Be Holy: Confronting Sin // Sexual Sin
April 14, 2024
As followers of Jesus, we are called to be holy. But, how do we be holy in the world we live in today? Holy means to be “set apart.” We are called to be different from our culture. This is especially difficult in the area of sexual immorality. There are so many temptations and areas where people choose to compromise. We must come back to what God tells us in His Word. God created the world, and God created us – He knows what is best for our life. So, will we live like our culture, or will we be holy?
…for it is written: “Be holy because I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:15-16
1. God created us for relationships.
That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife and they become one flesh. Genesis 2:24
- God created sex for intimacy and for reproduction in marriage.
- However, Satan, our enemy, takes the good things of God and distorts them.
- Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires which war against your soul. 1 Peter 2:11
- Sin always takes you further than you want to go, leaves you longer than you want to stay, and costs you more than you ever wanted to pay.
2. As Christians, we are called to flee from sexual immorality.
Flee sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. 1 Corinthians 6:18
- We cannot expect people who are not believers to act like believers.
- Most of the time, we don’t flee from sexual immorality; we flirt.
- Sexual immorality has become culturally accepted and even prompted.
- As Christ-followers, we are not called to be true to our “self”, but true to Christ.
3. God redeems and restores.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 2 Corinthians 5:17
So, what do I do about sexual sin? How do I respond today?
- Conviction – Listen to the Holy Spirit.
- Confession – Bring it into the light.
- Boundaries – Protect yourself.
- Live like Jesus – Grace and Truth.