2005-06-17
Good Morning Fellow Believers,
I’m led to continue discussing adultery and fornication, two sins that God detests. There have been a lot of misunderstandings in the interpretation of Scripture on the issue of God’s directives on sexual behavior. If sex weren’t a natural part of our lives, God would not have created us to be sexual beings. GN 2: 23-24, “The man said, ‘This is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.’ For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.” The wording of this NIV translation is very precise. The word “wife,” not “any woman,” is included here. What that is clearly saying is that sex within the framework of marriage is acceptable; sex outside of marriage or before marriage is not.
One other misconception has to do with the question: Are you sinning if you have a fleeting sexy thought, but do not act on it? Some people develop terrible feelings of guilt about this. The answer is “no,” unless it becomes a habit or obsession. MT 15: 18-19 helps us to understand the mechanism of our wrongful words, how they can render us ritually unclean. “But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these are the things that make a person ritually unclean. For from his heart come the evil ideas which lead him to kill, commit adultery, and do other immoral things; to rob, lie, and slander others.” Job expresses himself on the subject of sex outside of marriage in JOB 31: 1-4, 9-12, “I have made a solemn promise never to look with lust at a girl. What does Almighty God do to us? How does He repay human deeds? He sends disaster and ruin to those who do wrong. God knows everything I do; He sees every step I take…If I have been attracted to my neighbor’s wife, and waited, hidden, outside her door, then let my wife cook another man’s food and sleep in another man’s bed. Such wickedness should be punished by death. It would be like a destructive hellish fire, consuming everything I have.” I have already written about the devastation that promiscuous sexual activity has on children and on our society in general. It’s one of the main reasons, we are living in a fallen world, one that is becoming more evil all the time.
I would be remiss if I were to take on this difficult subject without weighing in on the horrific incidence of sex crimes. Too many young college students have been abducted, homes broken into for the purpose of acting on lust, and people disappearing and left for dead after there has been a sexual assault on them. One needs to only turn on the local news to know that this activity is going on. We have a justice system in place that doesn’t act as a deterrent to these sexually related crimes. Sometimes the perpetrator is arrested, but only to be released later to re-offend. Some of these sex offenders are given ankle monitors for a time, and the neighbors where they are to live are informed of who is moving in to their neighborhood. From time to time, I have read that a habitual sex offender really wants to stop his behavior and begs for castration. The latter is thought to be inhumane punishment, but it’s the one thing that would stop the behavior. So, these sex offenders and whoever comes in contact with them continue to be in a living hell. I hope you will join me in praying that some day our country will find a rightful system, one that keeps the attitude of God in mind, to solve the problem of our prisons’ “revolving doors.”
JUDE 4, “For some godless people have slipped in unnoticed among us, people who distort the message about the grace of our God in order to excuse their immoral ways, and who reject Jesus Christ, our only Master and Lord. Long ago the Scriptures predicted the condemnation they have received.” How can not think of the time when Rev. Jimmy Swaggert tearfully “confessed” of his sexual misdeeds and then went right back to doing them? Shouldn’t we take PS 33: 13 seriously? “The Lord looks down from heaven and sees every person.” Those of us living righteously can welcome His interest in every detail of our lives; those not doing so, have plenty about which they should be worrying. 2 CH 16: 9 supports this assertion. “The eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those who hearts are fully committed to Him.” As for the others, those whose hearts are riddled with sin from which they have no plan to change, God has said straight out in RO 1: 24, “And so God has given those people over to do the filthy things their hearts desire …” Can it be clearer than Christ’s words in MT 7: 23? “Then I will say to them, ‘I never knew you. Get away from Me, you wicked people.’” This is a condition none of us ever has to experience, but we must be willing to remain faithfully obedient to God to prevent it.
PRAYER: O Lord, in my born days, I never thought I would be writing on this subject. And yet, You have demanded that these reminders be brought to people’s attention. I am surrounded by people, outside of the believing community, who feel that sexual behavior prior to marriage or outside of marriage is perfectly acceptable. You have made Yourself very clear on this difficult subject in Your word and through the chaos and punishment we can see. If we look for it, we can see the consequences offenders experience. I pray every day for the children born out of wedlock and those in homes where there are multiple parents, for they are the ones who really pay the price for their parent’s misdeeds. Sometimes the price is in lack of self-esteem. Other times it’s in financial woes, limiting their opportunities for a wholesome upbringing and education. There can be terrible health issues too. Sadly, mankind repeats the mistakes of the past, and must suffer the breakdown of the family unit, the building block of a healthy society. Today, Dear Lord, we come before You to use Your power to stop this terrible trend which cuts across the socio-economic boundaries of our country and the world. We pray that You will find it in Your heart to help us find a way to showcase to those who are not doing this the benefits of living in families in congregations centering their lives around You. LK 17: 20-21 should be remembered. “Some Pharisees asked Jesus when the Kingdom of God would come. His answer was, ‘The Kingdom of God does not come in such a ways as to be seen. No one will say, ‘Look, here it is!,’ or ‘There it is!;’ because the Kingdom of God is within you.’” Yes, the Kingdom of God really is now, in the hearts of those who believe in You. You know that being a believer is not easy for us. That’s because we are seriously outnumbered by those who don’t believe. We stand before You as sinners desirous of ridding ourselves of whatever sins we are committing, so that we can enjoy a blissful eternity with You. We thank You for giving Your only begotten Son on the cross, so that we could make the decision to be saved and act on it. It is for the hope of the resurrection that we also offer You our heartfelt thanks. You are to be praised for Who You are and what You do now and forever. In Christ’s holy name, we pray. Amen.
Next week, I’m led to discuss the sources of the stimuli leading our society in the direction of sexual immorality in which it is going. Two of my most treasured Bible teachers, famous people that many of you know, have confessed past sexual sins and have gone on to be forgiven and effective servants of God. If one finds himself wanting to be forgiven (excluding doers of heinous and unforgivable sins), he will find that our God is indeed a God of second chances. God is vitally interested in every detail of our lives. The words of PS 37: 23-24 prove my point. “The steps of the godly are directed by the Lord. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will not fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.” God knows that we inherited sin. It’s the reason why He crafted so perfect a plan for our salvation that He was willing to give His only Son on the cross for it. Those of us who have gone against God’s will now know the consequences of that. We have chosen to make God’s will our own. God knows that it takes time to perfect a sinner into a mature believer, and He gives us that time. But even that has its limits. He would not be a righteous God, if He didn’t leave us consequences for sinning. JER 29:11, “I alone know the plan I have for you, a plan to prosper you, not to bring disaster, a plan to bring about the future for which you hope,” He tells us through Jeremiah. Our God is always-righteous and always-faithful. What better reason could there be for us to dedicate ourselves to being faithful and obedient to Him? Let me end this devotion, as I often do, saying, “Praise be to Him!”
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn