The Truth About Sex
Whether we are always aware of it or not, our culture preaches messages to us about sex. These messages don’t come to us from behind a pulpit, but from behind a microphone on a stage or on a screen. We hear at least three messages. First, we hear: “Do whatever makes you happy.” Secondly, our culture tells us that our desires are meant to be fulfilled. Finally, our culture preaches that our bodies are our business and that nothing should interfere with our right of self-gratification. These messages are not unique to our culture. Christians in the first century heard these very same messages: “All things are lawful for me” (1 Cor. 6:12) and “food is for the stomach and the stomach for food” (1 Cor. 6:13). While these messages allure us, they also leave us empty. Thankfully, God has a much better message for us.
First, the Bible reminds us that disobedience never leads to freedom. “Not all things are profitable" (1 Cor. 6:12). The sexual libertinism our culture preaches does not profit us; in fact, it often enslaves us. Jesus said, “the one who sins is a slave of sin” (John 8:34).
Second, God tells us our desires don’t define His design. Contrary to our culture, our desires make an inadequate moral compass. This passage warns us that sexual immorality is not part of God’s desire for us regardless of our own desires. Because our culture has been so effective in preaching the sexual revolution, we no longer have a clear definition of what sexual immorality is. Scripture is not unclear about defining sexual immorality. Any sexual activity outside of the marriage between a husband and wife is sin. Fornication, adultery, and homosexuality are all included in this. Sexual immorality is a matter of the heart before it manifests as a behavior. Jesus said in Matthew 5:27-28: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery;’ but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Sexual immorality begins in the heart. That’s why pornography is also included in sexual immorality. All of these things are outside of God’s design for us.
God designed sex. Hollywood didn’t invent sex. God designed sex to join husbands and wives together into the closest of relationships, which the Bible calls a “one flesh” relationship (Genesis 2:24). When we take sex and use it in the context of sexual immorality we are trying to make sex do something it wasn’t designed to do. Sex was not designed to be a recreational activity to be casually engaged in however someone might desire. Sex wasn’t designed to be a god we worship. God designed sex to unite husbands and wives. Anything outside of this is sin.
Finally, God tells us that our bodies don’t actually belong to us: “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ” (1 Cor. 6:15). The reason we shouldn’t live in sexual immorality is that Jesus died to save us from these very behaviors. “We have been bought with a price” (1 Cor. 6:20). Because of this we should have two responses in our lives to sexual immorality.
1. We must flee. Run! Because of God’s design for sex to uniquely unite us to another person, we are uniquely defiled when we engage in sexual sin. To run is to do whatever it takes to be free of sexual sin. Romans 13:14 says: “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.”
2. We must determine to live our lives for God’s glory above all. 1 Corinthians 6:20 says: “Glorify God in your body.” To glorify God is to make a commitment to live our life wholly for God. It is a daily commitment to give ourselves to living for God’s purposes. Romans 12:1-2 explains this another way: “Therefore, I urge you brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” That’s the great news about what Jesus has done. No matter how far from God we have strayed in the past or how far we are from Him today, renewing and forgiveness are possible through Christ. Don’t fall for the lies of the culture. God’s way is better!
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