Matthew 5:27-32 and 19:3-9,
What Jesus Thinks About Sexual Purity
Sex is good! Sex is wonderful! God created sex! [In Matthew 19:5] Jesus quotes Genesis 2:24. A man and a woman shall become one flesh. That’s not just symbolic language! It’s what God intends to physically happen between a husband and his wife. One flesh, one man, one woman, for a lifetime.
But wait a minute! We’re Christians. We don’t talk about sex! And especially not in a church. Surely that’s rude! Sex is a private business, best not talked about or thought about. Or so we can sometimes think...
Meanwhile the world outside bombards us with its own broken down philosophy of sexuality. And we grow up and live in this world. And our children grow up and soak in the teaching of this world. Friends, it’s time we put un-biblical Victorian attitudes behind us and get real with each other about sex. Sex is a precious, God-given gift. So precious to God, so powerful a force, that God has very specific instructions for how and when we are to enjoy it.
As well as three points, I’m going to give you three Gs this morning. And the first one we’ve already heard. God created sex and thinks it is GOOD!
And so, here we are, still in Matthew chapter 5. Still going through the greatest Sermon ever preached by the greatest man who ever lived. Still looking at the Sermon on the Mount. And let’s remind ourselves of the context of these words. Firstly, let’s remember that Jesus is teaching what life is like as his follower in the Kingdom of God. And I’m glad Jesus gives this teaching because again and again I want to come back to his words to remind myself what a Christian is supposed to be. How does God want me to live? Jesus has taught about Christian character in 1-12 and the Beatitudes; Jesus has taught about Christian influence in verse 13-16 on salt and light; and now Jesus is talking in verses 17-48 about the Christian’s righteousness – in other words, the Christians right way of living.
Let’s also remind ourselves of the more immediate context here. Jesus has just been saying in verses 17-20 that he comes to fulfil God’s Law. But fulfil it in a different way than the Pharisees were. Jesus says his followers are called to live a radically righteous life. But Jesus shows us that being radical isn’t about how good we are at keeping the rules and regulations. He show us that God is interested in our hearts, he shows us he wants us to follow the Spirit of the Law, not just the letter of it. So what does Jesus think about sexual purity?
Here’s the first of our three points...
1. Sexual purity is about more than committing ’the dastardly deed’.
The Pharisees were eager not to break the 7th Commandment; i.e. not to commit adultery. But as usual, Jesus takes us deeper. He takes us to the heart of the matter. And the heart of the matter is this: sexual impurity, adultery, and the path to divorce has seemingly harmless beginnings. Jesus says there are 3 things going on in the area of adultery. The eyes, the heart, and the act...
Think of King David all those years ago. There he was loafing around on the roof of his palace when he should have been doing something else. Looking down on the surrounding homes how delighted he was to find that he could see a beautiful woman bathing. He could have turned away. He could have averted his eyes. But he didn’t. The great Reformer Martin Luther said, “You can’t keep a bird from flying over your head, but you can keep him from building a nest in your hair”. King David let the bird build its nest. He stood there, eyes wide open, leering at the naked woman. Very soon what the eye dwelt on, the heart wanted. And we all know how that tragic story unfolded.
As John Stott puts it, ‘Deeds of shame are preceded by fantasies of shame’. And as Solomon reminds us, in Proverbs 6:27-29, ‘Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned?’ If we consistently watch sexy TV or films or if we can’t control our eyes in the street – be careful! We’re playing with fire!
Could Jesus’ words come to us at a more significant time? Today there is an epidemic of pornography in our land. And with it there is an incredible lowering of sexual ethics amongst us as Christians. Friends, let’s not play with fire!
And even if we have not had sex with a person who is not our spouse... Jesus says, it’s about what we do with our eyes, it’s about the state of our hearts and the state of our minds. But, and especially for men, it so often starts with the eyes.
That’s what Job says in Job 31:1that he has made a covenant with his eyes, not to look lustfully at others. It doesn’t matter if we are young or old, married or single, male or female... Friends, can you and I join Job in his determination to glorify God with our sexual purity?
