Destroying the Myths of the Sexual Revolution
Notes
Transcript
This September I will turn 60 years old. As I reflect upon the changes that have occured in all areas of life I am appalled. Progressives, as their self-given name implies, like to imagine themselves as those who are advancing human society and improving upon the human condition, but when judged by the standards of God’s Word and common sense they have taken us backwards, not forwards. This is nowhere more clearly seen than in the area of human sexuality. They have taken us so far backwards, we find ourselves in the same moral and spiritual cesspool that was common in the ancient world.
The Roman and Greek world at the time Paul wrote 1 Corinthians was dominated by sexual immorality. Although incest was frowned upon as we saw in chapter 5, almost any other sexual act was not only tolerated and practiced by all levels of society. For the Gentile converts in Corinth, the transition from a sexually immoral lifestyle to a biblical lifestyle was difficult. Borrowing from the popular sayings of their day, these new Christians were trying to justify their sexual immorality. Having heard reports of their actions, Paul writes the following response:
“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. 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, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
May God now bless this reading of His holy and infallible Word.
As we examine closely this passage, we discover that Paul not only dismantles the arguments of 1st century immorality, but 21st century immorality as well. There are three pervasive myths or lies that undergird the Sexual Revolution:
The Myth of Personal Autonomy
The Myth of Detached Pleasure
The Myth of Consequence Free Indulgence
One by One, Paul dismantles each of these myths, beginning with the myth of Personal Autonomy:
The Myth of Personal Autonomy
The Myth of Personal Autonomy
The myth of personal autonomy is the idea that each person determines his or her morality. This of course is not a new idea. "All things are lawful for me”, was the rally cry of the first century, but it goes back even farther that the 1st century. “Did God really say?” asked the Serpent in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve go on to decide that it did really matter what God said, he had no right to “impose his morality upon them,” they were going to be “like gods” and decide for themselves!
Adam and Eve learned the hard way that they were not “gods” and that they were morally accountable to God.
Paul addresses this myth head on, he reminds the Corinthians that “the body is meant for the Lord” (vs. 13) and that “You are not your own for you were bought at a price” (vs. 19-20). The first statement reminds us that we are created by God, for God. The Lord personally formed Adam out of the dust of the ground and personally breathed the breath of life into Adam (Gen 2:7) and did the same for Eve, except He used Adam’s rib, rather than dust (Gen 2:21-22). As we confessed earlier using the WSC Q&A 10, God created mankind in His own image, reflecting God’s knowledge, righteousness (Gen 1:26-28, Col 3:10, Eph 4:24). The WLC and Confessions expand upon the short answer given in the WSC, and remind us that God has written His moral law upon every human heart (Rom 2:14-16) and even though sinful man suppresses the knowledge of God and His Law, this natural law is sufficient enough that no one is has an excuse (Rom 1:18-20).
The next time someone tells you not to impose your morality upon them, do not except their objection as a valid one. It is not your morality, it is God’s and He has written it every human conscience. They are not recognizing it because they are suppressing it and they are in rebellion against God.
Paul however, is not writing to pagans, he is writing to Christians and for the Christian, our obligation to obey God is even greater, we were “bought at a price”, that price being the blood of Jesus! The very last words of this passage are a shot across the bow of personal autonomy, “So glorify God in your body” (1 Cor 6:20). Everything we do should be done with God and His glory in mind. The only God glorifying sexual union is that between one man and one woman bound together under the covenant of marriage. We want to add a “but” but there are no “buts”, there is only one and only one option open for the believer. I say this not in a spirit of controversy, but of love and truth. God’s way is not only the true way, but it is the best way, which brings us to the next myth.
The Myth of Detached Pleasure
The Myth of Detached Pleasure
The myth of detached pleasure is the idea that we can engage in sexual activity with out any duties or obligations to other people. There is a is a famous and well-known remark from the ancient world by a man named Athenaeus that expresses this idea. He says, “We keep mistresses for pleasure, concubines for daily concubinage, but wives in order to produce children legitimately and to have a trustworthy guardian of our domestic property”. In our own day, we have added to this list, on-line pornography, sex robots and hookup app Tinder. An attitude most graphically expressed by Tina Turner in her hit song, “What’s Love Got to Do With It”. Sex has been reduced to a mere animal instinct as expressed in one of the saying the Corinthians were using, “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”.
