LIVING PURE IN A SEX-CRAZED WORLD – I

“Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people.” Ephesians 5:3

Today, the idea of living a sexually-pure life is far-fetched to people in the world. In fact, many professing Christians don’t really believe that they can live sexually-pure lives. They believe God’s commandment to “be holy just like He is holy”, “to abstain from all forms of sexual immorality” cannot be kept; and they see God as being inconsiderate, thoughtless and unreasonable to have given these “impracticable” commandments. But nothing could be further from the truth! If it is impossible to be sexually pure, why would God who is not only loving, but who is love Himself, command us to be sexually pure? God is not wicked to ask us to do something He has not empowered us to do. And every single one of God’s commandments is given to man for his own good.

Sexual sin is one of those areas where many children of God continue to struggle. There are some who knowingly and willingly engage in sexual sins such as fornication, lust, adultery, pornography, masturbation, and homosexuality, knowing that these things are forbidden by God. Others genuinely desire freedom from these behaviors and are trying to overcome them through willpower and self-effort. It is important to understand that willpower and self-effort is not enough to defeat sexual sin. It is only through the grace of God, the power of the Holy Spirit, and the renewing of the mind with the word of God that a Christian can begin to see the fruit of sexual purity in his or her life.

There is a major misconception among believers today, which is that it is okay to have sex with their partners if they are engaged. The mentality many of them have is, “we're going to get married anyway”. The Bible teaches us that fornication, which is sex without a marriage license, is wrong! God has not changed his mind about this, and He will not bend His own rules because believers have decided not to take His Word seriously. God did not create His statutes to spoil your fun but to protect you from harm. Sex outside of marriage can blur your judgment, stifle your spiritual growth and prevent you from developing a healthy relationship with the opposite sex. It can make you vulnerable to heart break when your expectations go unfulfilled.

A sexual relationship outside of marriage is usually full of an emotional type of love. It can cause people to fantasize about a "perfect" life with a "perfect" person. It encourages the illusion of love that is often portrayed in secular movies; but relationships based on emotional love die out quickly. Lasting relationships are maintained with agape love, which is the God—kind of love.

Ephesians 5:27 paints a picture of the image God expects the body of Christ to reflect, “That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” This may seem like a tall order, especially when it says “without blemish,” but God has given us the ability to live sin-free lives.
1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 (CEV) corroborates the message of Ephesians 5:27, it says: “Finally, my dear friends, since you belong to the Lord Jesus, we beg and urge you to live as we taught you. Then you will please God. You are already living that way, but try even harder. Remember the instructions we gave you as followers of the Lord Jesus. God wants you to be holy, so don’t be immoral in matters of sex. Respect and honor your wife. Don’t be a slave of your desires or live like people who don’t know God. You must not cheat any of the Lord’s followers in matters of sex. Remember, we warned you that he punishes everyone who does such things. God didn’t choose you to be filthy, but to be pure. So if you don’t obey these rules, you are not really disobeying us. You are disobeying God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.”

It is very possible to live a sexually-pure life in a sex-crazed world; because the power, strength, grace, boldness, and courage needed to do so have been given to every believer through the availability of God’s Word and the presence of the Holy Spirit.

God bless you.