Blueprints for the Church: Gospel-Motivated Sexuality

Gospel Motivated Purity

Introduction:

Last summer, preached on “Thou Shall Not Commit Adultery.”

Jesus: “Whoever

Summer was just a few months ago, surely do we need to focus yet again on us being sexual beings!

Surely none of you have struggle with sexual sin since then, so this sermon won’t apply to you.

Why bother?

Of course, those of you who have me preach before know I’m being sarcastic:

Sexual immorality ain’t going anywhere, and so we need to keep it regularly in front of us.

Last summer I opened up my sermon on the 7th Commandment talking about how my 9th Grade PE teacher teaching Sex Ed started his class with these words: “I don’t want to be here any more than you do.”

I DO want to be here, and I DO want to talk about these important issues:

HOPE: YOU WILL FEEL CONVICTED BY THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL IN YOUR LIFE:

FORGIVENESS OF JESUS

THE VICTORY OVER YOUR SEXUAL SIN, GUILT AND SHAME

THE CALL TO A CULTURE OF GOSPEL MOTIVATED PURITY

1. Pure Gospel Love

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Gospel-Centered Morality

“A reflective response to who God is and what Jesus has done.”

For our purposes this morning, we take a look at what we do, say, and think about human sexuality.

Jesus was single, never married, grew up as a boy, teenager, went through puberty.

Went through hormone changes, was tempted in every way, like we are. He was confronted with lust and conquered it!

Hebrews 4:15 “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

Jesus body was intended to be a Sacrifice.

The early church tried to take the body out of Jesus.

One of the earliest and most significant heresies was Docetism, a belief that said Jesus couldn’t be human.

But the fact that Jesus had a physical body says something very power about the GOSPEL when we ask this question:

What did Jesus do with his body?

“Christ loved us and gave himself up for us”

He sacrificed it. He gave it away.

It wasn’t merely a legal transaction of Jesus taking your place.

He wasn’t motivated as a LAWYER, he was motivated as a LOVER.

There’s a reason why later in this chapter Paul compares Christ’s relationship with the CHURCH with a husband and wife.

Ephesians 5:25–26 “25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,”

Again: “Gave himself for her…”

If you are a Christian, then you belong to the Church, which means He gave up his body for you!

His Body produced a pleasing aroma “a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

Fragrant offering and sacrifice to God

“Fragrant Offering” Refers to all kinds: Grain and Animal.

Point: Jesus considered his body as something used for the advantage of, protection of, preservation of, salvation of, atonement of the CHURCH.

Jesus giving his body away is central to the Gospel, and the motivation for how we use OUR BODIES!!

“Christ’s handing himself over to death for his people was the supreme demonstration of his love for them. Because he is both the ground and model of their love, costly, sacrificial love is to be the distinguishing mark of their lives. To serve others in this way is not only to please God; it is also to imitate both God and Christ.” O’Brien

Pure Love is about giving away. Jesus was our example. We are called to be like him.

Opposite

2. Perverse Anti-Gospel “love”

Part I: Verse 3

verse 3: But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints.

Gotta be among the most stark transitions you’ll find in Scripture!

Jesus was your Substitutionary Atoner for Your Sin

Stop Sleeping around!

Connection between verses 1-2 with verse 3=Simple!

Jesus gave his body up for the advantage of others.

Now, don’t take other bodies for the disadvantage of others.

3 Things Christians must avoid: Verse 3:

Sexual Immorality=Pornea

C.L. Mitton: “Any sexual indulgence outside the permanent relationship of marriage, in circumstances where the sexual appetites are used merely as a means of pleasure without any sense of responsibility or care for the partner.” Ephesians, 1976

Where in the Bible does it say you can’t have sex outside of marriage?

It’s right there in the definition of pornea!

Legitimate Intimacy!

Also rules out homosexuality

Impurity= Dirty, impure, especially sexual

Impurity and Covetousness appear already in 4:19. Focus there is to put off this lie!

Life of those outside of Christ

Ephesians 4:19 “They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.”

Covetousness=Wanting more and more, ie, “Ruthless greed”

All forms of abuse

All forms of self-centered taking for one’s own advantage.

Verse 4 offers other sins to avoid:

Part II: Verse 4

verse 4: Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.

Filthiness: “All that is shameless, all that would make a morally sensitive person ashamed.” Foulkes

Foolish Talk:

Crude Joking:

Don’t associate, fraternize, lean into, support, engage, talk about, or laugh at anything that robs people of their the dignity, reputation, body image, sexual encounters, sexual make-up, and sexual orientation.

Filthiness, Foolish talk, and crude joking around sexuality ROBS. It takes away from others.

When you watch TV or a movie, control your Lobito AND your Laughter.

Sex sells, and it’s fueled an entertainment as old as the first advertisement!

Remember that picture I showed you? (SHOW PICTURE).

Our culture is a culture of TAKE, and every time you participate in jokes that demeans men or women, homosexuals, those who struggle with gender identity, or whatever, you contribute to a culture of TAKE AWAY, not GIVE AWAY.

Summary:

New Society!

Sacrificially Motivated Society=Life of giving for the other

Sacrifice

Donation

Protecting

Healing

Kindness

Sexually Immoral Society=Life of taking from others

Worship of Artemis was mixed up with all kinds of unspeakable sexual rituals.

