Sex, Sin & Salvation
God’s Call for Sexual Purity in the Christian Life:
Ephesians 5:3-6
“Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people…5 You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God. For a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. 6 Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey him.”
On Sunday I taught through Ephesians chapter five. In that chapter there is a discussion about the sins of sexuality and impurity that often take place in people’s lives in the church.
As a pastor, I am commanded by scripture to ‘Preach the Word’:
“Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. -2 Timothy 4:2
I hold this charge very seriously and seek to be faithful to that call. My hope is that people will hear the word and that the Holy Spirit will convict people of their sin and that they will repent, and turn from those actions and through the power of the Holy Spirit they will turn from sin and walk in holiness and righteousness by the grace and support of God. The community of believers offers equipping, teaching, care and support as they walk out that repentance and ongoing victory over sin. The Church is part hospital where sickness is meant to be healed, not accepted. We are in a war against evil and our goal is to see captives liberated not captivated by sin. Our lives together are meant to spurn one another on to victory through the grace, forgiveness and power of Jesus that not only delivers us from the penalty of sin…but also the power of sin in our lives.
If people in the church, choose to ignore the commands of Scripture, the voice of conscience and the accountability of believers…than the Scripture calls for discipline to be lovingly administered, in hopes that the sinning believer will repent and that others in the church will not be tempted to follow the sinning believers example. Sin is serious in the Christian life. Our sin nailed Jesus to the cross and we are called to deal with sin as a pollutant, defilement and corrupting disease in our lives and in the church.
Part of dealing with sin is exposing it through the clear teaching of scripture, so that those sinning, are accountable to the biblical standard of living in Jesus.
“Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.”
-Ephesians 5:11
The Old Testament’s Teaching on Sexual Purity:
The call of purity in the bible is rooted in the Old Testament and blossoms in the New Testament.
In the Old Testament we see the Holiness commands and the consequences clearly displayed in the stark and demanding judgments of the Law. God’s people were called to moral purity, martial faithfulness and the judgments were severe and final. These OT laws were given to reveal the blazing holiness of God. The law reflects the standards and boundaries of God’s call to holiness and righteousness. The fact that we fall short of this holiness, doesn’t invalidate the standard…our failure says something about us, not God. This revelation should reveal to us that we are in desperate need of a Savior to save us from our sins. But never think that our sinfulness somehow redefines God’s call for holiness and purity…the standard has not changed but the means to fulfilling that righteousness in us and through us has changed through Jesus Christ.
The book of Deuteronomy lays out the teaching of no sex before marriage right from the beginning. Here we start to learn how men and women should live before God and in relationship with one another in matters of sexuality.
Deuteronomy 22:13-29:
13 “Suppose a man marries a woman, but after sleeping with her, he turns against her 14 and publicly accuses her of shameful conduct, saying, ‘When I married this woman, I discovered she was not a virgin.’ 15 Then the woman’s father and mother must bring the proof of her virginity to the elders as they hold court at the town gate. 16 Her father must say to them, ‘I gave my daughter to this man to be his wife, and now he has turned against her. 17 He has accused her of shameful conduct, saying, “I discovered that your daughter was not a virgin.” But here is the proof of my daughter’s virginity.’ Then they must spread her bed sheet before the elders. 18 The elders must then take the man and punish him. 19 They must also fine him 100 pieces of silver, which he must pay to the woman’s father because he publicly accused a virgin of Israel of shameful conduct. The woman will then remain the man’s wife, and he may never divorce her.
20 “But suppose the man’s accusations are true, and he can show that she was not a virgin. 21 The woman must be taken to the door of her father’s home, and there the men of the town must stone her to death, for she has committed a disgraceful crime in Israel by being promiscuous while living in her parents’ home. In this way, you will purge this evil from among you.
22 “If a man is discovered committing adultery, both he and the woman must die. In this way, you will purge Israel of such evil.
23 “Suppose a man meets a young woman, a virgin who is engaged to be married, and he has sexual intercourse with her. If this happens within a town, 24 you must take both of them to the gates of that town and stone them to death. The woman is guilty because she did not scream for help. The man must die because he violated another man’s wife. In this way, you will purge this evil from among you.
25 “But if the man meets the engaged woman out in the country, and he rapes her, then only the man must die. 26 Do nothing to the young woman; she has committed no crime worthy of death. She is as innocent as a murder victim. 27 Since the man raped her out in the country, it must be assumed that she screamed, but there was no one to rescue her. 28 “Suppose a man has intercourse with a young woman who is a virgin but is not engaged to be married. If they are discovered, 29 he must pay her father fifty pieces of silver. Then he must marry the young woman because he violated her, and he may never divorce her as long as he lives.
The OT Biblical Command To Not Marry Unbelievers: The story of God’s people in Scripture is full of victory and failure in upholding these standards of morality. In Nehemiah, we see just how serious these failure were considered. The story is shocking, especially in light of how most people fail to even see anything like this as being wrong, let alone ever conceiving of reacting in such a manner. I am not advocating pulling out anyone’s beard or beating anybody up…but shouldn’t we be convicted of the manner of reaction that Nehemiah had when he was confronted with the compromise and sin of God’s people? Nehemiah 13 1 On that same day, as the Book of Moses was being read to the people, the passage was found that said no Ammonite or Moabite should ever be permitted to enter the assembly of God. 2 For they had not provided the Israelites with food and water in the wilderness. Instead, they hired Balaam to curse them, though our God turned the curse into a blessing. 3 When this passage of the Law was read, all those of foreign descent were immediately excluded from the assembly. … 23 About the same time I realized that some of the men of Judah had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. 24 Furthermore, half their children spoke the language of Ashdod or of some other people and could not speak the language of Judah at all. 25 So I confronted them and called down curses on them. I beat some of them and pulled out their hair. I made them swear in the name of God that they would not let their children intermarry with the pagan people of the land. 26 “Wasn’t this exactly what led King Solomon of Israel into sin?” I demanded. “There was no king from any nation who could compare to him, and God loved him and made him king over all Israel. But even he was led into sin by his foreign wives. 27 How could you even think of committing this sinful deed and acting unfaithfully toward God by marrying foreign women?” The NT Biblical Command To Not Marry Unbelievers: In the New Testament these moral foundations can clearly be seen in the teaching of the Apostles as they work with pagans coming our of sinful cultures and seeking to live lives of honor and worship to God. Getting things right with God and with each other is central content through out the letters of Paul. Calling Christians to abstain from sexual activity before marriage and to marry only Christians and to remain faithful to those marriages is dealt with all through the New Testament. Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. -Hebrews 13:4 “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?” -2 Corinthians 6:14 “Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” - Timothy 2:22 A woman … is free to marry anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord.” -1 Corinthians 7:39 Christian Marriage is For Raising Christian Children: One of the main purpose of marring godly and believing mates was to be able to raise godly children: “Has not the LORD made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one? Because he was seeking godly offspring.” -Malachi 2:15 Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. -Eph 5:4 Following God…Means Obeying His Commands: Our call as Christians is clear in matters of sexuality, purity, marriage, divorce and parenting. To shun the clear teaching of scripture places one self in the sphere of the discipline of God and eventually that has to be worked out in the local church. I pray that God would help us all to repent and obey the words of scripture and seek to live a holy life through the grace and power of the Holy Spirit. “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: … -1 John 2:1-29 “Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” -1 Corinthians 6:9-10 Please prayerfully examine yourselves and respond to the Word of God in obedience, no matter the cost. It may be difficult but it will always be worth it.
