Tag Archives: sexual immorality

What’s the big deal about sexual sin?

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We can turn to the Word of God to guide us in the way to live a happy and rewarding life. In 1 Corinthians 7, Paul addresses the matter of married life. Specifically, he addresses the issue of sexual immorality as a real threat to our well being and our relationship with God. In today’s “progressive” society we’re told, “it’s okay do do whatever you like.” Maybe you’ve asked yourself these questions: What’s the big deal about sex? Why does God refer to sexual sin as “abominable” while other sins are “merely” exceedingly bad? Isn’t all sin the same?

 

Actually God’s Word names a number of “abominations:” idolatry, adultery (which he also calls idolatry), witchcraft, sodomy, cheating, prostitution, lying, lewdness…the list goes on. God warns us against abominable behaviors to protect us from consequences of sin that we can’t control: loss of health and life, loss of wealth, loss of freedom, and loss of blessings, to name a few.

 

So what is it exactly about sexual sin that makes it so particularly offensive to God? If sexual enjoyment is a gift from God who is the author of love, why shouldn’t we be able to set our own rules about it?

 

First, if we accept that God is in fact Almighty God, then we don’t get to define sin. Courts can and do define the legality of things like pornography, same sex marriage and the such. But God alone has the privilege of defining sin. Of course, when we set ourselves up as mini gods, we can “imagine” all sorts of things, invent our own religion of self, and make up our own rules. But it doesn’t put us in a role to change God’s design. God – the one true God – defines sex in one context only: that of a married man and woman. His Word explicitly states that sex outside of this context is sin. Jesus compares even the act of lust to the act of adultery.

 

Second, Jesus said, “What God has joined let no one separate.” Marriage, and sex has the power to connect us in mind, body, and spirit to another. Glue two pieces of paper together and let them sit for awhile. Now try to pull them apart. What happens? They rip and tear. Bits of one are inextricably stuck to the other. They don’t come apart without damage. God designed us to enjoy physical intimacy in a way that connects us together, one man and one woman. The two become one flesh and cannot be separated and rejoined to others without damage.

 

Additionally, sexual sin is a big deal because it defiles the covenant relationship that God has made with us. He uses the metaphor of marriage to represent the relationship of Jesus to the church, which is described as “his bride.” Our rebelliousness against God’s call on our lives is akin to adultery. In this sense, sexual sin is not just a physical act. It becomes spiritual defiance. It puts us not only in an adulterous relationship with someone else but also in an idolatrous relationship against God.

 

People will believe what they want to believe. They will do what they decide to do. We’ll each be held accountable one day for our own decisions. But God’s Word for his people prescribes a healthy way to live; a way that is wholesome and pure, safe, and edifying. It draws us closer to him and closer spiritually to others.

 

In a world that tells us to tolerate all things, let’s look within our own hearts and be intolerable of anything that rips us apart from God and from those he loves. Purity matters, in our thoughts, in our words, and in our actions. It matters in the light of day and the secrecy of darkness.

 

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”
Matthew 5:8

 

What’s in your bread?

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Whole wheat. Multigrain. Oatbran. Sourdough. Asiago.  Ciabatta.

 

Whatever you call it, we love our breads. I love the homemade breads that Marcia makes. Sometimes, I try to help her, though that usually makes it take more time. 🙂 My tasks are usually relegated to measuring the flour, salt, oil, water, and yeast. Yeast is what makes the bread rise to its best level. Every cook knows that just a little bit of yeast works its way through the whole loaf. We can’t see it working but we can see the results in the risen bread. It grows wherever it makes contact.

 

Yeast is a metaphor for the things we allow into our lives. What we look at, listen to, and think about enter our lives through the open doors of our hearts and minds. It only takes a small amount of certain things to influence and feed our growing desires, thoughts, and ambitions. We can’t always see their influence in our lives, but the results become evident soon enough. They rise within us. It could be a good yeast, like God’s call for us to step out in obedient faith. Or it could be a harmful yeast that rises within us, feeding selfish desires, tolerating evil, and ignoring God and others.

 

Paul refers to this harmful yeast in 1 Corinthians 5. He is referring to participating and boasting about detestable things that should not be tolerated. He warns, “Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough?” In other words, every time we open our lives to even a little bit of harmful influences, it finds a way of insidiously spreading throughout our entire lives. It becomes the pattern for how we think, speak, and act. That’s why Paul says in Ephesians 5:3 “But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.”  Do you find it interesting that he speaks about sexual immorality and “any kind of greed” in the same sentence? It emphasizes the point that we can’t judge the sins of others while excusing our own. However we choose to classify evil and sin, it all will find a way of infiltrating and rising up in ways that take over the control centers of our lives until we’re totally subdued by its destructive influence.

 

But there’s good news!

 

While the reference to yeast in the bible is often one of warning to avoid and admonish sin, it’s also an encouragement for us to pursue what can rise within us in such a magnificent way… that “yeast” is the kingdom of God exposed to our hearts.

 

Jesus said the kingdom of God is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough.” (Luke 13:20-21) God’s kingdom is a spiritual one that affects us even now as we expose our hearts and minds and ambitions to it. Little commitments of faith and obedience, like yeast, rise within us and make our lives rise to a higher level. We don’t always see it at work, but the results are evident:

  • Peace where there used to be anxiety
  • Prayer that replaced worry
  • Confidence where fear once stood ground
  • Faith standing firm where only doubt stood trembling
  • Persistence where it was formerly easier to give up
  • Generosity where greed prevailed

 

Like yeast, the continual yielding of our lives to the transformational power of God’s Spirit influences more and more of our lives. We expose ourselves to this good “yeast” by studying God’s Word, talking with him in prayer, by creating space in our lives to simply enjoy God, by seeking the counsel of mature believers and investing ourselves in others. What once represented a lump of lifeless dough rises to a wholesome, aromatic, and pleasant offering to God when it is regularly yielded to the rising power of God’s truth and grace. And whereas bread yeast doesn’t jump from one loaf to another, the yeast of God’s kingdom in us readily spreads to those around us. They might not see how it works, but the results in our lives should be evident to them. “There’s something different about them,” they say, “something genuinely appealing to my heart.”

 

Here’s the truth. You get to decide every day what kind of yeast you want to add to your “bread of life.” Let’s choose wisely. Whatever you add, even a little will have a bigger influence than you may know!