Sexual Purity Series

Clarity or Confusion?

3. Sexual Purity

Feb. 8, 2004

Don Jaques

MAIN IDEA: God’s plan for our lives commands sexual relations be enjoyed in the context of marriage only. This plan is for our best. This plan is difficult, but possible.

Intro: Contrast the rules of Roy Rogers’ riders rules with the teen idols of today. Quite a change.

Where 40 years ago the culture supported the idea that sex was to be reserved for marriage, today quite the opposite is the case.

ILLUS: ABC will be airing a new series called “Doing It” based on the sexual experimentation and exploits of three 16-year old boys.

There is a lot of confusion out there about sexual morality – Today I want to help answer 3 questions.

1. What does the Bible teach about sex? (who it is for and when it can be enjoyed?)

2. Why should you follow God’s plan?

3. How can you follow God’s plan?

TRANS: Let’s jump right in and see what the Bible has to say about this controversial subject.

1. The Bible teaches that sexual relations are to be enjoyed within the context of marriage only. (Deut. 5:18, Matt. 5:27-28, Heb. 13:4, 1 Thess. 4:3-7)

Matt. 5:27-28 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.“

Jesus tells us that sexual purity isn’t just about avoiding intercourse with someone who is married – it goes to the heart of our attitudes toward other people. If we look at them lustfully we have already committed an indecent act in God’s eyes.

What else does God’s word teach us about sex?

1Th. 4:3-7 It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality (greek “porneia” which has a broad application to all types of sexual sin); that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.

Does this mean that all sex is condemned by God? Far from it. God created sex. He created men and women with sexual organs designed to enjoy sex. But he teaches that it is to be enjoyed only within the boundaries of a lifelong, committed marriage.

Heb. 13:4 Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.

Many other passages could be quoted – but the clear idea of scripture is that God created sex to be enjoyed within the boundaries of marriage.

TRANS: But, the argument goes, why would God fill us with such strong desires, and raging hormones and then command us to keep ourselves sexually pure until we are married?

2. God’s plan for sex is for our benefit. (John 10:10)

The reason for any “law” like this is ultimately our good. God loves us and wants us to experience abundant life – not keep us from “the good stuff”.

John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come that they might have life, and have it to the full.”

God knows the destructive power of sexual relationships when they occur outside of the commitment of a loving marriage. What is interesting is that it is not just Bible believing Christians who understand this, but secular researchers are discovering that sex outside of marriage carries with it a large amount of baggage.

Take for example the findings of Rector, Johnson, and Noyes, at the Center for Data Analysis. I’ll read verbatim from a report dated June 3, 2003.

Sexually Active Teenagers Are More Likely to Be Depressed and to Attempt Suicide

by Robert E. Rector, Kirk A. Johnson, Ph.D., and Lauren R. Noyes

Center for Data Analysis Report #03-04

June 3, 2003

Teenage sexual activity is an issue of wide-spread national concern. Although teen sexual activity has declined in recent years, the overall rate is still high. In 1997, approximately 48 percent of American teenagers of high-school age were or had been sexually active.

The problems associated with teen sexual activity are well-known. (STD’s, teen mothers’ extremely high probability of long-term povery).

Less widely known are the psychological and emotional problems associated with teen_age sexual activity. The present study exam_ines the linkage between teenage sexual activity and emotional health. The findings show that: