Sexual Immorality and Christian Freedom

Studies in 1 Corinthians Series [16]1 Corinthians 6:12-20

September 21, 2014Pastor Paul K. Kim

OVER-SEXUALIZED CULTURE THEN AND NOW

• Then: The 1st-century city of Corinth was the center of sexual laxity; to corinthianize meant “to practice fornication”; the church in Corinth was affected by the over-sexualized culture.

• Corinthian Christian Slogan #1: “All things are lawful for me” [derived from incomplete understanding of grace-living.]

• Corinthian Christian Slogan #2: “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food” [derived from the Greek philosophy of dualism.]

• Now: The culture of 21st-century California/USA has been also increasingly more over-sexualized; often churches/Christians have capitulated into this sexual ethics of the secular world.

HOW SHOULD WE DEAL WITH THE OVER-SEXUALIZED CULTURE?

1) Begin with this: Ask the RIGHT questions in exercising your freedom in Christ.

 12 “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful.

“All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything.

 13 “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God

will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual

immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 And God

raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. (vs. 12-14)

WRONG questions: Is it lawful? [e.g., “Is drinking a sin?”]

RIGHT questions: Is it helpful/beneficial? Does it enslave me? Is it loving to others—i.e., leads to serve others? (Gal. 5:13).

Our freedom in Christ is to live out God’s will fully under God’s grace that takes away all of our guilt; hence, we are to use it our opportunity to rejoice in God’s reign.

HOW SHOULD WE DEAL WITH THE OVER-SEXUALIZED CULTURE?

2) Know this: Know the TRUTHS about your body.

 15 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 prostitute? Never! 16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to

a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two

will become one flesh.” 17 But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one

spirit with him . . . 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of

the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? (vs. 15-17, 19)

Truth #1: Your bodies are members of Christ—keep it holy!

Truth #2: When you commit sexual sins, you become one with the sexual defilement.

Truth #3: Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God.

HOW SHOULD WE DEAL WITH THE OVER-SEXUALIZED CULTURE?

3) At all costs: FLEE from sexual immorality!

 18 Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is

outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. (v. 18)

The command is to FLEE—not resist or reason.

This means that we are to flee from any place, any time, any person, or any relationship that brings sexual lure and lust.

Sexual sins are unique in the sense that our whole being is affected by this sin—not just physically but emotionally and spiritually as well.

There’s more to sex than mere skin on skin. Sex is as much spiritual mystery as physical fact. As written in Scripture, “The two become one.”

Since we want to become spiritually one with the

Master, we must not pursue the kind of sex that avoids

commitment and intimacy,leaving us more lonely than ever—the kind of sex

that can never “become one.” There is a sense in which sexual

sins are differentfrom all others. In sexual sin we violate the

sacredness of our own bodies, these bodies that were made for

God-given and God-modeled love, for “becoming one” with

another.1 Corinthians 6:16-18 [MSG]

HOW SHOULD WE DEAL WITH THE OVER-SEXUALIZED CULTURE?

4) Do this: GLORIFY God in your body.

 “You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. (vs. 19b-20)

Our bodies are not our own—i.e., they are sacred.

We are bought with the high price of the blood of Christ to be redeemed by grace. Why? To glorify God in our body!

Hence, true spirituality emerges out of the everyday life where we use our bodies to honor and bring glory to the name of God (Rom. 12:1; Phil. 1:20; 1 Cor. 10:31).

• Danger of Sexual Immorality• Why is this a big deal? Isn't sexual sin, especially when it's just a

desire and not an act, sin with a little "s"? Shouldn't we get on with the big issues like nuclear arms and social justice? You've known people like that, I suppose. They say, sexual attitudes and sexual behavior are a matter of relatively insignificant personal piety. What counts is whether you boycott companies in South Africa and oppose Star Wars defense systems. Sleeping around is simply no big deal if you are on the picket line at Honeywell; and flipping through Playboy is utterly insignificant if you are on your way to peace talks in Geneva . . . But that is not what God has said . . . 1 Thessalonians 4:6 says, "that no man transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we solemnly forewarned you." This means that the consequences of lust are going to be worse than the consequences of nuclear war. All that nuclear war can do is kill the body.

• — John Piper

THREE PRACTICAL QUESTIONS FOR OUR EVERYDAY LIFE

1. In what areas in your life do you need to ask the right questions to live out Christian freedom?

2. What truth about your body hit home for you? What would it mean for you to flee from sexual immorality in your current life-circumstances?

3. How will you glorify God in your body? What might be your first step in doing so?