Adultery recently made the news. Iran has sentenced a 43-year-old widow and mother of two for “illicit relationships” with two men After receiving 99 lashes, she was sentenced for stoning. After much pleading from the United States and Great Briton, Iranian courts have relented and are considering other possible punishments.
If you watch TV, go to the movies, or read magazines today, you get the impression that the only people having good sex are the people who aren’t married. Sex within the boundaries of marriage is portrayed as bland and routine in popular media. While Bernie Madoff was making off with millions from defrauding his investors, officials at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) were surfing the Internet for pornography. According to the Atlantic Monthly, a senior attorney at the SEC's Washington headquarters spent up to eight hours a day looking at and downloading pornography. When he ran out of hard drive space, he burned the files to CDs or DVDs, which he kept in boxes around his office. An accountant was blocked more than 16,000 times in a month from visiting websites classified as "Sex" or “Pornography.” Yet, he still managed to amass a collection of “very graphic” material on his hard drive by bypassing the SEC's internal filter. Seventeen of the employees were "at a senior level," earning salaries of up to $222,418. The number of cases jumped from two in 2007 to 16 in 2008. All the while cracks in the financial system emerged in mid-2007 and spread into full-blown panic by the fall of 2008.
“Porn is the wallpaper of our lives,” says David Amsden.
If the Bible says that a person who says in his heart “there is no God” (Psalm 14:1) is a fool… Then in realm of contemporary human sexuality might be rightly viewed as a “ship of fools” as we are tossed about in the sea of life’s disordered passions.
“It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife. 2 And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. 3 For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. 4 When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5 you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. 6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. 9 I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10 not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. 11 But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. 12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? 13 God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you” (1 Corinthians 5:1-13).
When it comes to issue of sex, we have to consider what voices we listen to. Many around think that listening to the sexual instructions from a book that is at least 2,000 years old is the equivalent of learning about the progress of technology from a 1980’s instruction manual about the Commodore 64. Instead of listening to the moral voice of the Bible, they wish to listen to the inner voice within.
1. God Made Sex Good
Scripture has a lot to say about sex. Most of the time when we think about the two subjects of sex and the Bible, we think of sin. We think that sex is sinful. Or that sex is simply a necessary evil to give birth to children. Nothing could be further from the truth. If you were to look up what the Bible has to say about sex, you might search the Bible for the word “sex.” Yet, a productive strategy would be to search the Bible for the term all things, since sex is obviously a subset of all things. Here is a sampling of what this kind of search would reveal in God’s authoritative Word:
• Sex is created by God (“by him all things were created” — Colossians 1:16);
• Sex continues to exist by the will of Christ (“in him all things hold together” — Colossians 1:17);
• Sex is caused by God (he “works all things according to the counsel of his will” — Ephesians 1:11);
• Sex is good (“everything created by God is good” — 1 Timothy 4:4);
• We are to thank God for sex (“nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving” — 1 Timothy 4:4);
• Christ commands your sex life (“he put all things under his feet” — Ephesians 1:22);
• Christ is making sex new (“Behold, I am making all things new” — Revelation 21:5);
• Sex is encouraged within the context of marriage (“all things are lawful”—1 Corinthians 10:23);
•When we have sex, we are to do it for the glory of God (“whatever you do, do all to the glory of God ”— 1 Corinthians 10:31);
• Sex works together for the good of God’s children –(“for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” — Romans 8:28);
• Sex is to be sanctified by the Word of God and prayer (“every- thing . . . is made holy by the word of God and prayer” — 1 Timothy 4:4-5);
• We must be on guard not to be enslaved by sex (“I will not be enslaved by anything” — 1 Corinthians 6:12).
In the context of marriage, sex is God’s gift to humans. The pleasure found in sex is not embarrassing for the Bible as God devoted one book inside the Bible to the celebration of marital love and sex: The Song of Solomon. While the movies portray marital sex as routine and ordinary, the Bible considers the lifetime sexual union between one man and one woman as both sacred and profoundly pleasurable. Nevertheless, much of what passes as ok within sexual relations in our day is sinful.
2. This is a Sin that Comes Looking for You
You don’t have to be a strong student of the Bible to know that sexual sin looks for you. Have you ever heard the saying “all sin is alike to God?” Paul would say to the people in Corinth: “Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body” (1 Corinthians 6:18).
