Glorify God in Your Body

One of my greatest joys is the opportunity that I have to do children's and youth ministry. For any who don't know, our church has a ministry in a nearby community called Southwood. It's just a couple miles that way, and it's a tremendous privilege to be able to share the gospel with those kids and families, to get to befriend them, and to watch them learn and grow. But one of the heartbreaking things is how sexualized so many kids are today. If you listen to a conversation among even elementary school age kids, the level of sexual innuendo among them is disturbing. The amount to which they're already thinking about boyfriends and girlfriends or even having boyfriends and girlfriends and experiencing their hearts being broken is sad. And for some, especially as they get older, the scars of sexual misconduct or abuse or the consequences of early pregnancy are very real. Now, obviously, this is in part a consequence of the sexually permissive and promiscuous culture in which we live. I mean, when you're in the line at a grocery store to check out, you're surrounded by magazine covers that are often just flat out seductive. When you go out in public, you're likely to see people dressed in a way to draw your eyes where they shouldn't go. And when you turn on the TV or do just about anything on your smartphone, you're likely to be bombarded with sexualized images, articles, and advertisements. It's just everywhere. So of course kids are ill-affected by it. They're growing up immersed in that world. And so far from encouraging kids to treasure purity and decency, we live in a culture that mocks innocence and makes kids feel ashamed of it. But of course, if we think the problem stops with robbing kids of their innocence, we've really only just seen the tip of the iceberg. Because the culture affects us, even as adults, probably nearly as much. Just one example, I think the sexualization of our culture trains us to view other people more so as objects to be used than people to be loved. rather than seeing sexual activity as a part of a committed, lifelong, covenant relationship of marriage, it's just something people do for pleasure. And I think that fact is perhaps nowhere more clearly illustrated than in the pervasiveness of pornography. According to the American Psychological Association, various international studies have put porn consumption rates at somewhere between 50 and 99% among men, and between 30 and 86% among women. Now obviously that's a very wide range, but wherever it goes in that range, it is very high. And perhaps even more disturbingly, they continued, among those who reported using pornography, 80% said they felt fine about it. According to a 2018 Gallup poll, 43% of Americans now say pornography is morally acceptable. And that's up from 36% in 2017 and 30% in 2011. Now I mention that because if there's anything that obviously objectifies people, it's pornography. And pornography involves using another person for your own sexual pleasure, divorced from any kind of relationship at all. Yet we live in a society where probably a majority of people actively participate in that. and a disturbingly high and increasing percentage don't even see a problem with it. Well, today we're gonna be focusing on the issue of sexual immorality. That's the subject of our text here in 1 Corinthians 6, and as we look at this passage, we're gonna consider what sexual immorality is, why it's wrong, and what we should do about it. Now, we come to this passage because we've been working our way through 1 Corinthians, at least when I've been preaching, And in earlier sermons we've seen that Paul initially planted the church in Corinth. You can read about that in Acts chapter 18. And then later Paul goes on to a city called Ephesus where he stayed for about 18 months. And it's during his time while he's in Ephesus that he writes this letter to the Corinthian church. And while he's in Ephesus, he's both heard reports about what's going on in Corinth, specifically from Chloe's people, and then he's also received at least one letter from the Corinthians asking him questions and dialoguing with him in some way. And so 1 Corinthians, a helpful way to think about how the book breaks down is in two halves. So chapters 1 through 6, Paul is responding to issues raised by the reports that he's heard from Chloe's people. And in the second half, chapters 7 through 16, Paul is responding to issues raised from the Corinthian letter. And so, so far we've seen in chapters 1 through 4, Paul deal with the issue of disunity in the church. They're dividing over preachers. In chapter 5, Paul deals with the issue of a member of the Corinthian church, a man who was sleeping with his stepmother. In the first half of chapter 6, Paul deals with the issue of lawsuits. And now in the second half he deals with this issue of sexual immorality. And it's helpful to note that all of these issues really have one thing in common. The problem is that the Corinthians are too much like their city. They're thinking, they're living, and they're