The Believer's Sanctified Sex Life

THE BELIEVER'S SANCTIFIED SEX LIFE Spring Valley Mennonite; March 20, 2022; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8; 1 Corinthians 6:18-19; Ephesians 4:17-19; Galatians 5:16-17 "The Christian philosophy is a philosophy of self-denial, self-control and self-restraint. The satanic philosophy is a philosophy of "live as you please", "have what you want," "don't let anyone tell you what to do," and "it's your life, you have a right to live it." (Bob Jones) Nowhere is the world's philosophy more prevalent than in the area of sexuality. As we move into the last two chapters of 1 Thessalonians, we find Paul giving some very practical reminders to these believers on Christian living. He commends them on making real and observable strides in their Christian walk, but warns them against spiritual complacency, of thinking they have arrived. For churches that have a history of biblical teaching, such complacency is a real danger. Our enemy would have us believe that we have arrived, and there is little more for us to know. I have seen this repeatedly and have occasionally succumbed to the idea myself. What a foolish idea! Consider Job, who was the wisest man of his time, and how God humbled him, beginning with the words, "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?" We can never exhaust the riches of the knowledge of God! His majesty and wisdom are unlimited. Paul encourages us to "excel still more." A.W. Tozer comments, (While) "contentment with earthly goods is the mark of a saint; contentment with our spiritual state is a mark of inward blindness. One of the greatest foes of the Christian is religious complacency....Orthodox Christianity has fallen to its present low estate from lack of spiritual desire." An important area of one's Christian growth, or our sanctification is understanding God's gift of our sexuality. Paul considered this of such importance that he leads off this section on personal holiness on the subject. Now, I understand that talking about sex can be uncomfortable, for perhaps, if like me, you have been raised to think that this is a subject that is inappropriate for church. The problem with that attitude is that our culture screams out its standards and inundates us with messages which are contrary to God's standards. God is not silent on the subject of, and in fact, loudly trumpets the joy of sex within marriage! Our sexuality is one of God's good gifts to mankind. But like many good things, it can be and has been distorted by sin. And if the church does not speak on the subject of sexual purity, who will? Going to our text for the morning, turn to 1 Thessalonians 4. We'll begin by examining the first three verses: Read 1-3a. I. REGARDING GOD'S WILL One of the great quests of believers seems to be "finding God's will." Loads of Christian books have been written on the subject as well as many talks and sermons. I don't mean to downplay the importance of knowing God's will, but God's will IS pretty plain in the Bible. We find in our text one major facets of God's will: our sanctification. We'll explore the meaning of that in a moment, but I'd point out that God's will is clearly stated numerous places: it is seen in His desire that all would come to salvation (1 Timothy 2:4.) Romans 12:1-2 tells us it includes self-sacrifice; Ephesians 5:18 states God's will is that we be filled with the Spirit. 1 Peter 2:13-15 tells us it is God's will that we submit to human institutions like the government, if it doesn't violate our conscience. It is God's will that we live a life of thankfulness (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Certainly, following all the instructions of Holy Scripture is God's will. God's will is not so obscured that it takes great effort to find it! What we usually mean by seeking God's will is in finding His specific leading-should I choose this or that option, this direction or that one. If we are walking closely with God in following His revealed will, He will guide our steps and choices. Psalm 37:23: "The steps of a righteous man are established by the Lord; and He delights in his way." Proverbs 3:5-6: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." God's will as stated in verse 3 is "Our sanctification." Sanctification means to be being set apart to God. We "sanctify" certain things every day; I have several T-shirts I have sanctified for painting. Some things by design are sanctified for a certain use: a Phillips screwdriver is set apart for Phillips screws. As believers, we are set apart to God for the purpose of holiness and Christlikeness. Sanctification has three aspects in the New Testament: first is in the past, at the time of salvation: 1 Corinthians 6:11: "...but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God." We are being sanctified in the present as verse 3 states; this is called "progressive sanctification"; and our future destiny is to be presented holy and blameless before God. One crucial aspect of sanctification-of holy living-is in the proper practice of sex. We are given in these verses: II. GOD'S WILL REGARDING OUR SEXUALITY Read 3-5. Paul makes special effort to teach on sexual morality. If we consider the Roman and Greek culture, the need for this teaching becomes clear. The sexual practices of the time could be described as "anything goes." Absolutely nothing was out of limits. Those from Jewish background had God's standards, but such restraint was unknown otherwise among the gentiles. Our present culture is rapidly becoming much like that to which Paul is speaking, so this is very applicable to us. There are few areas of our lives which present more temptations than the area of sex. We live in a sexually charged society which seems to consider sexual pleasure as the highest goal of life. For those of us who are older, we have seen the downward slide of our culture, beginning in the 60's with the "free love" movement. Think of how things such as pre-marital sex, living together outside of marriage, "one night" stands, and adultery were once condemned by society. Consider how homosexuality was uncommon, and certainly not endorsed by church denominations! But immorality has been around for much longer than that, but the influence of the church and Christians kept it in check, or at least not in the open. Those days are sadly in the past. So, we all admit the problem in our culture, and if we are honest we will admit our own struggles too. For we know that even if we control our actions, as Jesus taught, our lustful thoughts condemn us. The Holy Spirit knows that immorality is so personally destructive and gives us clear guidelines in this and other passages. The bottom line is clearly stated: Christians are to abstain from sexual immorality. Immorality is the general term which includes all forms of sexual deviation from God's standards. Thomas Constable explains, "Christians are to avoid and abstain from any and every form of sexual practice that lies outside the circle of God's revealed will, namely