Understanding that purity is a response to God’s love rather than a checklist of rules frees us from the burden of legalism. Grace empowers us to pursue holiness out of love and gratitude. Take a deep breath. Do you feel the freedom Jesus has purchased for you? You can, by His Spirit, do this. You can delight in God more and more as you see the poison of your own sin and the depths of His love to save you from you.

I did an experiment today. I googled “What is God’s will for my life.” There were all sorts of great webpages. But I had to dig to find a website that quoted God’s words on the subject. Actually, God is very specific about this:

For this is the will of God, your sanctification – 1 Thessalonians 4:3

There’s a hard part with that passage though. That’s only the first half. The full verse is far more unpopular:

For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality – 1 Thessalonians 4:3

There is a direct link between our holiness and our sexual purity. There’s a direct link between your body which is united to Christ and what you do with your body. And that my friends is not popular.

The whole idea of “sexual immorality” is from the word πορνεια porneia. It’s where we get our term “porn” from but it’s a broad category. Within the scope of sexual immorality are: premarital sexual relationships, incest, pedophilia, lust, beastiality, homosexuality, prostitution, adultery, & ect…

If that’s the scope and extent of this desire God has for our lives then it sure puts Christians in a hard place. Why?

Because we live in a toxic environment. The air you breathe is noxious. Sexual temptations bombard the average American. It seems it does not matter where you turn: TV, Social Media, Magazines, Blogs. You name it and there’s someone peddling sex or their do-hicky thing-a-ma-bob with sexually laced advertisements.

The pursuit of purity can seem like a daunting journey. Yet, it’s a path that leads us closer to fulfilling our ultimate purpose: to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Indeed we can’t fully enjoy God when swimming in the polluted streams of sexual immorality. Indulging in sexual immorality short circuits of our enjoyment of God.

But how? How in the world can our sexual desires and expression of our sexual desires disrupt our enjoyment of God?

The Barrier of Sexual Sin

Sexual sins do create a significant barrier between us and God. They hinder our ability to glorify Him and diminishing our joy in His presence. Sexual sins not only affect our actions but also infiltrate our hearts and minds. They pull us away from the holiness to which we are called.

The Apostle Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20:

“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”

Our bodies are sacred, redeemed by Jesus Christ. When we engage in sexual immorality, we defile the very temple where the Holy Spirit dwells, obstructing our fellowship with God.

God loves you, body and soul, Christian. The precious blood of Jesus was poured out for your body. Our bodies are for Him. He made us and has redeemed us. And, at that great last day he will also raise up our bodies from the grave. 1 Corinthians 6:13b-14 says:

Now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.  And God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power.

See, our whole person matters so greatly to God that he sent Jesus to die for us. He then united us to Christ by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. So we are in Jesus and Jesus is in us. But again, that picture of union with Jesus is short circuited by sexual immorality:

Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not!  Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For “the two,” He says, “shall become one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. – 1 Corinthians 6:15-17

The world around us doesn’t see it this way. They will think you are prudish or puritanical. The western culture we live in loves its idol of sexual freedom. But we are not our own. As Christians who follow our Lord we are not free. No what does God say:

Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.  Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?  For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. – 1 Corinthians 6:18-20

Christians make such a big deal out of sexual morality because it is God’s will for us to be sanctified. And, what is one of the most clear example of our sanctification? Abstaining from sexual immorality.

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