Broken part 2

The New American Standard- Sex, Pornography, and the Gospel

There aren’t three things that seemingly go less together than sex, pornography, and the Gospel. However, I can say without a doubt that sexual impurity has touched every life in here in one way or another. The battle for purity is not just a male topic, or a teenage topic, it’s not a young adult topic, but it IS a human topic! Since we don’t outgrow sexual temptation and sexual sin as we age we can safely say that purity is THE battle of our lives. Sexual impurity IS the elephant in the room, the secret in every home, it has a stronghold within the church, and more or less everyone struggles with it. It can manifest itself in many forms; watching racy TV shows or sexually explicit movies, our thought lives, pornography, or in actions and affairs all of which are symptomatic of a desire to see, have, or touch what we cannot have to fill a perceived ‘need’ not met. In its purest form all sexual sins are covetous, arrogant, prideful, and based in idolatry. What I need, with who I want, when I want it, whether real or imagined.

Key point: We were all created for intimacy with God and every human desire and emotion is mimicking what my deepest desire for Christ should be. Even the most intimate of human relationships (husband & wife) are pale shadows of the intimacy He wants with me.

Key quote: “If you think you can’t fall into sexual sin, then you are godlier than David, stronger than Samson, and wiser than Solomon.” Bill Perkins- Christianity Today

Key verse: Romans 8:1-4: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set youfree from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh,God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

- I believe sexual impurity is THE PRIMARY REASON the church in America has lost its effectiveness and all the stats prove it.

- Sexual sin & porn are at the base of our societal problems, our family problems, and our spiritual apathy! It does not split up into a demographic, it destroys the demographic!

In any discussion of purity I hope that we all know that sex is an amazing gift from God, that we were all created as sexual beings that God gave us sex to be enjoyed, for it to be fun and exhilarating, and that it is for more than procreation. It was meant to seal, solidify, and sustain your marriage covenant relationship with your spouse. Two becoming one flesh is pointing how close we and God should be.

Pornography: the stats

-Fastest growing sector of entertainment industry in America and overseas.                                         -Boasts $13-15 billion in U.S. revenues yearly, $100+ billion worldwide                                               -Enslaves both viewer and participant in an addictive, destructive cycle.                                              -Is becoming popular and acceptable in society, movie stars, etc.                                                        -Increasingly common among churchgoers.                                                                                          -Most daily visitors to porn websites are now viewed by smart phone .                                               -“Never before in the history of telecommunications media in the U.S. has so much indecent and obscene material been so easily accessible by so many minors in so many American homes with so few restrictions.” Author- U.S. Department of Justice

How ‘grey’ are you? Do we only say we believe in absolute truth or do we live by it?

What about the Gospel? What power does it have it to change our thought lives, our viewing habits, and our physical actions? Sanctification- "to set apart as holy..." _________________________________________________________________________________

How to gain consistent victory: (Job 31:1, Matt. 5:28, 1 Cor. 6:18-20, 1 Cor. 10:13, Ps. 119:9-10, Matt. 6:22-23, James 1:14-15) _________________________________________________________________________________

“Godly sorrow doesn’t fear that people will find out about your sin. Rather, you fear that God, the only person who ultimately matters, always knew. I am a very sinful man in great need of the blood of Jesus to forgive me for all the ways I have failed God.” Tony Reinke- author of ‘Finally Free: Fighting for Purity with the Power of Grace’

The choice is yours; you might be thinking this hill is just too high to climb? Ask yourself this; how can we change this culture, and how can we communicate God’s purity standards to this world when we don’t live by them ourselves? Isn’t that the definition of a hypocrite?