Calibrating the Conscience (Week 3)

Christ died to purify his people. It is an absolute travesty of the cross to treat it as though Jesus died only to forgive us for the sin of watching nudity, and not to purify us for the power not to watch it.

He has blood-bought power in his cross. He died to make us pure. He “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession” (Titus 2:14). If we choose to endorse or embrace or enjoy or pursue impurity, we take a spear and ram it into Jesus’s side every time we do. He suffered to set us free from impurity.

Awakened/ Purified conscience-

this is an inward work that has happened because of Christ's pure sacrifice on our account. One can approach God freely with boldness. ()

2. Does It Express or Advance My Holiness?

In the Bible, from beginning to end, there is a radical call for holiness — holiness of mind and heart and life. “As he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct” (1 Peter 1:15). Or 2 Corinthians 7:1, “Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.” Nudity in movies and photos is not holy and does not advance our holiness. It is unholy and impure.

Guilty conscience-

when informed by truth, this is meant to lead us to openly bring matters before God for forgiveness and cleansing- Walk in the light

3. When Will I Tear Out My Eye, If Not Now?

The developing/changing conscience-

Jesus said, “Everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away” (Matthew 5:28–29). Seeing naked women — or seeing naked men — causes a man or woman to sin with their minds and their desires, and often with their bodies. If Jesus told us to guard our hearts by gouging out our eyes to prevent lust, how much more would he say, “Don’t watch it!”

* It is conforming to a standard

4. Is It Not Satisfying to Think on What Is Honorable?

* wrong information (tradition or family rules) can misinform the conscience.

Life in Christ is not mainly the avoidance of evil, but mainly the passionate pursuit of good. Remember Philippians 4:8, “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

* Refusal to listen the the conscience can harden the conscience.

“It is not art that puts nudity in film; it’s the appeal of sex. It sells.” Tweet Share on Facebook

My life is not a constrained life. It is a free life. “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13).

* Truth needs to continue to inform the conscience. The conscience then alerts us to what is right or wrong. The conscience is not the standard of truth. It subject to God's final true perspective. Freedom in Christ does not equal lawlessness. One cannot use their liberty in Christ as a means to do what they think is all right.

* From this right information, the conscience is conforming more and more to the true standard.

5. Am I Longing to See God?

* This process takes time. Someone may hear truth but still struggle to believe or understand. ( and )

I want to see and know God as fully as possible in this life and the next. Watching nudity is a huge hindrance to that pursuit. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). The defilement of the mind and heart by watching nudity dulls the heart’s ability to see and enjoy God. I dare anyone to watch nudity and turn straight to God and give him thanks and enjoy him more because of what you just experienced.

6. Do I Care About the Souls of the Nudes?

Illustration-

God calls women to “adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control” (1 Timothy 2:9). When we pursue or receive or embrace nudity in our entertainment, we are implicitly endorsing the sin of the women who sell themselves to this way and are, therefore, uncaring about their souls. They disobey 1 Timothy 2:9, and we say that’s okay.

Picture of the developing conscience. Adjusting the scales. This is a deleting and adding process. If worng information is on one side and the other side of the scale is not measuring up, then wrong information needs to be deleted. If information is lacking on one side of the scale, then it needs to be added and life needs to be adjusted accordingly.

7. Would I Be Glad If My Daughter Played This Role?

Weak Conscience-

Most Christians are hypocrites in watching nudity because, on the one hand, they say by their watching that this is okay, and, on the other hand, they know deep down they would not want their daughter or their wife or their girlfriend to be playing this role. That is hypocrisy.

does not have confidence in doing a certain action. It is not fully formatted by truth.

* the weak were likely Jewish Christians who refrained from certain kinds of foods out of loyalty to the Mosaic Law (Moo, 829) 14:14 shows that they saw certain food as unclean.

8. Am I Assuming Nudity Can Be Faked?

* According to verse 2 they see eating unclean as not legitimate for their walk of faith in Christ.

Nudity is not like murder and violence on the screen. Violence on a screen is make-believe; nobody really gets killed. But nudity is not make-believe. These actresses are really naked in front of the camera, doing exactly what the director says to do with their legs and their hands and their breasts. And they are naked in front of millions of people to see.

* They are not Jews who are putting faith in the law to save them. Their faith is in Christ.

9. Am I Compromising the Beauty of Sex?

* It is not that Jews were prohibited from eating meat. It seems as though they refrained from meat altogether in order to maintain OT laws of purity.

Sexual relations is a beautiful thing. God created it and pronounced it good (1 Timothy 4:3). But it is not a spectator sport. It is a holy joy that is sacred in its secure place of tender love. Men and women who want to be watched in their nudity are in the category with exhibitionists who pull down their pants at the top of escalators.

10. Am I Assuming Nudity Is Necessary for Good Art?

* Paul's use of weak in faith also expresses that he would hope that those who are weak in faith would become strong. He is noting a deficiency in their faith. A failure to understand salvation history leads to weak faith. (Moo, 836) One is in error to consider something sinful that God does not call sinful

* The weak conscience is to be obeyed even if it is not fully informed. It is sin for him to ignore his conscience ()

There is no great film or television series that needs nudity to add to its greatness. No. There isn’t. There are creative ways to be true to reality without turning sex into a spectator’s sport and without putting actors and actresses in morally compromised situations on the set.

Romans 14:23 NKJV

But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.

The blessed conscience- ()

“Sexual relations is a beautiful thing. But it is not a spectator sport.” Tweet Share on Facebook

Romans 14:22 NKJV

Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.

It is not artistic integrity that is driving nudity on the screen. Underneath all of this is male sexual appetite driving this business, and following from that is peer pressure in the industry and the desire for ratings that sell. It is not art that puts nudity in film; it’s the appeal of prurience. It sells.

* Lived out before God.

11. Am I Craving Acceptance?

* Does actions by faith in what God has said. This conscience is

* This is not a boastful matter for him.

Christians do not watch nudity with a view to maximizing holiness. That is not what keeps them coming back to the shows. They know deep down that these television shows or these movies are shot through with the commendation and exaltation of attitudes and actions that are utterly out of step with death to self and out of step with the exaltation of Christ.

No, what keeps those Christians coming back is the fear that if they take Christ at his word and make holiness as serious as I am saying it is, they would have to stop seeing so many television shows and so many movies, and they would be viewed as freakish. And that today is the worst evil of all. To be seen as freakish is a much greater evil than to be unholy.

* We can put under here the discerning conscience. One may refrain from something that leads to sin. This is not weak. (Examples: alcohol, media items, hobbies)

12. Am I Free from Doubt?

There is one biblical guideline that makes life very simple: “But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin” (Romans 14:32). My paraphrase: If you doubt, don’t. That would alter the viewing habits of millions and, oh, how sweetly they would sleep with their conscience.

Clarification about sinning against your conscience and calibrating your conscience.

* This is important because in both situations you are saying no to what your conscience would naturally tell you to do.

So, I say it again. Join me in the pursuit of the kind of purity that sees God, and knows the fullness of joy in his presence and the everlasting pleasure at his right hand.

* You are sinning against your conscience when you go against what you believe you should be doing. It may be wrong, but you believe at that moment that your conscience is working accurately; therefore it is something that you should be doing. It is dangerous to harden the conscience.

* Someone may not do halloween things because he does not want to contradict God's view of the ugliness of death.

* You are calibrating your conscience when the Lord of the conscience teaches you through His word that you have been misinformed about something. The clear example of calibrating the conscience i that of Peter in . Peter was convinced that he should not eat meats until God told him otherwise. What may seem not as clear is if someone uses halloween as a gift to reach out to the neighbors, not exalt death

Examples of calibrating the conscience- adding truth (A Biblical- Theological Approach to Premarital Sexual Ethics by Gerald Hiestand)

* Physical activity before marriage

* It is clear that the solution for lack of self- control is marriage. That does not the stand- alone criterion for marriage. It is clear that the sexual passion is to be carried out within the marriage. ()

1 Corinthians 7:9 NKJV

but if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

* So from the clear do we deduce that everything outside of intercourse is appropriate prior to marriage. In a sense are we to say, "You can make your preparation for the meal, but not eat it." Sexual activity is for the marriage.

