I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
– Galatians 5:16-26 NKJV
Sexual experience ≠ worth as a human being
Lust ≠ sexual desire
The Heart
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
– Matthew 5:27-28 ESV
But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
– James 1:14-15 ESV
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
– 1 John 2:15-17 ESV
Lust – disordered sexual desire
Lust uses another person for one’s own pleasure and fulfillment of desire.
“If something is going to be done about sin, it is not going to be along the line of laws and rules, codes and regulations…Sin is a violation of the essential personal nature of human life with one another and with God. We don’t sin against a commandment; we sin against a living soul. Sin is not sexual impropriety; sin is the debasement of a man, a woman, a child. Sin is not a violation of the law of the land or the rules of a house; sin is a violation of a personal relationship.” – Eugene Peterson
An Adulterous Legacy & the Preparation of the Bride
For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not wholly follow the Lord, as David his father had done.
– 1 Kings 11:4-6 ESV
Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
– 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 ESV
Practical Steps:
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- Boundaries
- Contemplative Prayer
- Fasting
- Confession, repentance, & accountability
- Reading the Word daily
For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.
– 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8 ESV
Chastity
Regardless of your sexual experience, everyone is invited into chastity.
Chastity is a yes to serving God with your whole heart and whole body.
“[Chastity is] the utter refusal to use any human in the name of pleasure, to subject your own pleasure to the greater reality of another whole image of God, like Jesus himself… Chaste people become sanctuaries in a violent world. They are safe. They become havens for the used and abused, for the little ones, for the broken hearted. Chastity ends up being a form of justice and integrity – and love itself.” – Grace Hamman
And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.
– Revelation 12:11 ESV
Fruitfulness is the universal promise of a life of chastity.
The Fruit of Chastity:
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- Justice – honoring other’s full humanity
- Hospitality – others being safe with us and in our service
- Ability to See Beauty – admiring beauty without the need to possess it
- True Relationship – intimacy and self-giving community
Freedom for those bound in sexual sin & healing for those hurt by sexual sin.
They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.