acting like their surrounding culture rather than as Christians who are set apart for holiness by Christ. And this issue of sexual immorality is certainly no exception to that. We know that the city of Corinth was very sexually immoral. In fact, there was a verb used at that time to Corinthianize, which meant to behave promiscuously. That was the reputation of this place. And apparently, based on verses 15 and 16 in our text, some members of the Corinthian church were actually going to prostitutes. And in fact, based on the way Paul deals with this issue, they apparently thought this was okay. I mean, they were really trying to justify it and defend the practice. Now to us, this may seem unthinkable. I mean, how could anyone call himself a Christian and defend going to prostitutes? But I don't think it's because the Corinthians were worse sinners than we are. I think it's because they allowed themselves to be shaped in their thinking by their culture rather than the Bible. To give you a sense of what the prevailing cultural attitude would have been like, listen to Cicero. This was the great Roman statesman, orator, and philosopher who lived near that time. Cicero wrote, if there is anyone who thinks that youth should be forbidden affairs even with courtesans, and that means prostitutes, he is doubtless eminently austere. And his view is contrary not only to the license of this age, but also the custom and concessions of our ancestors. For when was this not a common practice? When was it blamed? When was it forbidden? I mean, just think of his attitude, his perspective growing up in this world. I mean, to think that anyone would suggest that young men should not be allowed to visit even prostitutes. I mean, how eminently austere would you have to be to think that? How unreasonably restrictive and legalistic? And then he says, whoever in history ever thought such a thing? It's very much like the person today who says, I mean, well, people shouldn't be addicted to pornography. That might be bad, but to think that you shouldn't look at pornography at all, I mean, how unreasonable? Well, I bring that up just to show that for the Corinthians to go to prostitutes would not have been culturally frowned upon. It would have been expected. It would have seemed normal. And I think this is an important warning to us about just how blind we can become if we are guided by the prevailing notions of our culture. If we rely on just our own innate sense of decency as if that is just going to guide us, I think we have woefully underestimated the deceitfulness and the hardening power of sin. We need to be guided by God's word and by God's standards. And so the first thing I want to address today is what is God's standard for sexual purity? This is point one, sexual immorality defined. And we're going to spend a whole point on this because there's a key word in the text, which is the term pornea, which is translated here, sexual immorality. So in verse 13, you see Paul say, the body is not meant for sexual immorality. And in verse 18, you see Paul say, flee from sexual immorality. Now this term, porneia, occurs 25 times in the New Testament, and it's translated in the ESV Sexual Immorality, it's sometimes translated fornication in other versions. And in this passage, it's clear that Paul has prostitution especially in view, but we can't limit the meaning of the term porneia to prostitution. And that's because Paul, just one chapter earlier, at the beginning of chapter five, also uses the term porneia to describe the situation of the man who's sleeping with his stepmother. And then elsewhere in the New Testament, if we go to John chapter eight, we see some of the Jews protesting, we're not born of porneia, meaning we weren't born out of wedlock, we're not born of fornication, so there it just means fornication in general. In Matthew chapter five, Jesus says that if anyone divorces his wife for any reason except porneia, he causes her to commit adultery. So there he's talking about some sort of sexual sin within marriage, and he calls it porneia. In Ephesians 5, Paul says that there is not even to be a hint of porneia among us. And then he says, let there be no filthiness, nor foolish talk, nor crude joking. So I think Paul there is connecting porneia with improper sexual speech. And in the book of Jude, a similar compound verb, ekpurnuo, is used to describe the homosexual behavior in Sodom. So, I think porneia is really just a fairly general word for sexual sin. And when Paul says, flee sexual immorality, flee porneia, he means flee any and all sexual sin. So what then is sexual sin and what is sexual purity? Well, if we're gonna understand that Biblically, I think we have to begin with Genesis 2, 24. And this happens, so right after God creates Adam and Eve, and there's the first marriage, it says, for this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. Now that one flesh union is not merely sexual, but it is especially referring to sex. And the key thing I want you to see here is that sex is designed by God to be a powerful