Sex, God & the Gospel Sex, God & the Gospel Sex, God & the Gospel

Sex, God & the Gospel

11.13.12 11.13.12 11.13.12 11.13.12

Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but
the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.
1 Corinthians 6:18

Author/speaker, Michael Leahy, writes, [The world of pornography used to have a common deter-
rent: little or no anonymity. In other words,] the Adult Bookstore, or wherever one chose to pur-
chase a pornographic magazine, video, etc., required an individual to come out of hiding. Simply
put, you were exposed.But the internet changed that. The internet changed everything. Long-
time author/speaker, Josh McDowell, writes, With just on keystroke on a smartphone, iPad, Kindle,
Nook, Playstation or laptop, you - or your child - can open up some of the worst pornography and
sexually graphic content you can imagine.

No one on our planet needs anyone to tell them that mankind has a problem with sexual sin.
McDowell cites a recent statistic citing over 24 MILLION pornographic web sites in our world con-
taining over 2 BILLION web pages of porn for anyone to view anytime they want. The issue of sex-
ual sin in our society permeates every culture, every race, every age, and yes - every church. Is
this something new? Uh...no. Las Vegas Blvd. has nothing on ancient Corinth. The ancient city of
Corinth was so lost in its sexual depravity that it was common within the Roman empire to describe
someone partaking in sexual sin as living like a Corinthian.

Lets set the record straight: sex was GODS idea. He created it for the purpose of pleasure & pro-
creation solely within the context of marriage. But, as is his modus operandi, the enemy took what
was originally created for good and has, throughout history, tempted mankind to approach sex
through twisted, distorted & warped lenses.

So, what is a Christian to do when he/she finds themselves neck-deep in an ingrained habit of sex-
ual sin? I love how author/pastor, Tim Chester, answers this question: A life-with-sexual-sin ver-
sus a life-without-sexual-sin is a poor choice. If you set it up in these terms then you won't pro-
duce lasting change. We need to set it up (as it truly is) as a choice between life-with-sexual-sin
versus life-with-God. We need to show how God always offers more than porn/sexual-sin. This
begins with exposing the lie of sexual-sin. We sin because we have "exchanged the truth of God for
a lie" (Rom. 1:23-25). Porn is no different. Porn makes false promises. Porn never delivers.

On a personal note, Ive learned over the years that Pauls warning cited above, Flee from sexual
immorality, should, in some contexts, be taken quite literally. I wont even walk down the adult
video aisle at the local video store. This is not because Im super-spiritual, but because Im super-
sinful. I like what Tim Chester writes because, rather than citing 3 Easy Steps to Overcome Sexual
-Sin, he acknowledges our sole source of freedom: Christ. Certainly, there are times professional
counseling is needed. (Getting counseling - about anything - is not a sign of weakness, but of real
strength.) But, always - always - CHRIST is the source of a believers
victory over sin.
Soli Deo Gloria, Nick