The Holy Spirit Is My Ally Series

One of the tremendous things the Spirit of God does for the believer is that He makes you morally and spiritually pure. Of all three members of the Trinity, the Spirit is only One that His own adjective in His name. The Spirit is the Holy Spirit, and this is a reminder that He makes you holy.

Did you know that being holy is the quickest way to long-term happiness? If you want to be happy, strive to be holy. And the Holy Spirit will make you happy by making you holy. The Spirit of God is available to you to change you, to mold you, and to form you into the character of Jesus Christ. He is present in your life to shield you from temptation.

I want to challenge you to think about something. If you think about every regret you have in life, every do-over, or as golfers might want a mulligan in life… … everything you wished you hadn’t done, every word you wished you had not said, or place you wished you had not gone… For every person you wish you had not hurt, I would say without exception it is because you failed to handle temptation. The good news is everyone who knows Jesus, loves Jesus, and follows Jesus can overcome any temptation because of Jesus. Because when truly met Jesus, you enter in a life-changing encounter with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is Christ in the Christian. Now, the Holy Spirit is a Person just as Jesus is a Person.

In a recent survey, more than 50% of people who identified themselves as Christians said that the Holy Spirit is only a power. He’s not a person but only a symbol of God’s power. While He is a source of tremendous power, the Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit is a Person and He is Christ in the Christian. The Holy Spirit is also a tremendous gift given to believers, so we handle temptation.

Today’s Scripture

“But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. 4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. 5 For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience” (Ephesians 5:3-6).

To be frank, verses 3 through 7 are all a downer. It’s, “Don’t do this. Don’t do that. Don’t do this. For the wrath of God will come upon the disobedient. For people who do these things will never inherit the kingdom of Christ and of God. Do not be partners with them.” Even though it’s a downer, we need every word of it. Let’s dig right in.

1. Elimination

There is no one immune to temptation. You never get too old to be tempted. You never get too good to be tempted. And you never get too strong to be tempted in this life. Temptation happens to everyone.

Watch how Paul mentions six items in verses 3 and 4 that should be eliminated from your life and our church’s life.

1.1 Not to be Named

Look at verse 3 with me: “But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints” (Ephesians 5:3).

Notice your Bible says that there are evils that should be even mentioned among God’s people. The Bible does NOT just say, “Don’t practice these things.” Instead, it says, “Don’t allow anyone who claims the name of Jesus on the one hand to do these three evils on the other.” People outside of the church should never think believers are connected to these practices. There should be a bright yellow line of distinction between Christians and those on the outside.

1.2 Sexual Immorality

What are they? First up is “sexual immorality.” “Sexual immorality” is any kind of sexual activity that happens outside of the marriage bed. It’s fulfilling your sexual desires outside of marriage. And the Bible tells us that premarital sex is wrong.

1.2.1 The Gift of Sex

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 the Bible treats sex as sinful. Or that sex is simply a necessary evil to give birth to children. Nothing could be further from the truth.

We shouldn’t despise sex or deify sex. To deify sex is to let our instincts govern what we do. The Bible says your instincts are wrong. America has deified sex. But we shouldn’t go the other way by despising sex either, as God created our bodies, and He created sex.