uniting force for marriage. Through sex, the one flesh union of marriage, this union that's meant to encompass all of life, but it's through sex that that union is consummated and physically enacted. And I agree with theologians who describe sex as the covenant sign of marriage. So it's analogous too as Christians, right? We are in the new covenant in Christ and the covenant signs are baptism in the Lord's Supper. As we go on partaking of the Lord's Supper, we are celebrating the covenant. Well, sex is like that for marriage. So sex is a powerful uniting force for good within marriage. That means it's also a powerful uniting force for destruction outside of it. And notice in our text in verse 16 that Paul references that. He says, 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 shall become one flesh. So you see, when there's sexual union without marital union, it's a destructive thing. It's as if a piece of you is being broken off and given away. And there's this deep loss of purity. I think we say that the uniting power of sex is like fire. It's a wonderful thing when it's within the fireplace of marriage, but it is a destructive power when it gets out into the rest of the house. And so what then is sexual purity? Well, I would define it as anything that promotes the goodness, sacredness, and exclusiveness of sex for marriage. And sexual immorality would be anything that distorts or undermines it. So it's not just having sex outside of marriage that's sexual immorality. It's anything that undermines the goodness and sacredness of sex for marriage. And that's why Jesus can say, you have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not commit adultery. But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Because God desires physical purity, mental purity, emotional purity, spiritual purity, sexual purity in every way. And so what does this mean practically? Well it means that any and all use of pornography is sexual immorality. It means that dressing immodestly or in a way intended to elicit sexual feelings from others is sexual immorality. It means lusting after others, whether by looking, or by imagining in explicit daydreams or romantic fantasies, is sexual immorality. And it means that any and all extramarital or premarital sex is sexual immorality. It doesn't matter if you feel sure that you're going to get married. You're not married. She's not your wife. He's not your husband. You have no right to act as if they were. God has designed sexual union for marriage and to take it out of that context is to pervert God's design and commit sexual immorality. Now there's one exception I can think of and that's if you're here today and you are the victim of some sort of sexual assault. You need to know that your purity is not affected by what someone else did to you. He or she will be held accountable before God for their sin. See, our purity cannot be taken, only given. Now, a question that often comes up, if we can agree that the Bible forbids premarital sex, does it give any other physical boundaries for couples who are dating or engaged? Well, in one sense, the answer to that is no. But it's important that we also ask the opposite question, which is, does the Bible give any special physical liberties for couples who are dating or engaged? And the answer to that is also No. So if you want to argue that making out with your girlfriend is fine because the Bible doesn't specifically forbid it, well, I think you need a much more robust argument because the Bible also doesn't specifically forbid making out with your neighbor's wife. And you see, I think that's because the Bible treats sexual activity as a package deal. So when it says don't commit adultery, It means don't have sex with your neighbor's wife, don't kiss your neighbor's wife, don't lust after your neighbor's wife, none of it. In fact, nowhere does the Bible give gradations where different levels of sexual contact are okay. It just presents the marriage relationship, where sexual activity is good and blessed, and every other relationship where sexual activity is categorically forbidden. Now the one possible exception that some appeal to is the Song of Solomon, where we see a couple moving from engagement to marriage. And of course that's highly poetic and difficult to interpret, but I don't think it presents physical intimacy before marriage. I think it presents a growing romance and desire for physical intimacy, which then leads up to a marriage in which those desires are fulfilled. But I don't think it gives us a basis to say, well, there's this place for physical intimacy prior to marriage. So when it comes to physical boundaries, I counsel you to treat your boyfriend or girlfriend or fiance as your brother or sister in Christ with all purity. I think a good rule is if you wouldn't do it with your sister, don't do it with anyone who's not your wife. And then as emotional intimacy grows and the desire for sexual intimacy grows, get married. I think there's a lot of wisdom in having shorter engagements. Now, we've seen sexual immorality