Sexual Purity: It Matters. Here’s Why

Every Monday we’ll post something to do with maintaining sexual purity. Hope it helps.

—

Sexual Purity: It Matters. Here’s Why

Every holiday season brings a number of get-togethers with people we don’t normally see, some of them non-Christian family members and friends, and the normal round of ‘catching up’ conversations is inevitable. Kinda fun, too. But ‘catching up’ usually includes a run-down of work – how’s the business (I don’t expect non-believers to ask me how my ministry is, after all), what new projects are developing, etc. And at some point, after the initial pleasantries, someone will point out the nature of my work and ask, “Really, why does it matter? Is porn such a big deal? Shouldn’t people do what feels right to them? Isn’t it healthy to do what you enjoy sexually?”

I get it. From a secular perspective those points have a certain logic. And, to be gut level honest, I’ll raise them myself from time to time, even though the question of how to manage my sexual desires was settled over 27 years ago. Still, every so often, it helps me stay on course when I have the conversations, conversations that turn apologetic and evangelistic in their own way. They also help me remember the basic reasons I’m committed, on a daily basis, to resisting some urges while indulging others, and why the whole topic of sexual purity matters. Three primary facts come to mind.

1. I’m a created being (Genesis 2:7; Revelation 4:11)

If we were not created, and therefore answered to no creator, we might judge the rightness or wrongness of our behavior by its rightness or wrongness in our own eyes. But if we, as created beings, will finally answer to our Maker, then it matters less what seems right and natural to us, and more what is deemed right and natural to Him. Christian apologist and radio host Gregory Koukle states it plainly:

“But if God is there (which is what the Christian says), it doesn’t matter what is preferred. It only matters what is true.”

Transcript from 1994 broadcast on Stand to Reason titled “Preference or Truth?”

2. My Creator has specific intentions for my existence and behavior, which are spelled out in scripture.

We haven’t been left to guess what we’ve been designed for – the instructions are nicely spelled out in an authoritative, inspired document telling us plainly who and why we are. This is noticeable in the Mosaic Law, the Psalms and Proverbs, the Prophetic Books, the Gospels and the Epistles, all of which are brimming with instructions, prohibitions and warnings, testifying to a God who is not passive or unconcerned about His creation. We were fashioned with specific purposes in mind, purposes we’ll refer to as Created Intent.

3. These intentions are extended to my relationships in general and to my sexual relationships in particular.

Our Maker didn’t just create us as human beings, but as sexual beings as well. He authored our gender distinctives and our capacity for erotic response, then looked on all He created (human sexuality included) and said, “That’s good!” (Genesis 1:26-30) Far from being prudish or anti-sexual, then, God is the author and original celebrator of sex. Understanding this is important when approaching the next point.

4. Sexual behaviors falling short of created intent are regarded by my Creator as being serious enough to warrant public rebuke (Matthew 14:3-4) and church discipline (I Corinthians 5:1-5 ), and are considered detrimental in ways that are unique and severe. (I Corinthians 6:18)

There’s a point I need to be reminded of, especially when temptations are strongest: God finds sexual sin so abhorrent precisely because He views healthy sex as being so exquisite and meaningful . So John the Baptist risked and lost his life for taking a stand against King Herod’s immorality; the first recorded case of church discipline occurred after the Corinthian church was rebuked for allowing open immorality to be practiced in the congregation; and Paul described sexual sin as having particularly heinous impact on the person practicing it. (See scriptures listed in Point 4 above.) While we regard all sin as serious, sexual sin carries a severity in both its nature and its consequences. And today, can I really afford to ignore what God regards as vital?

So today, what does it matter if I give in to lust, whether in my actions or my mind? Here’s why. If we are created with and for specific intentions, (and we are) and if sin falls short of those intentions (which it does) and if sexual sin falls short in ways that especially offend our Creator and wreak havoc in our lives (which is certain) then it matters. It matters to God; it should matter to me.

And to all of us.