Get Sanctified! (Sexual Impurity)

From the Grace to You blog:

In terms of its depravity, America is beginning to look like ancient Rome as it plunges into new depths of sexual immorality. Here are a few examples of how pervasive our perversions have become:

In the last 50 years, public opinion on fornication has changed dramatically. Educational institutions used to discourage premarital sex. Now they begin preparing children as early as grade-school for safe-sex courses in junior high school, warning them about STDs and handing out free condoms.

In the same amount of time, the nation has shifted from condemning homosexual behavior to accepting, condoning, encouraging, and protecting it legally. Homosexual “marriage” is on the rise, and those who criticize homosexuality are labeled bigots, guilty of “hate speech.”

Pornography is now a billion dollar industry. Like typical drug-dealers, pornographers offer your first taste free-of-charge. All it takes is the click of the mouse.

If the recent Amazon controversy is any indication, it would seem even pedophilia has a market these days. (I can’t believe I’m even writing about this!)

And let’s not forget the old, commonplace sin of adultery. Blushing over that sin is definitely a thing of the past. Truth be told, adultery is one of the most insidious of them all. It has decimated families and is the likely culprit that has given rise to much of the aforementioned perversion.

So, what does all that have to do with God’s will? Lots.

As Christians living in a sexually-saturated culture, the Bible commands us to live sanctified lives. That is God’s will, clearly revealed.

If that seems impossible to you, if the pervasiveness of depravity seems like an insurmountable problem, remember this: there’s nothing new under the sun. First-century Christians lived in a similar culture—in some ways it was even worse—and God still expected the pursuit of sexual purity (1 Thess. 4:3-8). It’s no different for you and me today.

This is the will of God—your sanctification. Here’s John to talk more about it…

To review, here’s what John said about being sanctified: Stay away from sex sins. Keep your body pure. Don’t act like the world. Don’t defraud others sexually.

Those are some of the most critical problems of our day, problems that touch every local church. Here’s the question as it relates to following God’s will: How does sexual immorality hinder us in recognizing and following God’s will? Or, to state it positively, how does sexual purity help us recognize and follow God’s will?