defined. It's anything that distorts or undermines the goodness, sacredness, and exclusiveness of sex for marriage. And now we're going to turn to the real meat of our text, which is sexual immorality rationalized. So point two, sexual immorality rationalized. And as I said previously, not only were some of the Corinthians committing sexual immorality by visiting prostitutes, but they were actually rationalizing why that was okay. And of course, this is something we do too. So we're going to look at three rationalizations for sexual immorality. And the first is this. Let's not be so legalistic. Let's not be so legalistic. Look at verse 12. It says, all things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be enslaved by anything. Now you'll notice that the translators have put quotes around all things are lawful for me. Those are not there in the Greek, but I think the translators have rightly recognized that that's not Paul's words, that's Paul quoting some sort of Corinthian slogan. And the slogan is, all things are lawful or permissible. I can do what I want. Now, we don't know where the Corinthians got this slogan. It sounds maybe superficially similar to something Paul may have said where, you know, elsewhere Paul will say, we're not under law but under grace. And so maybe the Corinthians would have taken that and run with it, and now they're applying it as a rationalization for why going to prostitutes is okay. Remember the attitude of Cicero. What kind of excessively austere person would forbid going to prostitutes? Well, here's the Corinthians. What kind of legalistic person would make rules against going to prostitutes? We're saved by grace, are we not? And even if this is a case where we would apply it very differently, isn't this a rationalization that we use? Do you ever, you feel sexual temptation or perhaps conviction over impure thoughts or something you shouldn't have done, but then rather than truly repenting and changing, you just sort of satisfy your conscience by saying, well, thank goodness I'm saved by grace. You know, almost as if grace were a reason to be less vigilant in your fight for purity. Or, you know, maybe even as I was defining sexual morality and going through sort of rules, maybe within you, there was sort of a negative reaction of all these rules, these laws. And you're thinking, well, the gospel's all about grace. These rules just seem so restrictive. Well, look at Paul's response. He qualifies and critiques the Corinthian slogan in two ways. First, he says, but not all things are helpful. Not all things are beneficial. In other words, I think what Paul is saying is that when it comes to sexual purity, asking what's permissible, how far is too far, what's wrong with that? Well, these are really the wrong questions. What we should be asking is, what's helpful? What's beneficial? What would glorify God? You know, we shouldn't be thinking, how far can I go without technically breaking God's law? But we should trust God. We should trust his design is good. His commandments are good. And so I want to stay right in the center of God's will. Now, I once heard a story about a man who was trying to hire a taxi driver to get to the top of a mountain. And it was this really long, winding road with these steep cliffs off the edge. And so the first taxi driver's trying to convince him, well, hire me. And he's saying, I'm such an experienced driver. I can drive within one foot of the edge of that cliff at 30 miles per hour all the way up. And the second taxi driver's like, oh, well, I can drive within six inches of the edge of the cliff at 40 miles per hour all the way up. And the third is like, well, you know, I can drive, you know, with half the wheel over the edge at 50 miles per hour all the way up. And then the fourth guy's like, you know, I'm just terrified of falling off the cliff, so I'm gonna go slow and stay as far from the edge as possible. I mean, who do you think got hired? And friends, my point is that if we believe that sin is dangerous, and we believe that God's will is good, We're not going to be asking how close to the edge we can get and how fast we can go. We're going to be asking, how can I stay right in the center of God's will? I noticed that Paul also tells them, but I will not be dominated or enslaved by anything. And of course, so often we buck against rules and laws because we want to feel free. But Paul's warning us that sin is enslaving. As Jesus said, whoever sins is a slave of sin. And that's perhaps nowhere more evident than in the case of sexual sin. This last week I heard about a man who was a deacon in a church much like ours, a very good church. He was also an administrator for a missions organization. And it was just uncovered that he had been in an ongoing sexual relationship with a 13-year-old. And he has now been arrested and imprisoned. Now, I don't know how that initially started. And I suppose that there are some child predators that actually intend from day one that's where they want it to go. But in this guy's case, I highly doubt that's what happened. I'm guessing it started with a much more minor indiscretion. And I'm guessing he probably never intended it to wind up where it did. But you see, sexual sin snowballs. It deceives, it hardens, and it enslaves. That is the dangerous problem with sexual sin. Listen to how John Owen in The Mortification of Sin talks about this. He says, sin aims always at the utmost. Every time it rises up to tempt or entice, if it has its own way, it will go out to the utmost sin of that kind. Every unclean thought or glance would be adultery if it could. Every thought of unbelief would be atheism if allowed to develop. Every rise of lust, if it has its way, reaches the height of villainy. It is like the grave that is never satisfied. The deceitfulness of sin is seen in that it is modest in its first proposals, but when it prevails, it hardens men's hearts and brings them to ruin. Oh friends, let not God's grace become a license for sin. cling to his word and treasure his commands. Now a second rationalization. What's the big deal? Is verses 13 through 17. Now in verse 13, we see another Corinthian slogan. And I'm gonna read this where I think the quotation marks begin and end. There's some debate, where does the Corinthian slogan end and where does Paul's response begin? And I think it reads like this. Quote, food is meant for the stomach, and the stomach for food, and God will destroy both one and the other, end quote. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. Now I think the quotes go that way because it creates a parallel structure between the Corinthian slogan and Paul's response. So notice that the Corinthians say, food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food. Paul's rebuttal, the body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord and the Lord for the body. And then the Corinthians say, and God will destroy both one and the other. And Paul's rebuttal, and God raise the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. So Paul is rebutting both halves of the argument or the rationalization. So what is the Corinthian rationalization? What is their argument? Well, they say food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food. And in doing this, they seem to be drawing some sort of parallel between food and sex. Something like, you know, well, God gave me a desire for food and he gave me a stomach so I can satisfy that desire. So if God's given me a desire for sex and he's given me a body to satisfy that desire, well, what's the problem? You know, they're really likening sex to a bodily need or function that we should enjoy just like food. And further, the Corinthians add, and by the way, God will destroy both one and the other. In other words, I mean, our bodies are only temporary anyway. And in fact, we know some of the Corinthians thought this because in chapter 15, Paul has to rebuke the Corinthians who were denying that there was a bodily resurrection. You know, they thought, well, Jesus came and he has saved our spirit. And one day our body is going to die, but then we will just live eternally with Jesus as spiritual beings. We don't need our body. Our body is just temporary. And so if sexual pleasure is just a bodily act, well, it's no big deal because our bodies are just temporary anyway. It's the spirit that matters. And of course, this is very similar to the way many in our culture view sex today. It's just a bodily need. It's just a bodily act. Look at Paul's response. Paul says the body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord. I mean, never mind the fact that I think the Corinthians are also underappreciating the significance of food and the body in that sense, but the real problem here is that they are totally wrong about sex. God didn't give you a body to be used for sexual immorality. That's what Paul is saying. He gave you a body to be used for God. He didn't make us like animals that just indulge whatever desires we feel. We are embodied image bearers who are to serve and glorify God with our bodies. And not only that, but Paul says, and the Lord is for the body. God created your body and God is for your body. So much so that in verse 14, Paul continues, and Jesus died and was raised so that your body might be raised up eternally with him. I mean, think about that. Jesus died just as much for the salvation of your body as of your soul. That's how much your body matters to God. That is how pro-body he is. Your physical body will be raised up with Christ in the end that you might live with him in his kingdom forever. So what we do sexually with our bodies matters because our bodies matter and they will exist eternally. And then moreover, Paul continues in verses 15 through 17, what we do with our bodies matters because our bodies are presently members of Christ. Look at those verses. Paul says, or 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. 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. But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Now let's unpack this. In verse 15, our bodies are members of Christ. But then at the end of verse 17 he says, we're one spirit with the Lord. And then in verse 16 in the middle he says, if we have sex with prostitutes, we become one body with her. And that must not be. Now what does Paul mean when he says our bodies are members of Christ, but we're one spirit with the Lord? What is he getting at? How does that work? Well I think the key to understanding this is to understand that we are a body soul, or psychosomatic unity. In other words, contrary to what some would say, where they would say, well, you know, I'm a spiritual being who has a body. I think biblically we say, no, you're a human being who is an embodied creature. You are a body soul unity. And when we are saved, we are united with Christ. And so you can't say, well, my spirit is united with Christ, but then there's some sort of distance or separation between Christ and my body. Because you are a body and a soul. You are a human being created by God as a psychosomatic unity. And so if you are united with Christ, well, then your spirit is one with him and your body is a member of him. And so Paul's point to the Corinthians is this. What you do with your body, you do as a member of Christ. And when you go into that brothel, it's not like you can tell Jesus, well, you just stay outside for a minute while I go in there. No. Whatever unholy sexual union you embrace, in body or spirit, you bring Christ into that unholy union with you. And that must not be. That's Paul's argument. Now, brothers and sisters, what about us? You know, when we are tempted to think, what's the big deal? Maybe you're tempted to look at pornography and you think, well, who's it really hurting? Do you not know that you? in your body, in your mind, in your spirit, in all that you are, that you are a member of Christ? So shall you then take the member of Christ and join it to a prostitute? The next time you're tempted to think, what's the big deal? It's just a bodily act. It's a natural desire. Everybody does it. Remember that your body is for the Lord. And the Lord is for your body. And that Jesus died and rose so that your body might be raised up with him. Oh friends, sexual purity is a big deal because we belong to Christ. Now a third rationalization. This is in verses 18 through 20. And it's, it's my heart that counts. It's my heart that counts. Now in verse 18, I think there's another Corinthian slogan. Now, you can see the ESV translators take a different view, but I think where it says, every other sin a person commits is outside the body, I think that's actually a slogan from the Corinthians. And three reasons for that. Number one, the word other is not there in the Greek. Literally, Paul says, or somebody says, every sin a person commits is outside the body. So on the assumption that this is Paul speaking and not the Corinthians, the term other is inserted to kind of smooth it out because Paul immediately says that sexual sin is against your own body. So that's number one. Number two, given that Paul has already been quoting the Corinthians multiple places in here, I think it makes sense to kind of be expecting there may be another one. So it's not an unusual spot for it. And then number three, the notion that what we do with our bodies is insignificant is in line with what the Corinthians have already been saying, whereas it's difficult to explain why Paul would say that every other kind of sin is outside the body. You know, why would Paul say that sins like suicide, or gluttony, or drunkenness are committed outside the body? So, to me, it makes more sense to understand that Paul is quoting the Corinthians as saying, every sin a person commits is outside the body, and then Paul is rebutting that, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. And so in that case, there's another rationalization the Corinthians are making here. There's another argument for why they think it's okay to go to prostitutes. And the argument is something like this. Well, sin's not a bodily thing. Sin is something committed outside the body. It's not a matter of your body, it's a matter of your spirit. Or maybe we translate it into how we like to talk. It's just a matter of the heart. It's a matter of the mind. The body is not where sin actually occurs. And so they're sort of extending the argument they've already been making about, well, the body's temporary, sex is just a bodily act, it's a bodily function, and sin is a spiritual thing. It's not a bodily thing. And once again, even if the application to prostitution seems bizarre to us, I think this rationalization actually hits close to home. You know, take the unmarried Christian couple who moves in together. You know, what justification do they appeal to? Well, maybe it's finances are tight. Circumstances just don't allow us to get married yet. But of course, we're going to get married. And we already love each other. So why wait? I mean, it's our heart that counts. You know, what we actually do physically with our bodies is really insignificant compared to the state of our heart. Or think of how often this is appealed to in support of homosexual relationships. I mean, how could you say this is wrong if they love each other? You know, what you actually objectively do with your body is, well, that's just totally relativized to this notion of it's the heart that counts. But look at how Paul responds to this. 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, so glorify God in your body. Now think of it. Paul is saying you are an embodied creature created in God's image, redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, and indwelt by the Holy Spirit as a holy temple of the living God. And all of this is so that you might bring God glory through your body in your life. He says the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. I mean, your body is so precious that you can sin against it. You can't sin against an object. You sin against persons. And yet Paul says you can sin against your body. And again, I think this goes back to what we said before about the fact that you are your body. You are a body, soul, unity. And when you misuse your body, you're sinning against yourself. But not only that, you sin against God because Paul continues, your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit whom you have from God. Now, friends, think for a moment about as you read through the Old Testament, just think of all the language and the descriptions of the temple and all the rules and regulations and all the things that were put in place by God to reserve his temple as holy. Our bodies are every bit as holy as the temple. Our bodies are to be used and conducted with that same level of holiness and sanctity. And then Paul says, and you are not your own for you were bought with a price. Your body is not your body. Your spirit is not your spirit. Your life is not your life. I mean, how often today our culture says my body, my choice. Well, actually, it's God's body and his choice. And that is true of every single human being by virtue of creation, but it is doubly true of us as Christians by virtue of redemption, because Christ has purchased us with his own precious blood. We were slaves of sin, and he has purchased us with his blood so that we might be servants of God. So flee sexual immorality and glorify God in your body. And what I hope you see here is that every rationalization for sexual immorality falls flat. In fact, they all prove downright shameful in comparison with the grace and calling we've received. So I hope as we go through this, this makes you want to be holy and it makes you want to pursue sexual purity. And as we close, I want to consider Thirdly and finally, how we do that. So point three, sexual immorality repented of. And I want to go back and point out to you that Paul gives two specific commands in this passage. In verse 18, flee from sexual immorality. And then in verse 20, glorify God in your body. So let's take these in turn. Number one, flee from sexual immorality. If we want to be pure, Paul says you have to flee sexual immorality. You have to run from it like you would a burning building. You have to see it for all its danger and destructiveness and flee. I remember one preacher pointing out The Bible tells us, resist the devil and he will flee from you. And then it says, flee sexual immorality. And I think that's extremely significant. You know, there are plenty of situations where we're gonna face temptation in life, and the answer is not to just flee, it's to pray that God would strengthen us, that we would be able to endure and stand firm in the midst of temptation and go forward. That's not what the Bible says to do in the case of sexual immorality. It says flee. So when you are in a situation where you're being sexually tempted, the answer is not, I'm just going to stay in the midst of this temptation and I'm just going to pray that God gives me more strength to just sort of stand strong in it. No, the Bible is telling you what to do. Flee. Escape the temptation. As Proverbs 6, 27, 28 says, can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned? Or can he walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched? You can't hold sexual temptation and sexual immorality close and think that your clothes are not going to burn. You need to get away from it. You need to take radical measures to eliminate sources of temptation from your life. Listen to what Jesus says in Matthew 5. He says, everyone who looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. For it is better for you if one of your members perish than for your whole body to be cast into hell. If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. For it is better for you if one of your members perish than for your whole body to be cast into hell. What he's saying is take radical measures, do what it takes to remove the source of temptation. If watching certain movies or certain things on TV is causing you to stumble, the answer is not, I'm just going to keep watching it and pray that I will just not fall into temptation. The answer is just don't watch it. You don't have to. If going to certain places is