Purity Pursuit

Intro

Pew Research Center Data:

57% of professing Christians state that they believe premarital sex before marriage is at least sometimes or always okay, with another 10% arguing that it is rarely okay.

When asked about casual sex, a whopping 36% of evangelicals said it was okay at least some of the time or always.

When surveying all professing Christians the number shoots up to 50% say at least sometimes or always is acceptable!

Yet, regular attenders are less likely than others to approve of premarital sex among adults in “committed relationships.”

Evangelicals approve of the practice at a staggering 46% of the time.

The question we must answer as believers is if this type of thinking is biblical. To phrase it a little differently, does the Bible teach that sex outside of the bonds of marriage is acceptable?

Tonight, I would like to take you to some key passages that discusses what it means to be pure sexually before the Lord.

If you are taking notes, the title of today’s message is Purity Pursuit. Our key verse is 2 Timothy 2:22.

However, we will be looking at several passages of Scripture this evening. So get those fingers ready.

2 Timothy 2:22 CSB

22 Flee from youthful passions, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

Pray

Sexual Purity is required of the Believer.

“Flee from youthful passions”

2 Timothy 2:22 ESV

22 So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

1 Cor expands on this statement further:

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.

We are to abstain from all forms of sexual immorality in order to give God glory through our bodies.

The Holy Spirit dwells within us, so when we act on our sinful desires, we are causing God to experience our sin with us.

“Faithful Reputations are Required”

Ephesians 5:3–5 ESV

3 But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. 4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. 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.

We are to preserve our sexual integrity.

“sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you”

We are to remove all unholy speech.

filthiness

foolish talk

crude joking

The sexually immoral are not genuinely following Christ.

Sexually immoral

Impure

Covetous

“Abstain from Sexual immorality”

1 Thessalonians 4:3–7 ESV

3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, 5 not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6 that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. 7 For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness.

It’s a matter of God’s will.

“this is the will of God”

God is glorified when we are pursuing God’s will for our lives.

It’s a matter of sanctification.

Sanctification is the process of being made more like Christ.

It honors the Lord for us to be more like Christ.

It’s a matter of discipline.

“you know how to control his own body

In Holiness

In Honor

“not in the passion of lust (like the lost)”

the Lust of the flesh must be controlled.

We must practice self-control.

It’s a matter of calling.

“God hasn’t called us to impurity, but in holiness”

In order to live a Christ centered life, we must live a holy life.

Sexual impurity is unholy and breaks fellowship with Christ.

“Protect the marriage bed”

Hebrews 13:4 ESV

4 Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.

Your wedding night needs to be your first sexual encounter.

Through practicing abstinence from sexual activity before marriage, you are preparing to protect your relationship with your future spouse.

Through abstaining from all forms of sexual immorality, you are protecting your future relationship with your spouse.

“Sexual immorality gives birth to godlessness”

Romans 1:24–32 ESV

24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. 28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

Sexual immorality leads to further sexual immorality.

“God gave them up”

to their lusts. (24)

to the dishonoring of their bodies. (24)

dishonorable passions (26)

unnatural relationships (26)

homosexuality (26-27)

a debased (reduced in quality) mind (28-31)

Literally meaning that God gives them over to their sin and they mentally become worse and worse over time. Thus, it leads the to all types of complete godlessness.

“They praise those who practice sexual immorality and other wickedness.” (32)

“Sexual Immorality is an enemy of the Spirit”

Galatians 5:16–26 ESV

16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Ways to protect your purity.

Spend time regularly with Jesus.

Protect your eyes from sexual immorality.

​Avoid pornography, nudity in movies, shows, internet, etc.

Protect your ears and speech from sexual immorality.

Avoid entertainment, jokes, music that is laced with sexual immorality.

Create boundaries in your relationships.

No Public Display of Affection

No Kissing before marriage

No frontal hugs

No parking and talking in the car

Go from one public place to another public place

Be where you are supposed to be.

Have a few accountability partners who will ask you about your sexual purity in your relationships.

Lineup people who you can call if someone puts you in an uncomfortable position.

Have a good support group of accountability partners that will walk life with you that you can trust to be truthful with and that will know if you are lying to them.

What if I have already lost my purity?

There is forgiveness in Christ Jesus. Your value is still great and you should not allow Satan to deceive you into thinking you are less valuable because of a previous mistake.

After asking for forgiveness, commit yourself to remaining pure going forward.

Find a few close adults and friends that you can share your struggle with and allow them to help walk with you as you pursue purity.

Understand that in the future you will need to share that incident with your future spouse before your wedding day.

Conclusion

Going back to the original statistics, it doesn’t take long to see that a majority of professing Christians do not have a biblical world view when it comes to sexuality and sex before marriage. God has reserved sexual intercourse to be strictly between one man and one woman under the covenant of marriage.

Invitation:

- A call to Christ

- A call to purity

- A call to repentance