In response, Paul says, “God will destroy both one and the other.” (1 Cor 6:13). What is Paul saying? First off, these appetites that we have made gods, God is going to destroy them in the Age to come. Food, drink, clothing, shelter and procreation are all pressing needs in this Age, but in the Age to come they will fade away. Although we will have bodies, they will be spiritual bodies sustained not by our appetites, but by Christ alone. Consequently, our earthly appetites are not to be our ultimate priorities and most certainly not our gods.
This brings us to the next thing Paul says, “The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body” (1 Cor 6:13). Even in this Age, God should be our ultimate priority. We are created by God, for God. This one relationship impacts everything we do. “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do” Paul writes later in this letter, “do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor 10:31). Moreover, we are related to other people:
Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.
God designed sex. He designed it to be the most intimate, bonding activity we can engage in with another person. This is why He has reserved it only for marriage. As we will see in the next myth busting point, to engage in sexual immorality has severe consequences for ourselves and others. In his letter to the Thessalonians, Paul provides us with an interesting perspective on sexual immorality:
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.
That word translated “wrong” in our ESV pew Bibles literally means “to exploit, cheat or defraud another person”. Last week, concerning personal lawsuits, we learned how seriously God takes relationships, this concern is reflected in this morning’s text as well.
There is one relationship however, that is more important than any other, our relationship with Jesus Christ! Let us look at 1 Cor 6:15-17 again:
Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.
There is a more intimate relationship a person can have than the bond between husband and wife, and that bond is the union a believer can have by faith with Christ. We do not simply become one with Him in flesh, we become one with Him is spirit. Our bodies in fact, become temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19)! There is no way to engage in sexual immorality without polluting that temple.
Consequently, there is no such thing as causal sex, nor is there such a thing as “safe sex” outside of the bonds of marriage. This brings us to the third myth:
The Myth of Consequence-Free Indulgence
The Myth of Consequence-Free Indulgence
The myth of consequence-free indulgence is the idea that we can engage in sexual immorality without any consequences for ourselves or others. This however, goes against the very intent of sex as created by God. God intended the union between man and wife to be fruitful. Primarily through procreation, but as the rest of Scripture reveals, particularly the book of the Song of Solomon, fruitful in interpersonal intimacy. However, when practiced outside of God’s bonds, it produces the bitter fruit of curses. Paul speaks of this in our text:
Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.
This is an amazing statement when we you stop and think about it. Many sins, such as gluttony, drunkeness and suicide effect our bodies, but not in the way and to the extent of sexual immorality!
A whole host of physical, psychological and emotional problems come from sexual immorality: Sexually transmitted diseases, infertility, depression, anxiety, the loss of the ability to emotionally connect with other people; the list goes on and on. Then we must consider the secondary effects; divorce, abuse, emotional and psychologically damaged children and all the social problems stemming for these and we see that sexual sin is not consequence-free.
The greatest Holocaust in human history did not take place in Nazi Germany, but in the United States! An estimated 62 million abortions have occured since Roe v. Wade. The Supreme Court decision was based on a woman’s right to privacy. Privacy! There is noting private about it. A child lost his or her life, grandparents lost their grandchild, aunts and uncles lost a nephew or niece, people lost a future friend and the loss to society in general is incalculable! Imagine the songs and books that were never written, the inventions that will never see the light of day, the service to God and country that never happened. I hear people bemoan the poor quality of Presidents we have had in recent years. Have you every thought about the fact that the next great President, ended up in an abortionist's incinerator!
As you consider this, do you seriously think you can indulge in sexual immorality and not hurt anyone? You end up hurting everyone, especially yourself!
God has made us for better things, that is what the Gospel is all about. Christ came to atone for our sins and to empower us for a better life. Two of my favorite verses in Scripture are Gal 2:20 and 2 Cor 5:17, I want to read them to you now.
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
Perhaps your life and the lives of others have been cursed by your sexual immorality. Now is the time to cover that sin and all others with the blood of Jesus Christ and by faith lay hold of the power of His resurrection life! If you have not done so, will you not today accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior?