Holiness and Intimacy

Introduction:

This series has been about…

- Bringing RELIGION and REAL LIFE together

- Every aspect of our life is supposed to be holy service to God

But we have to keep probing and asking ourselves…

- Are there areas where I’m not allowing the Spirit?

- Am I trying to keep God out of certain aspects of my life?

Today, I want to ask this very sensitive question…

Have we ever tried to separate our religion from our romantic relationships, our spirituality from our sexuality?

If we’re honest, many people tend to think religion and spirituality are about…

coming to church

saying our prayers

singings songs

taking communion

So we might think…

we can be religious or spiritual people

while having romantic relationships on our own terms

Biblical Text:

Let’s consider what Scripture teaches

We have been thinking about the book of Leviticus, and it had a lot to say about the romantic relationships of God’s people under the Law of Moses.

Some immoral romantic relationships, that made people “unclean”:

Incest (Lev. 18:6-17)

Adultery (Lev. 18:20)

Same Sex (Lev. 18:22; 20:13)

Bestiality (Lev. 18:23)

That section closes with these words…

Leviticus 18:24–25 ESV

24 “Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these things, for by all these the nations I am driving out before you have become unclean, 25 and the land became unclean, so that I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants.

Leviticus 18:26–28 ESV

26 But you shall keep my statutes and my rules and do none of these abominations, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you 27 (for the people of the land, who were before you, did all of these abominations, so that the land became unclean), 28 lest the land vomit you out when you make it unclean, as it vomited out the nation that was before you.

Leviticus 18:29–30 ESV

29 For everyone who does any of these abominations, the persons who do them shall be cut off from among their people. 30 So keep my charge never to practice any of these abominable customs that were practiced before you, and never to make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God.”

Some of you might be saying…

Didn’t Jesus do away with all that Old Testament stuff?

Jesus did not abolish the Law of Moses, he fulfilled it.

Jesus and his people can touch DEATH, DISEASE, and DECAY without being DEFILED, because we are filled with LIFE through the Spirit.

However, immorality continues to defile and make people unclean.

Jesus does not make ANY immoral behavior moral behavior.

Conversation with the Pharisees that will help us understand

The Pharisees were very concerned about what they ate

what if something they ate had been been made unclean by contact

now they put that unclean thing in their body

so, they were diligent about cleaning their hands and utensils before eating

Here is what Jesus said…

Matthew 15:17–18 ESV

17 Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? 18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.

They were right to be concerned about what’s INSIDE

They were right that what’s inside of you can DEFILE a person

However, Jesus’ teaching here was revolutionary

You’re not defiled by what’s in your STOMACH, but by what’s in your HEART.

This was radical and revolutionary in their world, but also in ours!

If the passions and desires of our heart are compelling us to do something immoral…

we will be defiled

we will be unclean

Jesus goes on to say…

Matthew 15:19–20 ESV

19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. 20 These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.”

These behaviors are indications of what is in a person’s heart

these are what defile people THEN and NOW

lying, stealing, cheating, using abusive language

We have all been defiled by what was in our hearts..

That doesn’t mean we can’t be holy…

1 Corinthians 6:9–10 ESV

9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

So, what hope do any of us have???

1 Corinthians 6:11 ESV

11 And such were some of you. 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.

We have been

cleansed

made holy

made right with God

BUT, for what purpose have we been purified…

1 Corinthians 6:18–20 ESV

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. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

You were cleansed and purchased

to be a temple of the Holy Spirit

to glorify God in your body

If you’re a Christian, your body is “NOT YOUR OWN” anymore

In chapter 7, Paul explains how we can serve God in HOLINESS by loving our spouse

1 Corinthians 7:4–5 NIV

4 The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields it to her husband. In the same way, the husband does not have authority over his own body but yields it to his wife. 5 Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

Your religion/spirituality and your relationship with your spouse go hand-in-hand

Loving your spouse well is holy work

1 Corinthians 7:13–14 ESV

13 If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him. 14 For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.

The Spirit-filled spouse brings HOLINESS into the HOME

in a way that blesses even the unbelieving spouse

and the children

Marriage is HOLY WORK - bringing the love and light of Christ to your family

NT Wright quote:

Paul for Everyone: 1 Corinthians Marriage and Divorce (1 Corinthians 7:8–16)

Paul’s response is a striking example of how the Christian gospel stands the old negative codes of purity on their heads. As with Jesus’ healings, in which he touched lepers and other unclean people and, instead of being infected with their diseases, infected them instead with God’s new life, so

But remaining SINGLE can also be holy work.

Paul encouraged people (specifically because of the trials of that time) to remain single

1 Corinthians 7:32–34 ESV

32 I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. 33 But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, 34 and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband.

1 Corinthians 7:35 ESV

35 I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.

That’s what matters: “devotion to the Lord”

Application:

We want to be useful to God, don’t we…

we want to have a purpose

we want to serve a purpose

we want our life to matter

If so, we have to commit our whole self to the Lord.

We can do holy work in marriage or in singleness, but not in immorality.

If you’re married…

One man and one woman committed for life…

Loving your spouse is holy work

It’s a picture of Christ and the church

If you are cruel and unloving it defiles you

If you’re single…

Devoting your time and energy to the Lord is holy work

We need Christians who will remain single and go do dangerous mission work in the world

Do what married people can’t do

Immorality

Unrepentant immorality defiles you, it makes you unclean

Defiled people have no place in the kingdom

Anything outside of one man, one woman, loving one another faithfully

Invitation:

Jesus offered his whole self to make us holy

In response, we offer our self to God

In baptism

Every day we are alive