Dear
Friends in Christ,
“You
shall not commit adultery,” is very much under siege. They who could care less
what God says are making their own rules about the relationship between sexual
relations and marriage. Such illicit sex is no “straw man” to attack. It is real sin that tempts us. At times,it
wins the day.
All sexual lust and activity apart from marriage
is sin. With the Sixth Commandment God forbids sexual immorality. God also commands
us to love and honor our spouses. Prior tomarriage,we are to keep our thoughts
and bodies pure in preparation for marriage. Within marriage, we remain true to
our vows of faithfulness to our spouses.
God’s Word is not silent about sex. Both
inspired testaments give many solemn warnings. Why So Many Warnings Against Illicit Sex. First, because of its
great prevalence in the world.Second, because of its frightful consequences to
the body and to the soul.
If you were caught in a tsunami, if would be
difficult not to have it sweep you away. If a pandemic broke out, it would be
difficult not to have it infect you.
This is how it is for Christians today in the pandemic and flood of
illicit sex. There are few places one can get away from illicit sex in the
media culture prevalent in print and electronics.
God
gave men and women the created gift of sex for the expression of mutual love between
them, and for the procreation of children. Like everything else, my sinful
nature so easily misuses this gift. The desire to commit sexual sins is
included in our confession, “I know that in me, that is in my sinful nature,
dwells no good thing.” [Rom 7:28] And, “Every inclination of man’s heart
is evil from childhood.”[Gn 8:21]
Like
the Ephesians, we live in a culture that abuses the gift of sexual relations. Paul
reminded them and reminds us, “Once you were in darkness, but now you are
the light of the Lord; walk as the children of light.” The apostle refers
to believers in our new nature as God’s children. Yet, the sinful flesh still
clings to us. Sin entices us, gives birth to lust, which gives birth to deeds
that lead to death.
It
would be nice if we were pure like the holy angels. Instead, we are like the judge, Samson, who
took up with the prostitute, Delilah. And King David who fell in love with
another man’s wife and arranged for the murder of her husband. And Tamar,
Jacob’s granddaughter who became guilty of deceit and sexual sin. These are but
to name a few.
Paul tells his Ephesian brothers and sisters
in Christ, and us who now are “light in the Lord,“ “Be imitators of
God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as
Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice
to God.”
An imitator is a mimic. Think of the child
mimicking the mannerisms of his father. God loved us. Christ who is God loved
us by offering himself as a fragrant sacrificial offering. The aromatic smoke
of the sacrificial animals went up to heaven and pleased God. So the offering of Jesus’ blood went up to
heaven and pleased God for our forgiveness of sin and guilt.
We are God’s adopted children made acceptable
by Christ’s sacrificial offering. Living in the light of the Lord bears this
fruit, “goodness, righteousness, and truth.” God’s love for us in Christ
is something we mimic in our love for one another. In that light and in that love
there is to be no hint of those things which inflame “sexual immorality, or
any kind of impurity,(literally anti-pure), or greed.” Paul associates
sexual immorality with greed. We often see those go hand and hand in history
and today.
The
apostle lists those things that inflame: “obscenity”, the Greek word is
the root of our English word, pornography; “foolish talk,” literally,
silly talk, we might say, talk that has nothing to do with reality; “course
joking,” literally, what we would call words and jokes that mock or degrade
sexual relations both in and out of the marriage bond.
We
are to avoid such things. Others should
not know us as lovers of such things. We avoid them by not being partners with people
who do not believe sex is God’s gift and only for marriage. We avoid illicit sex by as much as possible
not viewing and reading such things.We avoid sinful thoughts by filling our
minds and hearts with thoughts and words of thanksgiving. Instead of speaking
foolish and course words, we speak words of praise.
Paul
and the rest of Scripture have so many warnings against illicit sex also because of its frightful consequences to the
body and to the soul.
You can give all kinds of euphemisms to
immorality and fornication in its various forms but that does not change the
sad consequences illicit sex brings to the body, for the Christian, the temple
of the Holy Spirit. There are sexually transmitted diseases, unwanted children
that abortion murders. Some people suffer hardship on their and their
children’s bodies due to financial difficulty after a divorce, or where there
was no marriage at all.
Such things never are punishment for sexual
sin. They are, however, the consequence of it. They are also God’s judgment
that brings about the awareness of sin.Hopefully, that awareness will lead to
sorrow over sin, and seeking God’s forgiveness Christ has provided for us all. Paul’s
gospel here is not only the motivation for imitating our God in love. It is
also the reassurance that when I do fall into sin, the sacrificialofferings of
Christ have won for me total forgiveness.
The worst damage of illicit sex, or any sin,
is the damage it does to my faith. There are eternal consequences to sin when
it leads me away from Christ. Sin can take my heart out of the light of Christ
and back into the darkness of the love of sin. When the love of sin takes over,
God’s wrath “comes on those who are disobedient.” Living in love,
literally, walking around in love as a way of life, is imitating God’s
love. Walking around in the love of sin because
I listened to the empty words of those who lead us into sin, causes the loss of
any inheritance in the kingdom of God.
When our Lord sees us, his dear children,
tending toward the worlds filthy pandemic of illicit sex he calls out in love: “Stop!
Turn! Repent!”
Yield to him. Prize his love. “Be imitators
of God, therefore, as dearly loved children.” Amen. <SDG>