How to Overcome Sexual Temptation

How to overcome sexual temptation. That is a topic we'll discuss today right here on the Christian Worldview radio program where the mission is to sharpen the biblical worldview of Christians and to share the good news of Jesus Christ.

I'm David Wheaton the host and our website is thechristianworldview.org. Well, thank you for joining us today for another edition of the Christian Real View radio program as we discuss how to overcome sexual temptation. At the beginning of time, God designed two sexes and the sacred sanctified means of sexual intimacy by which a man and a woman could be unified as one flesh and bear children within the exclusive covenant of marriage. However, because of our corrupted sin natures, men and women reject the framework of biblical marriage for sex and instead seek to gratify and worship themselves in all manner of sexual perversions and abominations including pre- and extramarital heterosexual sex, same-sex homosexuality, adult child sex, bisexuality, pornography, transgenderism, and much much more. Now one of the most effective temptations that Satan uses to destroy men and women from honoring God is through sexual immorality. Here's Satan's lie, God is restrictive, expand your freedom and gratification by experiencing sex outside marriage which only results in regret, ruin, slavery, disease, discontent, divorce, and God's judgment to name a few of succumbing to sexual temptation. Here's the good news though, sexual temptation as it says in 1 Corinthians 10 is, quote, common to man and, quote, God is faithful who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also so that you will be able to endure it.

Let's start out very basically today talking about some definitions and God's standard for sexual intimacy. God's standard is basically two things, pure thoughts and pure actions. Christ said in Matthew chapter 5, he said, I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. So Christ is taking it much beyond even the 10 commandments where it says thou shall not commit adultery to even looking and lusting for a woman that's not your wife as committing adultery with her in his heart.

And beyond pure thoughts, there's pure actions of course. Hebrews 13 4 says, marriage is to be held in honor among all and the marriage bed is to be undefiled. For fornicators, or the sexually immoral, and idolaters, God will judge. Idolatry always goes with sexual immorality as a form of idolatry where we worship ourselves and our own desires rather than worshiping God. And of course the marriage in that particular passage shouldn't even need to be mentioned but is one man one woman marriage. So sexual purity, or God's standard, is sexual intimacy that honors God. It's intimacy within one man one woman marriage. Now to the very opposite of that is Satan's standard.

Do whatever you want with whomever you want. So this is sexual immorality that dishonors God. That would be defined as any sexual thoughts or actions with someone that's not your wife or husband.

Whether it's premarital sex or extramarital heterosexual sex, same-sex homosexuality, adult child sex, bisexuality, pornography, LGBTQ, transgenderism, all the different things that we hear so much about today. It's important to remember as we talk about these definitions that God gives the gift of sexual intimacy with only one boundary, and that's within the confines of the boundary of marriage. You'll hear sometimes people say, well Jesus said nothing about homosexual marriage or pre or extramarital sex and those kinds of things, but he actually did.

Read Matthew chapter 19 verses 3 through 6. It says, some Pharisees came to Jesus, these were the religious leaders of the day, testing him and asking, is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all? And Jesus answered and said, have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female and said, for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh?

So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate. With this one passage, Jesus defined marriage as between one man and one woman.

He prohibited divorce, he defined the fact that you are either male or female, that completely repudiates the transgender movement, he excluded pre and extramarital sex and all other forms of sexual immorality. In other places in the New Testament it goes on to be very clear about what sexual purity is versus sexual immorality. First Thessalonians chapter 4, for this is the will of God.

Okay, here it is. It's very clear. This is God's will, your sanctification, or for your holiness, that is that you abstain from sexual immorality. Verse 4, that each of you know how to possess his own vessel or his own body in sanctification, that's holiness and honor, not in lustful passion. Again, going back to the thought life, like the Gentiles or unbelievers who do not know God. Verse 6, and that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter, because the Lord is the avenger in all these things. Just a little explanation there. We transgress and defraud brothers, other people, when we sin with their husband or wife.

That's defrauding them. Even before they're married, we're defrauding their future husband or wife if we engage in premarital sex. For God has not called us, verse 7, for the purpose of impurity, sexual impurity, but in sanctification.

There's the contrast. It's either impurity, sexual immorality, or in sanctification, sexual purity. Verse 8, conclusion. So, he who rejects this that God's called you to abstain from sexual immorality, he who rejects this is not rejecting man, but the God who gives his Holy Spirit to you.

Very clear, can't be twisted or rationalized. This is the will of God, your sanctification. That is that you abstain from sexual immorality.

