Dealing with Sexual Sin in the Church
God created sex for our enjoyment. A sexual relationship is to be enjoyed within the context of a man and woman united in a marriage (covenant) relationship with God. He set this limit to protect us because when we step out of the boundary God created for sex, we step into sexual sin.In our culture today, we are seeing a change in attitude about what constitutes sexual sin. There does not seem to be a clear definition.
The church does not seem to have a moral compass of what sexual sin is.
Let alone does the church preach it from the pulpits or stand up for it in the mainstream culture and media.What about the issue of legalizing same-sex marriage? There are those who believe it can lead to other types of “marriage” relationships: an uncle and a niece, a pedophile and a child etc. I know, it all sounds far-fetched, but look where we are at today. Is it so hard to believe?We can take this even further with the transgender movement. Will there even be a male/female gender to identify with in the next generation? The snowball starts out small but moves steadily into a full-blown avalanche in society’s understanding of God’s human design.
We must stand up and uphold God’s Holy standard—sexual sin is sin!
What is going on? The enemy of our soul knows exactly what is going on; he is behind it all. What better way to deceive people than having sin not be considered an issue anymore? It exploits the grace message in that we can do what we want as Christians since there will always be God’s grace. Today it appears that there is no longer any need for God’s grace since there is nothing that some Christians feel we even need to be sorry for anymore.I suppose there are many reasons why people fall into the trap of sexual sin, but simply, it is about intimacy. God wants fellowship and intimacy with man. That is why He created us. We want that with each other. False intimacy is better than no intimacy, right? Wrong! It is a spiritual issue. James 1:14-15 says, “Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death” (NLT).When our desires are to seek after God, we are on the right track. When our desires are to seek after our own selfish wants, we are led into sin. It is a serious matter, as sin keeps us from fellowship with God and potentially out of the Kingdom forever. Yes, God still loves the sinner, but only through His redemption plan are we, as sinners, able to be saved by His grace. Only then can we be in right standing with Him again.There is a tendency in the Christian church to focus on homosexuality as the one and only sexual sin that God judges or even pays any attention to. But the truth is that homosexuality is just one of the many sexual sins listed in the Bible.
Fornication - 1 Corinthians 6:18
Premarital Sex - Deuteronomy 22:13-21
Bestiality - Exodus 22:19 –
Adultery - Deuteronomy 5:18
Rape - Deuteronomy 22:25-29
Incest - Leviticus 18:6-18
God calls each and every one of us to righteousness and purity.
Some churches err when they focus only on homosexuality and leave out the rest of the sexual sins.
As a result, the mainstream church is sometimes seen as unloving and harsh.We need more courageous pastors who are willing to preach from the pulpit about sin, especially sexual sin. These are challenging times for Christians. Standing up for what is right may mean a loss of many things —our friends, our jobs, and maybe even our lives.A tactic of the enemy is to pit churches against each other, families against families, and society against the church. So many parents just give up and give in. Parents need to stand firm in their own lives by living a repentant and godly life. Children need the role model that God established in Leviticus and paid for on the cross. The real difficulty is helping our children to see that their sexual behavior is indeed a sin in the eyes of God. How do we do that? Hold them accountable. Don’t allow the sin into your home. Don’t condone their behavior. Pray that God will restore their sexual purity. Pray for a repentant heart. Remember what 2 Corinthians 12:21 says, “And I will be grieved because many of you have not given up your old sins. You have not repented of your impurity, sexual immorality, and eagerness for lustful pleasure“ (NLT).Think about this. We will be accountable for what we did and did not do here on earth. In any area of our life, not just this issue of sexual sin and homosexuality, we must walk with integrity, peace, love, and kindness.
They will know that we are true Christ followers by the fruit in our lives and how we handle this controversial issue.
“Our culture has accepted two huge lies. The first is that if you disagree with someone’s lifestyle, you must fear or hate them. The second is that to love someone means you agree with everything they believe or do. Both are nonsense. You don’t have to compromise convictions to be compassionate.” – Rick Warren
