God’s Design for Sex

God patterned human marriage as a foreshadowing of the divine marriage – Eph 5:31-32

Marriage is more than sex, but it’s not less than sex

God’s created sex to serve as a living witness of the spiritual oneness between Christ and the church

Our sex lives should be patterned after the way in which Christ and the church relate spiritually

 

Sin Has Distorted Our Understanding of God’s Design for Sex

All forms of sexual sin are a result of rejecting God’s design for sex

 Lust– desiring something that is not yours or is not in the proper timing – Matt 5:27-30

Pornography– any material that is intended to stimulate sexual arousal or displays nudity or acts restricted to the marriage relationship – 1 Thess 4:1-3

Homosexuality– sex that is not between a man and a woman – Rom 1:26-27

Sexual impurity(fornication, adultery, touching, making out) – acts restricted for the marriage relationship that are outside of the marriage relationship – Heb 13:4

If an activity is sexual, no matter how “minor”, it is to be reserved for the marriage relationship, not only because of what it might lead to, but because of what it is in and of itself

 

God Redeems Us from Our Sin

We cannot undo our sin, but we can be forgiven of our sin – Ps 103:12

God can use our sin to warn others and encourage others – Phil 3:17-19

In Christ we are made righteous – 2 Cor 5:21

We will never become convinced of the truth of Christ until we are deeply united to the person of Christ

 

Measures for Combatting Sin

Regular gospel measures for combatting sin 1 John 1:5-10

Spiritual disciplines

Repentance

Faith

Understanding God’s forgiveness

Be aware of the sources of temptation

Music

Movies/Television

Internet

Relationships

Radical measures for combatting sin Matthew 5:27-30, 1 Corinthians 6:18

Give up your phone or computer

End a relationship

Confess sin to your parents

 

Resources: Sex, Dating and Relationships Gerald Hiestand and Jay Thomas

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ANTHEM Strategies for Fighting Lust

https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/anthem-strategies-for-fighting-lust

 

A – Avoid as much as is possible and reasonable the sights and situations that arouse unfitting desire

N – Say “No” to every lustful thought within five seconds

T – Turn the mind forcefully toward Christ as a superior satisfaction

H – Hold the promise and the pleasure of Christ firmly in your mind until it pushes the other images out

E – Enjoy a superior satisfaction

M – Move into a useful activity away from idleness and other vulnerable behaviors

 

 

Strategies for Fighting Sexual Sin

https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/strategies-for-fighting-sexual-sin

 

1. Recognize that sexuality is a good gift from God.
2. Recognize that Biblical prohibitions are intended to protect something precious not deny something pleasant.
3. Believe God is for you.
4. Ponder the eternal danger of lust.
5. Think often that God has given you even now many good things.
6. Preach to yourself that there is more joy in God’s presence than in sin. Transpose desire.
7. Realize that lust disables and weakens our capacity for higher spiritual joys with God.
8. Don’t ask, What’s wrong with it? Ask: Does it maximize my experience of the power of Christ, my enjoyment of his fellowship, my perception of his beauty, my reflection of his glory?
9. Cultivate a passionate devotion to the honor of God’s name.
10. Develop a worldview that views absolutely everything in relation to God.
11. (For singles) Recognize that sexual relations are not essential to full personhood and happiness. Jesus was single and chaste and fully human.
12. (For the married) Recognize that God designed marriage to be a living parable of his commitment to the church.
13. Be vigilant over your eyes. Avoid unnecessary stimulation.
14. Look on the opposite sex as eternal persons. Realize that lust inevitably depersonalizes and despiritualizes people.
15. Think often that Christ suffered agony for your purity. Fight image with image. Christ crying in agony.
16. Beware of assuming past successes guarantee future purity.
17. Beware of feeling above accountability.
18. Do not be excessively alone.
19. Get in a group where you exhort one another every day against the deceitfulness of sin.
20. Memorize many scriptures.
21. Stockpile your thoughts with good things.
22. Read the great literature of devotion, biography, etc. When I read the stories of how much others have suffered and fought and struggled and achieved measures of joy and holiness and fruitfulness in fellowship with God it makes me want to give my all to this quest and settle for nothing less than all that a saved sinner can be for the glory of Christ.
23. Never assume that you are above suffering or that you deserve relief through sin. The pitfall of powerful self-pity.
24. Get busy with some task.
25. Pray at all times in the Spirit for God’s deliverance.
26. Be encouraged; God is patient.