adultery, premarital and extramarital intercourse, homosexuality, and other perversions. The word porneia, translated "sexual immorality," is a broad one and includes all these practices.1" The scriptural standard is that sex is reserved for marriage alone. Verse 4 tells us that we each are to have mastery over our own bodies, that we have personal responsibility to live separated-set apart-lives. To do so is to honor the body God has given us, but I think also it has the implication of honoring God the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 6:18-19 speaks eloquently to this issue: "Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body." The opposite of holy and pure self control is the "lustful passion" of the unsaved world. The idea of passion is almost always viewed in scripture as negative, of someone out of control and actually a slave of their passion. Immorality truly enslaves a person, for example, the addiction to pornography. Paul articulates this principle in Ephesians 4:17-19. Turn there, for this is important (Turn and read). Ignorance of God is the parent of immorality. Our culture bears witness to this truth, for as the influence of the church and Christians has diminished, sexual immorality has increased exponentially. On a positive note, one who lives in purity in their sexual life shines as bright light in the darkness of our culture. Although one who "saves themselves sexually for marriage" is ridiculed and scoffed at by people, what a witness it is! And married folks who are faithful and always speak of their spouse in respectful terms, refraining from coarse talk on sex stand out also. This is such an important part of holy and separated living. Sexual sin not only impacts ourselves in a disastrous manner, but it has a widespread ripple effect. Verse 6 speaks of "defrauding" other believers by our sexual misconduct. To defraud means to exploit or take advantage of someone, in this instance, another believer. In Thessalonica, an "anything goes" city, this idea of abstaining from sexual activity was quite new, especially to the gentile believers. There would have been resistance and questioning and difficulty giving up what had been considered normal and accepted. Apparently, some were taking advantage of other believers in this area. Constable clarifies this defrauding: "Sexual immorality wrongs the partner in the forbidden act by involving him or her in behavior contrary to God's will and therefore under His judgment. Two or more people practicing sex out of God's will are calling God's wrath down on themselves (Heb. 13:4: Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge). The initiator of the act takes advantage of his partner in sin by fanning the fire of passion till self-control is lost.2" Unfortunately, it is not uncommon to hear of some Christian leaders who have stepped over the line in this area. What a disastrous effect on the Christian world as well as others when a Christian leader falls in this area! It is utter foolishness to think that we can sin in this area of our lives and that it will not affect others, for God is the avenger. III. SEXUAL IMMORALITY ALWAYS HAS SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES Read v. 6-8 Because sexual sin is so damaging and far reaching, Paul had previously taught these believers to forsake it. Not only is sexual immorality personally damaging as far as the consequences-ruined reputations, unplanned pregnancies, altered futures, damaged marriages, loss of trust-but also immorality is spiritually deadening. I have little hesitancy in saying that immoral temptations are Satan's most effective weapon against Christians in our culture today. Knowing that sexual immorality is so common and so dangerous, you would think Christians would know to avoid it like the plague! Sadly, the opposite is true. Since we have been called to holy living-and because immorality is such a common temptation, we need a final word on how to fight against it. The answer is given in Galatians 5:16-17: "But I say, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh, for the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may no do the things that you please." After enumerating the deeds of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit, verse 24 states, "Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." Walking in the Spirit is descriptive of progressive sanctification, it speaks of a journey, of moving toward a destination. It implies action: I am doing the walking, putting one foot before the other. MacArthur makes some valuable observations on the process: "The power for Christian living is entirely from the Holy Spirit, just as the power of salvation is entirely in Jesus Christ. But both in the justifying work of Christ and in the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, man's will is active and commitment is called for. The Christian is not to sit on the sidelines, as it were, and simply watch the Holy Spirit do battle for him. Romans 6 instructs that the believer is called to consider himself "to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus," to refuse to let "sin reign in [his] mortal body," to resist presenting "the members of [his] body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness," and rather to present them "as instruments of righteousness to God" (Rom. 6:11-13). "Let us not lose heart in doing good for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith" (Gal. 6:9-10). The believer who is led by the Holy Spirit must be willing to go where the Spirit guides him and do what the Spirit leads him to do. To claim surrender to the Holy Spirit but not be personally involved in God's work is to call Jesus, "Lord, Lord," and not do what He says (Luke 6:46).3 The personal struggle we each have against sexual temptation is constant and wearying, but there is victory as we yield to the Holy Spirit in our thought life. Filling our minds with scripture and spiritual songs can be very helpful. Conversely, filling our minds with the garbage of the world will lead to being overcome by temptation. The devil has an agenda, and it is NOT to develop our personal holiness! Defeating the fleshly lusts of immorality is dependent on being continually filled with the Holy Spirit, not giving opportunity to the flesh, fleeing the temptation, and knowing that such temptations are common, and that God has provided an escape. Verse 7: "For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but to sanctification." And as verse 8 states, this is the Holy Spirit's word for us today. 1 Constable, T. L. (1985). 1 Thessalonians. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 701). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books. 2 Constable, T. L. (1985). 1 Thessalonians. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, pp. 701-702). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books. 3 MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1983). Galatians (p. 153). 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