And if you reject this, you're not rejecting someone else, you're rejecting God who gives his Holy Spirit to you. This was written to believers, and this is a great warning for the church today, which is so ignored and looked the other way on these issues, especially with regards to younger people and even divorce within the church today. Let's get now to the scope of sexual temptation so we know how to overcome it. How broad is this temptation? Well, the first point is that it's everywhere. Temptation to sexual immorality is right on the phone you hold in your hand. It's on the websites you visit, even the Christian websites you visit. You'll see pictures of sensual pictures of men or women on the most innocuous websites are there, on television, in the commercials, in movies, on billboards. It's in magazines that you pass by, in the grocery store. It's in your workplace. It's in the flirtatious atmosphere in a workplace or in a college campus, in restaurants.

It's in sports. It's everywhere, and that's only a fraction of the place as it is. Matter of fact, it's one of the three big temptations, I think. There's lots of temptations to sin in life, but I think the temptations to sexual immorality is one of the big three.

We read this verse previously in the program from 1 John 2. It says, For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. And I think that first one, the lust of the flesh, is one that includes our physical desires. Sexual immorality, I think, is categorized in that particular lust of the flesh. It's one of the most powerful drives, powerful desires that we as humans have, along with greed and power, which is summarized in the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life. So this is a huge temptation that has been around forever.

This is nothing new. So not only is it everywhere, but secondly, it's destructive. Like all sin, rejecting God's word on this one leads to severe consequences. And I put a couple of bullet points down here that just some of the consequences.

There are more than these. This isn't an exhaustive list, but there's physical, relational, vocational, and spiritual consequences of rejecting God and His word when it comes to sexual purity. Physical consequences like sexually transmitted diseases, HIV AIDS, of course, from homosexuality. There's physical abuse and rape, and sometimes people choose to have abortions after being involved in sexual immorality. Relationally, it ruins marriages and other relationships, vocations.

People lose their jobs over this, whether it's leaders or CEOs or media people or politicians. From the greatest among us to the most unknown among us, destructive nature of sexual immorality is very rampant. Spiritually, the most important aspect of this, it is destructive spiritually. It destroys the potential of even the strongest Christians.

And you see this in Scripture, whether it's King David, Solomon, it really destroyed him spiritually toward the end of his life. And ultimately, if we persist in sexual immorality in an unrepentant manner and don't turn to Christ in repentance and faith and salvation, there's ultimately judgment of God, as it says in 1 Corinthians chapter 6. It says, Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?

Who are these unrighteous? It says, Do not be deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, transgender type, nor homosexuals. Those first five there have to deal with sexual immorality, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers.

None of those people will inherit the kingdom of God. So there's, ultimately, we can talk about the physical, relational, vocational consequences of sexual giving into sexual temptation. But ultimately, the greatest, most destructive aspect of it is the spiritual judgment that comes from God for rejecting him, disobeying him, refusing his standard for sexual purity. So not only is it everywhere, not only is it destructive, but it's also addictive. It's like a drug or alcohol. It's like the flesh can never be satisfied. You hear about pornography, and there's just never enough. There's always got to be more, and there's always got to be harder forms of pornography to keep us coming back. There's the emotional, there's the temporary gratification that comes with sexual immorality, yet without the lasting fulfillment. So there's an addictive nature to it that our mind and our bodies want to keep coming back to have it fulfilled just one more time.

And one more thing to mention about it is, it's lurking. Not only is it everywhere, but it's closer than we think. We're never very far away from going down wrong roads that lead to the sin of sexual immorality. You see this young man in Proverbs chapter seven, it says, for at the window of my house, I looked through my window and saw a young man, void of understanding, passing along the street near her corner. And he took the path to her house in the evening. And notice what time of day it is. And there a woman met him with provocative clothes and a crafty heart. Notice how she's dressed. She was loud and rebellious. At times, she was outside in the open square, lurking at every corner.

In other words, it's everywhere. So she caught him and kissed him. And with a bold face, she said to him, I have peace offerings with me. Today, I have paid my vows. This is not a secular woman. This is a religious woman.

In other words, Christians aren't immune from falling prey to sexual immorality with another professing Christian. She's paid her peace offering today. She's paid her vows. So I came out to meet you, it continues, diligently to seek your face. And I have found you. I have spread my bed with tapestry. I have perfumed my bed. Come, let us take our fill of love, or I'll insert lust until morning.

Let us delight ourselves with love. For my husband, she says a married woman, is not at home. He has gone on a long journey.

He has taken a bag of money with him and will come home on the appointed day. One more thing I should have added there is sexual immorality is always deceitful. She's doing something, trying to be out of the sight of her own husband. Of course, we always look horizontally.

We don't look vertically because God is always watching us. And the passage ends by saying, with her enticing speech, she caused him to yield with her flattering lips, she seduced him. And then here's this, here's this closer than we think part. Immediately, he went after her. As an ox goes to the slaughter or as a fool to the correction of the stocks, till an arrow struck his liver, as a bird hastens to the snare, he did not know it would cost his life. In other words, he didn't go out that night, probably, doesn't give any context, but probably didn't go out that night thinking he was going to destroy his life. It would cost him his life. Do you think an ox before it gets slaughtered, more than about a minute before it happens, knows that something's going to go fatally wrong?

