Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Self-control”
Our Bible verse for today: “Run from sexual immorality! Every sin a person can commit is outside the body. On the contrary, the person who is sexually immoral sins against his own body.” 1 Corinthians 6:18 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “Sexual purity requires self-control”
Sexual immorality is a sin and it has been a problem for the human race from the beginning. In the Garden of Eden God established the Biblical standard for sexual ethics, which is one man and one woman in a covenant relationship for life (Genesis 2:21-24). In Matthew 19:4-9 Jesus reaffirmed this standard as being the only sexual relationship acceptable to God.
That was God’s standard from the beginning and it has never changed. Every other expression of human sexuality came about after the introduction of sin into the world (Genesis Chapter 3), and every one of those sexual practices is labeled in the Bible as being sinful in the eyes of God.
The human sex drive is powerful but it is also beautiful. It was created by God and it is a gift from God, but it is to be experienced only within the boundaries allowed by God. And there’s the problem. The sex drive is so strong, for both men and women, that the entire course of human history is a long sad litany of sexual sin. How could we ever chronicle all the horrible actions that have been taken and all the pain and anguish that has been caused, by sexual sin? The world itself couldn’t contain all the books that would have to be written.
So in 1 Corinthians 6:18 the Apostle Paul counsels us to “run” from sexual sin. Please note that he doesn’t counsel us to “stand strong” against sexual sin. No, in this case we are to simply turn around and run, fast. Just get out of there! Sexual sin is the one sin we’re told to just run away from. Other sins we are to oppose but sexual sin we are to run away from. Why? Because it is so strong!
For the man or woman of God this requires thoughtful precautions to be taken and rigorously adhered to. We live in a sex-saturated society. Sexual temptation is everywhere. Sexual activity is celebrated and promoted rather than controlled. So we have to be extra careful.
Early in his ministry Billy Graham adopted the personal policy that he would never allow himself to be alone with a woman who was not his wife – not in a building, or in a vehicle, or even in an elevator. If he was alone in an elevator and a woman got in, he would step out. Does that sound extreme to you? Maybe it is but Paul tells us to “run” from any situation that could be in the least bit potentially compromising.
Pornography is a huge problem in our society. It’s addictive and insidious and in some ways is a worse problem than adultery or homosexuality because it allows an individual to secretly engage in endless episodes of sexual sin without even having to involve another person.
As has been noted, our sexuality is a gift from God, He created sex. But He also established the boundaries within which the gift can be experienced and enjoyed. Any conduct outside of those boundaries is sinful and is to be avoided.
In 2014 I wrote a six week series of daily devotionals on the subject of human sexuality. It covered everything from marriage, to dating, to LGBT issues, pornography, celibacy, living as a single Christian, and much more. If you have questions about any of those issues I would be happy to send you copies of the relevant devotionals. Just email me at pastorjimmohbc@gmail.com.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 