causing you to stumble, just avoid going to that place. And I would also add that as we fight to remove sources of temptation, also as we fight and as we flee from sexual immorality in our life, make sure that we are seeking to cut it out at the root. Don't settle to say I'm gonna flee from this certain action. Maybe I've been addicted to pornography and I'm just gonna be content if I just avoid looking at pornography, but meanwhile you let your mind just run wild. You know, this is a battle that is so much easier fought from the top of the hill. And once you start sliding down the hill, it only gets harder. How easily a passing glance becomes an abiding thought, an abiding thought, a longing desire, a longing desire, a subtle action, a subtle action, a bad habit, and a bad habit, a terrible transgression. Oh friends, beware of the slippery slope. As James tells us, 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. Now one last thing as we consider fleeing sexual immorality. I think one of the ways that we become trapped and fail to flee is because we feel like we've fallen too far already. I think this is one of the favorite tactics of the devil, to make you feel like I've already hit rock bottom and it's just hopeless. I'm just stuck. And even if I were to flee now, it's too late. And friends, I just want to get you to flip back earlier in this very same chapter, verses nine through 11. Look what Paul says there. Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor violers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. But then this is the key part. And such were some of you, but you were washed. You were sanctified. You were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the spirit of our God. Oh friends, praise God that we have someone to flee to. That there is a redeemer. There's a savior that welcomes sexually immoral people to come to him, to be washed, to be justified, to be sanctified. Friends, it doesn't matter how much you have failed in the past. What matters is will you flee in the present? Will you repent of sexual immorality by fleeing to Christ and trusting in him for his grace and the power that he gives to be transformed? And if you're here today and you're not a Christian, I want you to hear loud and clear that there is no one in this entire church who will stand before you and try to claim that we have not fallen short when it comes to sexual morality. We've all failed. We've all sinned. We all need God's grace. And friend, the invitation to you is to repent, to turn from it, to confess it to God, and to cry out to Jesus, who is there ready to forgive you, ready to receive you. You can flee to him. And that brings us finally to this last charge. So glorify God in your body. And friends, you know, if all you do is focus on sexual morality, and how you need to flee it, and how dangerous it is, and how you need to not commit it, and that's just what consumes your mind, well, the sad reality is you're probably gonna just keep sliding into it. Because it's not enough just to flee evil, we need to pursue what's good. And I want you to notice how Paul, in this entire passage, he focuses the Corinthians' attention on these grand truths of the gospel. How they have been bought with the precious blood of Christ. How Jesus has not only died for them, that he has been raised so that their bodies will be raised up with him. And how even presently he has given them of his spirit, that their body might be a temple of the Holy Spirit. And that their body is a member of Christ. Oh friends, these are glorious realities of the gospel, and these are the truths that we need to have filling our mind. It's not enough just to say, I need to not commit sexual immorality. We need to fill our mind with these wonderful realities of the gospel. Because it's understanding this that fills us with a sense of, I want to glorify God. And friends, the good news of the gospel is though we will continue to fail, we have redemption through his blood and we really can. We can use our bodies for God's glory. He has created us in his own image. He's given you a body to be used for him. And by his grace, by the work of the spirit, by the wisdom of God's word, we are able to use our bodies now for his glory. And it's the gospel that gives us that yearning, that longing, and that desire. And so friends, as we close, I would just exhort us, unlike the Corinthians who were so much like their city, who were thinking like Corinthians, who were living like Corinthians, may we be people who don't just think like Americans, who don't just live like Americans. but people who have our minds saturated in God's word and his truth so that we may pursue sexual purity and we may pursue righteousness and purity in every area of our lives for our Savior's glory. Amen. Let's pray. Oh God, we thank you so much for your word. We thank you for our Savior. We thank you that you have redeemed and washed even sexually immoral people like us. And we pray that you would help us to glorify you in our bodies. And we ask it in Jesus' name, amen.