Surpassing Righteousness in Sexual Purity

Matthew 5:27–30 NIV

27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

Continuing to understand righteousness surpassing the scribes and Pharisees.

The righteousness Jesus calls us to touches right on the very core of our deepest desires

The Heart is Supreme

Last week, we saw Jesus deal with one of the first and most deeply entrenched human sins – anger. This week, he deals with another sin that has beset humanity since ancient times – sexual immorality.

Like murder and anger, Jesus ties lustful desire and adultery together by emphasizing the heart.

Matthew 5:27–28 NIV

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

What is the heart?

The Bible uses the term “heart” in a wide range of ways – most of them focused more on the psychological aspect of the heart than the physical aspect

It thinks

It’s troubled

It is evil

It prays

It is drawn to beauty

It feels

It hardens

It prompts

It is humbled

It must be guarded

It obeys

It knows

Fundamentally, the heart is where thoughts turn into action

Luke 6:45 NIV

45 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

Holiness in the Heart

So what Jesus is telling us to do is far greater than changing our behavior, he calls us to change our desires.

We need a wholesale renovation of our heart.

Our society’s approach to sexuality flies in the face of Jesus command. – The world says follow your heart, Jesus says it must be changed

Low hanging fruit: homosexuality

Fruit in our church: Adultery, no-fault divorce, pornography, dating impurity

The changed heart

Ezekiel 11:19–20 NIV

19 I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. 20 Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God.

Jeremiah 31:33 NIV

33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

Hebrews 10:16 NIV

16 “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.”

A changed heart alters not only what we do but what we want to do.

Changing hearts is something only Jesus can do, but it is something he does do.

Implication: Redirect your heart because it matters more than your body

Your innermost loyalty and love must belong to Jesus if you want to resist the temptation to lust

You must see him and know him to see your heart changed

Behavior Is Important

Matthew 5:29–30 NIV

If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

Change your behavior for the sake of eternity

Jesus shows the importance of the call to a pure heart by prioritizing the eternal soul over the body.

Eternal judgement is connected to unrepentant sin

1 Corinthians 6:9–11 NIV

Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men  nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Colossians 3:5–7 NIV

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived.

This connection emphasizes the seriousness of this battle

The biblical framing emphasizes

Positional Transformation - “such were some of you”

Practical Progress - “put to death”

Change your behavior aggressively

Jesus speaks in hyperbole here and is not actually calling for self-mutilation

The eye and the hand are not the cause of sexual sin – removing them does not actually solve the problem

If it did, it would be worth it

Kill Sin

Do you mortify? Do you make it your daily work? Be always at it whilst you live; cease not a day from this work; be killing sin or it will be killing you.

John Owen

Conclusion

3 Wrong Responses to Sexual Sin

Ignore it because it’s uncomfortable

Minimize it through cheap grace

Despair because of shame

Post a sentry on your heart

Proverbs 4:23 NIV

23 Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

The same Jesus who demands we cut off our hands welcomes the wicked into his kingdom

Seek and destroy the week spots in your armor

There are any number of factors that create avenues for temptation to pull at our hearts, Jesus demands that we actively guard them

3 Right Responses to Sexual Sin

Guard through avoidance

Post a sentry on your heart

Proverbs 4:23 NIV

23 Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

Seek and destroy the week spots in your armor

There are any number of factors that create avenues for temptation to pull at our hearts, Jesus demands that we actively guard them

Guard through accountability

Guard through affection

Walk with Jesus and see his beauty so that you desire it more than all other beautiful things.

It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased. (

CS Lewis