Sexual Purity

by L.A. Hickling, Derby | Category: Christian Standards | Jun 1973

"If ye abide in My word...

Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free"

(John 8:31,32).

Real freedom is based upon the revelation of divine truth and stands in contrast to the counterfeit freedom which allows the corrupt nature of man to take unbridled control of his thoughts and actions. When men cease to take knowledge of the word of God and hear His voice, or even to acknowledge the existence of God at all, then moral standards fall. It has always been so.

"Even as they refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up unto a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting" (Rom. 1:28).

They refused God. God gave them up, and in consequence all those evil things that are inherent in the sinful nature of man have free rein so that men behave

"according to the course of this world ... doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind" (Eph. 2:2,3).

This is accounted freedom; the casting down of conventional attitudes, the throwing off of restraints; doing, in fact, what they wish to do. In so doing they do not realize that this is not freedom at all, but a sure bondage under the influence of the Adversary who blinds the minds of the unbelieving.

The believer, who has had the experience of becoming a new creature by being born again, should not be so deceived:

"With freedom did Christ set us free: stand fast therefore, and be not entangled again in a yoke of bondage" (Gal. 5:1).

The sex instinct is created by God and is therefore good, but if it is to remain pure its powers and influences must be directed according to the laws and purposes of God. Lack of such direction leads to sexual impurity and abuse. The tide of this form of unrighteousness washes around the disciple from its early beginnings in the schoolroom on through life and leaves behind dishonour and distress. The only antidote is:

Abide in My word.

Stand fast.

Be not deceived.

The truth shall make you free.

So we may well consider some of the guiding principles of Scripture relating to this aspect of our Christian lives:

(1) The apostle Peter exhorts wives to "chaste behaviour coupled with fear" - behaviour that will have its impact on husbands and others besides. It is commonplace today to see behaviour which departs widely from this and has its ill effects upon those who witness it. We may apply the apostle's exhortation, not to wives only, but to men and women in general. It is not for the Christian to go to those excesses in dress or in manner that would offend some and excite unworthy passions in others.

(2) Scripture definitely forbids pre-marital sex-relations. We need not be concerned with the high-sounding phrases that are used to condone such behaviour as being part of the normal development of the personality. The Scriptural injunction is clear:

"The body is not for fornication"

"He that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body"

"Know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which ye have from God? and ye are not your own; for ye were bought with a price; -glorify God therefore in your body" (1 Cor. 6).

"Ye know of a surety, that no fornicator ... hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God" (Eph. 5:5).

The sexual union of a man and a woman is sacred to those who have been joined together in the lifetime union of two who have become one flesh in marriage. Anything other than this is dishonouring to God and dishonouring to the body. And the dishonour is not in any way minimized because steps may be taken to avoid the natural consequences. Standards may easily be eroded by the contacts that we make in the course of our daily lives unless we stand fast upon the truth of God.

(3) Scripture teaches the permanence and sanctity of marriage

"A wife is bound for so long time as her husband liveth" (1 Cor.7:39).

"Let marriage be had in honour among all, and let the bed be undefiled: for fornicators and adulterers God will judge" (Heb. 13:4).

Within the marriage bond one man and one woman may know an intimate union directed by God and broken only by death.

Christian marriage demands complete trust and absolute faithfulness. It is not viewed as something which may be entered into lightly with the option of divorce if things do not work out as they were expected. Nor is it regarded as anything other than a partnership which completely excludes any sexual relationships outside the marriage bond. We cannot afford to trifle with these things: God is still Judge.

(4) Purity applies to word as well as action and we need to keep control of that unruly member of ours, the tongue; filthiness and foolish talking and jesting are not befitting (Eph. 5:4). So it is not fitting that believers should engage in the loose talk that generates wrong thoughts in those who hear, nor take pleasure in conversation exposing the sins of others.

How are we to maintain these standards in a world that seems obsessed with sex and its perversions and that has mistaken lust for love? How are we to avoid the corruption that is in the world through lust? Only as we take positive action. The Lord Jesus, as He talked to His disciples on the mountain, warned them of the danger of lustful thoughts,

"Every one that looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart" (Matt.5:28).

So we must watch our thoughts:

"Whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; ... think on these things" (Philip. 4:8).

This brings us back to the quotation which stands at the beginning of this article. As we have in our minds the word of God so will the indwelling Holy Spirit be able to direct our thoughts away from the defiling things that would give the Devil the advantage over us, and towards the things of Christ.

Then we must take deliberate evasive action. Long ago Joseph found himself in circumstances which might well have brought dishonour to himself and God. He had consistently refused the advances of Potiphar's wife, but the day came when the circumstances were such that wisdom dictated that the course to take was to flee and get him out (Gen. 39:15). So we do well to put a barrier between ourselves and all those things, whether they be pictures or books or people, that would foster any deviation from the standards set by God:

THE PEACE OF GOD

Drop Thy still dews of quietness,

Till all our strivings cease:

Take from our souls the strain and stress,

And let our ordered lives confess

The beauty of Thy peace.

L.A. Hickling, Derby | Jun 1973
Christian Standards