The Bible makes an important distinction. Sex isn’t just something you do; sex is someone you are. You ask, “How can sex be good and sinful at the same time?”
“Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous” (Hebrews 13:4). In one succinct verse, God tells us that sex within marriage is to be honored, even enjoyed. Yet, sexual sin carries with it dire consequences as God promises to personally judge the sexual immoral and adulterers. You are in a store when a charming young man starts to flirt suggestively with you. Here you are a mature, married woman with more miles on your odometer that you care to count! Is there an answering flutter inside you? You hear that certain movie is worth watching, but get blindsided. A lewd scene was gratuitously inserted to avoid a G rating. You find yourself feeling deep empathy for a couple committing adultery because their respective spouses are portrayed so unfavorably.
The situation in Corinth is that a man is having sexual relations with his mother or his stepmother. “It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife” (1 Corinthians 5:1). The phrase “his father's wife” may imply that the woman is not his biological mother. It may imply that his father is a widower or is divorced, and has remarried. The father may be alive. Or he may be dead. Paul does not say that any of these cases would change the sinfulness of what is happening: the son “has” the father’s wife. And Paul calls it “immorality” — a kind of immorality that even the non-Christian gentiles condemn. The word “immorality” is the Greek word porneia, which literally means “resorting to prostitutes.” In Corinth the priestesses of the temple to Aphrodite were sacred prostitutes and the practice porneia became prevalent in this community. The word porneia came to mean any sexual behavior than violated biblical principles. Paul’s reaction is one of sheer outrage as he sees no grey areas involved in this issue: “And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you” (1 Corinthians 5:2). This is outrageous behavior. And when the Christian church tolerates this behavior with their complacency, it’s a public self-contradiction.
The text leads us to an important principle: The Toleration of Sin is Sinful. Complacency is not to be tolerated when it comes to sexual sin. The Bible tells the church to expel the man for two reasons. One purpose is found in verse five: “you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 5:5). These words are solemn. The church together gathers to pronounce where they invoke the power of Jesus Christ our Lord. See verse four: “When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus…” (1 Corinthians 5:4). The church is not a throw away thing for fighting sexual sin. One of the most important tools you have to fight sexual sin is the accountability of the church. Note carefully the seriousness in which the Bible takes sexual sin. This is not found in our contemporary culture.
Natasha Hayes isn’t her real name but a pen name. Nevertheless, Natasha has written a contemporary account entitled “My iPhone Adultery.” She writes:
Would I be on the brink of having an affair if it weren’t for the sleek little apparatus that I transfer from pocket to pocket? I really don’t think so… people cheated on each other before they could slip almost instantaneous messages – and pictures – to one another all day and night, but I don’t know how they managed…. Maybe the iPhone is the new martini, the key party of the moment. Now, the man I want to sleep with and I can both be home, with our children safe in their beds, watching movies on our respective couches with our respective spouses snuggled up beside us, while we wait for that slight vibration against our skin, that sexy electronic zing, that signals a new e-mail. It sits there waiting until the spouse gets up for another glass of wine, or to use the bathroom, whereupon we slide out the phone with eager fingers and devour the missive: pithy, suggestive, tantalizing. Then, despite our best intentions to wait an hour, a day, forever, to respond, we find a way to sneak off for just a moment and fire back the perfect, crafted little retort.
Against this, the Bible gives us important details how the church is to deal with the unrepentant sinner: “But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. 12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? 13 God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you” (1 Corinthians 5:11-13).
To choose impurity week after week, without repentance, is to choose against the purpose of the cross and to thrust a sword into Jesus’ side with every new act of immorality. He did not just die to pardon your sin, He died to empower you against sin. And those who do not embrace the power of the cross to fight their sin will not have the pardon of the cross to forgive their sin. And the second reason is found in verse seven: “Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7).