* So is there a helpful tool for considering what is sexual activity. Consider what is appropriate in a family relationship. Certain kissing and hugging is appropriate for a family relationship. Sexual kissing, hugging, and touching is not. (Treat the young women as sisters- )

1 Timothy 5:2 NKJV

older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, with all purity.

* So one can apply that to a relationship prior to marriage: "Is this activity appropriate for a family member?"

* Sexual activity with the body is not the only criterion. Scripture speaks against looks that lead to inappropriate sexual desire.

* Society will seek to inform you about what is appropriate, but this is not truth informing your conscience.

* To call any form of hugs, kisses, or touches sin, is probably not the solution, but each person should let their conscience be informed by truth in the matter.

* To not listen to the truth or the conscience is a dangerous thing

* The picture of Christ and the church is to calibrate the conscience in this area as well.

* This relationship is to model the way Christ and His church interact. The mutual self-giving and joyful receiving pictures Christ and the church. I picture the OT priest who misused his office to gain something for himself. His position was to be used to aid in people's fellowship with God. So to use a premarital relationship for one's own purposes fail to represent Christ and the church. We are image bearers we are not the ultimate reality to be displayed.

Viewing Nudity in films - John Piper

1. Am I Recrucifying Christ?

He has blood-bought power in his cross. He died to make us pure. He “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession” (). If we choose to endorse or embrace or enjoy or pursue impurity, we take a spear and ram it into Jesus’s side every time we do. He suffered to set us free from impurity.

2. Does It Express or Advance My Holiness?

In the Bible, from beginning to end, there is a radical call for holiness — holiness of mind and heart and life. “As he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct” (). Or , “Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.” Nudity in movies and photos is not holy and does not advance our holiness. It is unholy and impure.

3. When Will I Tear Out My Eye, If Not Now?

Jesus said, “Everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away” (). Seeing naked women — or seeing naked men — causes a man or woman to sin with their minds and their desires, and often with their bodies. If Jesus told us to guard our hearts by gouging out our eyes to prevent lust, how much more would he say, “Don’t watch it!”

4. Is It Not Satisfying to Think on What Is Honorable?

Life in Christ is not mainly the avoidance of evil, but mainly the passionate pursuit of good. Remember , “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

“It is not art that puts nudity in film; it’s the appeal of sex. It sells.”

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5. Am I Longing to See God?

I want to see and know God as fully as possible in this life and the next. Watching nudity is a huge hindrance to that pursuit. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (). The defilement of the mind and heart by watching nudity dulls the heart’s ability to see and enjoy God. I dare anyone to watch nudity and turn straight to God and give him thanks and enjoy him more because of what you just experienced.

6. Do I Care About the Souls of the Nudes?

God calls women to “adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control” (). When we pursue or receive or embrace nudity in our entertainment, we are implicitly endorsing the sin of the women who sell themselves to this way and are, therefore, uncaring about their souls. They disobey , and we say that’s okay.

7. Would I Be Glad If My Daughter Played This Role?

8. Am I Assuming Nudity Can Be Faked?

9. Am I Compromising the Beauty of Sex?

Sexual relations is a beautiful thing. God created it and pronounced it good (). But it is not a spectator sport. It is a holy joy that is sacred in its secure place of tender love. Men and women who want to be watched in their nudity are in the category with exhibitionists who pull down their pants at the top of escalators.

11. Am I Craving Acceptance?

12. Am I Free from Doubt?

So, I say it again. Join me in the pursuit of the kind of purity that sees God, and knows the fullness of joy in his presence and the everlasting pleasure at his right hand.

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