2. Sexual purity is about taking sin seriously.
There is only one way to deal with sexual sin if you follow Me, says Jesus, v29: If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. If your right hand causes you to sin chop it off, v30.
Well, there have been those who’ve taken these words very literally! Early church father Origen of Alexandria castrated himself to quell the power of lust. But thankfully, most Christians have understood the real meaning of gouge it out and cut it off.
It’s like the Doctor who was confronted by a patient who says Doctor, I’ve broken my arm in two places. The Doctor replies, “Well then, stay out of those places!” Jesus is saying the same here. That if there are places we go to that result in us falling into sin – don’t go there anymore! If there people we spend time with who encourage us in the wrong paths – don’t meet with them anymore. If there are activities we do that lead us into temptation – don’t do them in the same way anymore.
If the internet is a problem for us, we put our computer in the living room, so that others can be around us when we use it. If late night TV is a problem for us, then we tell our spouse or our close Christian friend and don’t watch late night TV any more. If romantic books are filling our mind with sexual fantasies – then we get rid of those books. If we are spending too much time with a colleague of the opposite sex instead of our spouse. We stop it!
Who says? Jesus says! This same Jesus who tells us that if we are worshipping and realize we have done something wrong to somebody then we need to leave the worship service straight away and go and deal with that problem by asking forgiveness. You see, Jesus wants his people to have a no toleration policy with regard to sin. Chop it off, gouge it out. That’s painful in the short term, but it will bless our socks off in the long run.
3. Sexual purity in marriage is best achieved by one man, one woman, for life.
There is so much we could say about marriage, divorce and re-marriage, but we’ll re-visit the subject another time, God willing. Today, let’s just make the simple observation that in verse 5:32 Jesus says that if a married person divorces their spouse for any reason other than marital unfaithfulness, they are sinning. In chapter 19 he goes on to explain that just as divorce is only possible if you are the innocent party, so re-marriage is only possible for the ‘innocent’ party – in other words, the person who was the victim of their spouses’ unfaithfulness can re-marry, 19:9. If a person divorces their spouse for any other reason, and re-marries, according to Jesus they are guilty of sexual impurity.
The Pharisees were interested about the ins and outs of how and when they could divorce, but Jesus wasn’t. Jesus just points them back to God’s original plan: one woman with one man for life. Divorce is never God’s original plan and re-marriage is rarely God’s will.
So the second G this morning is GREATER. A greater righteousness than the World thinks is necessary. Jesus takes a very high view of sexuality. And he expects his followers to share his views in principle and practice. He calls us to a greater righteousness.
Conclusion and Gospel:
Drawing our thoughts together as we close.... What’s going on here? Is Jesus making newer and harder laws for us? If so, In today’s world, how can we follow?! Maybe we’re sitting here this morning despairing, thinking, “What hope is there for me? This is a narrow path!” The answer is that Yes, Jesus followers are called to walk a narrow path, to a way of living that God blesses.
But as we think about the challenge of sexual purity, thank God for the final G today. And the final G is GRACE. Friends, grace is when you get what you don’t deserve. All of us have sinned. None of us deserve God’s forgiveness. But he gives it freely to those who trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins.
You see, Jesus’ call to radical righteousness must be seen in light of his whole life and teaching: You know how much I love the story of how the Pharisees brought that broken woman to Jesus. Humiliated, she stood in front of the crowd. She’d been caught red-handed; Blatant sexual impurity; Adultery. The Law says stone her, they said. What do you say Jesus? Yes, what do you say Jesus?
Jesus says nothing. And then he says something they weren’t expecting: If any of you is without sin, then you be the first to throw a stone at her. And one by one they walked off.
But she stayed there. Frightened, ashamed, tear-stained, numb. Jesus looks at her and says words we would NEVER have believed if they had not been written down. Words that are at one and the same time a call to righteousness and a bestowal of grace... He says, I don’t condemn you. But chop off that hand, gouge out that eye – in other words, leave your life of sin. Grace and righteousness meet in the person of Jesus.