So is our culture:

Selfishness

Demanding

Neglecting

Harming

Abuse

3. Consequence of Sexual Impurity

See the symmetry in this passage:

Consequences of Verse 3=Verse 5=No inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

Consequences of Verse 4=Verse 6=The wrath of God comes up on the sons of disobedience.

Tough Words! Let’s unpack them:

Part I: No Kingdom Inheritance

Ephesians 5:5 “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.”

Those who are sexually immoral, impure, covetous (idolater), has no inheritance.

Why? Because they worship another god! They are idolaters, they have a different religious than Christian do.

Unbelievers have an inheritance, Believers DO.

Present tense “Has no inheritance.” They aren’t converted?

“Along with greed for riches and power, sexual lust is an idolatrous obsession; it places self-gratification or another person at the centre of one’s existence, and thus is the worship of the creature rather than the Creator.” O’Brien

These words can’t apply to Christians:

Perseverance of the Saints:

1 Peter 1:3–5 “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

Part II: God’s Wrath

6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.

Filth, foolish talk, and course jokers=Receive God’s wrath as Sons of disobedience

Not the first time we’ve come across this term “Sons of Disobedience”

Ephesians 2:1–2“1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—”

“Sons of Disobedience” are the unconverted!

Sexual Sin and the lustful greediness must never be part of the Christian life because they reflect an anti-Gospel lifestyle:

Sonship versus Sons of Disobedience:

Taking rather than giving

Owning rather than sacrifice

Self-service rather than self-giving

No shame, no repentance:

No shame= Ephesians 4:18 “They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.”

Ignorance=Sleep around without a conscience.

If you’re stuck in sexual sin, then let’s talk.

1 Corinthians 6:18 “Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.”

4. Guidelines for Sexual Purity

How now shall we live?

verse 3:

Saints Properly Seek Purity

“as is proper among the saints.”

What is appropriate begins with what NOT to do:

Adaire: MNA Missionary:

Spoke at Presbytery. Spoke for 10 minutes, not a dry eye in the place.

I asked Adaire for some advice. As someone who works in the heart of Europe’s Brothel, what advice should I give a Church like ours. What she shared with me was brutal honesty, some of which I had to filter a bit…

If I had the opportunity to address a congregation with the authority of a pastor I would want to drive in several points:

Protecting the Vulnerable: This passage of course not only calls us to personal purity, but also to recognize that sexual sin is anything but "harmless."  When we reject impurity, we aren't just guarding our own hearts, we are protecting those who are most at risk of being exploited by a culture that normalizes (and even praises) sexual sin and overconsumption.

Sexual sin is never private, never harmless... it always has victims. [Girls and women] … aren't "actors". They are being exploited, abused, and trafficked. They are real human beings, made in the image of God, and reducing them to objects for consumption is a direct rejection of His command to defend and care for the vulnerable.

There is no safe or decent version of the sex industry. Where money is exchanged, exploitation reigns. Consent is an illusion when survival is at stake. This is modern-day slavery, and tolerating even the smallest indulgence is complicity. There is no such thing as an acceptable amount of participation in an industry built on the physical, emotional, and psychological destruction of the very people Christ calls us to protect.

Again, I had to filter a fair amount of her words…

Adaire is exposed to a world of TAKE every day. She provides Gospel-Motivated Morality, into a an Anti-Gospel-Motivated Industry.

The world of TAKE destroys, and that’s why Paul is so adamant about this point:

DO WHAT IS APPROPRIATE, LOGICAL FOR A CHRISTIAN:

Christians give up ourselves for the sake of others.

We do not take for the sake of our own kicks and giggles.

Verse 4: “Let there be thanksgiving.”

“Thanksgiving is almost a synonym of the Christian life.” O’Brien

“Whereas sexual impurity and covetousness both express self-centered acquisitiveness, thanksgiving is the exact opposite, and so the antidote required; it is the recognition of God’s generosity.” Houlden

Christian perspective on Sex=Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is the Antidote

Give thanks for your bodies:

Truly: Body image!

Give thanks for being a Sexual Being:

To not engage in sexual immorality is not mean you are a sexual mute!

It’s like what Paul wrote about anger:

“In your anger, do not sin.”

Same here: “In your sexuality, do not sin.”

Part of living into your sexuality is to give thanks!

For the single: Thanks for your sexuality.

Thanks for Christ’s Forgiveness

Thanks for Christ’s ongoing Forgiveness

The Converted LIFE is the Thankful Life:

Heidelberg Catechism: Q. But why are you called a Christian?

A. Because by faith I am a member of Christ1 and so I share in his anointing.2

I am anointed to confess his name,3 to present myself to him as a living sacrifice of thanks,4 to strive with a free conscience against sin and the devil

in this life,5

and afterward to reign with Christ

over all creation for eternity.6

1 1 Cor. 12:12-27 2 Acts 2:17 (Joel 2:28); 1 John 2:27 3 Matt. 10:32; Rom. 10:9-10; Heb. 13:15 4 Rom. 12:1; 1 Pet. 2:5, 9 5 Gal. 5:16-17; Eph. 6:11; 1 Tim. 1:18-19 6 Matt. 25:34; 2 Tim. 2:12

Remember, the world has it wrong.

Scripture has it right.

HOPE: YOU WILL FEEL CONVICTED BY THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL IN YOUR LIFE:

FORGIVENESS OF JESUS

THE VICTORY OVER YOUR SEXUAL SIN, GUILT AND SHAME

THE CALL TO A CULTURE OF GOSPEL MOTIVATED PURITY