the blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7) and also empowers us to overcome sin (Romans 6:11-14). Sin cannot be conquered through rehab or through self-help programs. Sin can only be overcome through the Spirit of God (Galatians 5:16-17). If left unchecked, sin always leads to death (James 1:12-15). God can help us overcome sin (1 Corinthians 10:13) but we must be wiling to look to Him for help in overcoming sin. The minute that we begin to believe that we can overcome sin in our own power or that we are strong enough to overcome sin, sin will creep into our hearts and destroy our lives.
The only hope for conquering sin is the cross of Christ. We must die to self. We must die to this world (Luke 9:23-25). We must die to everything in the light of Jesus and His gospel (Luke 14:25-35). The cross testifies to the satisfaction of God’s wrath against sin (Romans 5:8-9) but also shows us the power of God to help us conquer sin (Galatians 2:20). The cross shows that we understand that we are sinners before God who deserve His just wrath against sin but we understand His grace in light of the cross (2 Corinthians 5:18-21). Our passion, through the cross, is to be like Jesus in all that we say or do (1 Peter 1:15-16). This motivation for holiness doesn’t come through our own will-power to conquer sin but only through the grace of God given to us in Christ Jesus (Titus 2:11-14).
I have been praying for Bobby Petrino. I have been praying for his salvation. I have been praying for his family to see his repentance (Matthew 3:8). The Church can learn from this fall, that integrity is important and sin destroys. God calls His people to be holy and pure before Him and to be blameless in this wicked generation (Philippians 2:15) and He calls us to be people of integrity (1 Timothy 4:16; Titus 1:16). I pray that 1 John 2:15-17 would be our heart’s cry. Let us forsake sinning and seek God. Let us be holy as He is holy (1 Peter 1:15-16). The standard of God is not a little bit of sin and a little bit of holiness but He calls us to complete holiness (2 Corinthians 7:1; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; Hebrews 12:14). I pray that we would be those type of disciples of Jesus (Matthew 5:48).
Thank you to the SEEKING DISCIPLE for this guest post. You can find his full post with comments at http://arminiantoday.com/2012/04/11/sin-always-destroys-always/
BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.
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