The verse is set against the backdrop of the Jewish observance of the Passover festival. The talk about leaven is perplexing for those of us who are baking-challenged. Leaven can be one of any number of substances that makes dough or batter rise. Paul speaks of a batch of dough because every crumb of leavened bread was removed during the Passover festival. This festival was observed because of the hurry the people of Israel left Egypt after the ten plagues were happened. No leavened bread was to be found in the people’s homes (Exodus 13:7; Deuteronomy 16:4). If a Jew were to eat leavened bread during the seven day festival, he would be cut off from the nation Israel. The Bible says to remove the old leaven from the bread in order that you can start over as unleavened bread. You are unleavened bread the Bible is saying. You are a new people in Christ. Therefore act cleanly as Christ has made you clean. One of the hindrances to a frank and edifying discussion of sex is the issue of shame. Shame can be healthy and shame can be sinful. The leavened bread is the church and our behavior informs outsiders of our identity with Christ. He said, “You are arrogant!” People in the church were actually boasting in this immorality. Now how could that be? What kind of theology would give rise to boasting in immorality? We have seen it in Paul's letters elsewhere: “Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound” (Romans 6:1)? So it’s a theology that misunderstands the power of grace, and turns it into license. It's a theology that misunderstands freedom and uses it as “an opportunity for the flesh” (Galatians 5:13) and says as they were saying at Corinth: “all things are lawful for me” (1 Corinthians 6:12).
Again, the Toleration of Sin is Sinful.
3. The Only Response: Repentance
In the passage in front of us there is no repentance, there is only brazen boasting. Look again at verse two: “And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you” (1 Corinthians 5:2).
Oftentimes sexual sin sees no mourning. There’s little fleeing of immorality. The River Valley is teeming with adultery, rape, divorce, love-triangle, and improper advances of a sexual nature. A major cause of the repeated sexual sin in our day is…
Myths of Repentance
3.1 Mere Confession
When someone sins, and you confront, or rebuke them, and you call them to repentance. You say, “That was really wrong.” And they say, “You know what? You’re right, that was terrible.” You say, “Oh good, I’m glad you recognized that. Let me hug you, and we’re all better now.” And then they do it again. You say, “I thought you were sorry.” “Oh, I was. I’m sorry again, and I’ll be sorry next week, and the week after that. I’m sorry a lot. And every time I do it, at least I’m not a hypocrite, I’m authentic, I’m honest, I’m real, I’m true. And I’ll just tell you how bad I am, and I’m gonna keep being bad.” Some of you are dating that person. Run, run, run, run Forrest run, run for your life.
3.2 Shifting Blame
Real repentance is not blame-shifting. This goes all the way back to the garden. Adam sins, says, “God, you made a woman. She’s defective. The two of you need to sort this out.” The truth is that Adam was morally responsible for his sin. We can do this. “Yes, I lost my temper, but they made me very angry.” “Yes, I stole from my boss, but after all, they weren’t paying me enough. “I did cheat on my spouse, but they weren’t meeting my needs.”
3.3 Confess Others’ Sin
Jesus gives a story of two people going into the temple, the Old Testament equivalent of the church, and one prays with haughty eyes and head held high, full of pride. “God, thank you that I’m not like other men. Thank you that I’m better than they are. Thank you that I don’t do all these horrible things.” He’s confessing someone else’s sin. A second man in the story goes in… and he’s not filled with pride, he’s filled with grief. And he looks to the ground. He can’t even raise his eyes, and he simply declares, “God, have mercy on me. I’m a sinner.” He’s dealing with his own sin, not anyone else’s sin. He’s filled with humility and not pride. And Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, this man, and not the other, left justified, declared righteous in the sight of God.” Religious people are notorious for overlooking their own sin, and talking about everyone else’s, sometimes couching it in the form of a prayer request, so that it looks particularly holy when it’s not.
3.4 I was Caught
What happens in our culture then, we get Barbara Walters, or Larry King, or Oprah, or Dr. Phil. We go get somebody to set up their stage for their show, their set, like a confessional. And the person who has sinned walks in looking very sad, and very scared, and says, “I’m really sorry for what I’ve done.” And then the person in the position of moral, spiritual authority, the priest of culture says… “Tell us about what you’ve done, and how you feel.” And then you cry, and you say the things that your PR rep told you to say. And then all of this is told to the population, the public, the culture, and they decide whether or not you’re forgiven. They’re in the position of God. “Oh, you said you were sorry, you went to rehab, you wrote a big check for people in need. We forgive you. You can golf again. Go and sin no more.”
Sex isn’t just something you do; sex is someone you are.
He did not just die to pardon your sin, He died to empower you against sin.