It's the same way with sexual morality. It's much closer, much more lurking than we think. The Christian Worldview with David Wheaton returns in just a moment. The new year has brought new features to the Christian Worldview radio program. First, good news for those who don't have an affiliate station in their area and those who subscribe to our free podcast. The latest program will now be available at our website, thechristianworldview.org or via our podcast feed at 8 a.m central time on Saturdays. Short takes will also be released on Mondays following the weekend airing of the program. These bite-sized highlights are great for those who don't have time to listen to the full 54-minute broadcast. Short takes can be heard at our website, podcast feed, and our social media pages on Facebook and YouTube. For more updates, program previews, and resources, be sure to sign up for our free weekly email by visiting thechristianworldview.org.

We're calling 1-888-646-2233. That's 1-888-646-2233 or visiting thechristianworldview.org. There's an abundance of Christian resources available, but the reality is that many of them, even some of the most popular, do not lead to a sound and strong faith. While there's only one perfect book, a key aim of the Christian Worldview is to identify and offer resources that are biblically faithful and deepen your walk with God. In our online store, we have a wide range of resources for all ages, adult and children's books and DVDs, Bibles and devotionals, unique gifts, and more. So browse our store at thechristianworldview.org and find enriching resources for yourself, family, friends, small group, or church.

You can also order by calling toll-free 1-888-646-2233. That's 1-888-646-2233 or visit thechristianworldview.org. Welcome back to The Christian Worldview. Be sure to visit our website thechristianworldview.org where you can subscribe to our free weekly email and annual print newsletter, order resources for adults and children, and support the ministry. Now back to today's program with host David Wheaton.

So let's get to the fact of the topic for the day here now is how can we be overcomers over sexual temptation? I know I've mentioned in previous programs about the life of Joseph, and Joseph just for a quick preview on who he is was one of the sons of the 12 sons of Jacob. He was the favorite son actually of Jacob.

Jacob's father gave him the coat of many colors. Joseph's brothers really despised him because he was favored and he had these dreams about his older brothers bowing down to him. Well eventually his brothers hated him so much that when he came to visit his brothers as they were tending to their flocks, the brothers conspired together to sell him into slavery, if you can believe that, into Egypt. So they're in the land of Canaan, he goes to see his brothers, they sell him to the Ishmaelites who are traveling down to Egypt. So in Genesis 39 we have Joseph has now arrived in Egypt and it says this, Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt and Potiphar, an Egyptian officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the bodyguard, bought him, bought Joseph from the Ishmaelite traders who had taken him down there. But listen to this, even though he had been betrayed and rejected by his brothers, it says this in verse 2, the Lord was with Joseph so he became a successful man and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.

This is Potiphar, the captain of the guard of Pharaoh. This is a very important home, a very important man in Egypt. Just by God's providence that's where Joseph went. And listen to how Joseph is doing there. Now his master Potiphar saw that the Lord was with Joseph and how the Lord caused all that he did to prosper in his hand. So Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal servant and he made him overseer over his house and all that he owned he put in his charge. The Lord blessed the Egyptian's house on account of Joseph.

Thus the Lord's blessing was upon all that he owned in the house and in the field. Verse 6, last verse, so he left everything he owned in Joseph's charge and with him there he did not concern himself with anything except the food which he ate. You might be thinking why am I mentioning that in the lead up to how Joseph overcame the temptation to sexual immorality with Potiphar's wife?

Well just look at what's setting him up or what's going into this this temptation which is going to happen next. There is complete blessing and success and favor on the life of Joseph. So with that as background all of a sudden the Bible makes a very interesting transition in verse 6. It says this, now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. Now isn't that interesting how the Bible would say that? Why would the Bible say that? It's because Joseph is so successful and he's also this great looking guy and he has it all.

No, it's pretending that something is about to change, maybe something ominous is coming. There's a warning here that those who are successful and good looking, those kind of people attract a lot of attention and not all of it is good. Now we can often think that good looking people get all the breaks in life but good looks as Joseph was in handsome in form and appearance can be a liability as well. It attracts those with sinful intentions and there's another lesson here about this. The other lesson is that after all the success that I just read about, one of two things often happens. Either there's a pride in the person then there's a fall, pride becomes before the fall, comes before the fall, or there's an attack of Satan and so we really need to watch out when things are going well in life. There's a danger of being self-reliant rather than God reliant and when we become self-reliant that's when we start to go down roads into sin.

This is when Satan attacks us. You can look at the example of Jesus, that is baptism. What happened after this incredible moment that Jesus was baptized where the father came and his voice from heaven said, this is my beloved son in whom I well pleased and the spirit descended in the form of a dove. I mean what a pinnacle moment of Christ's life. The three members of the Trinity right there, right away you turn the page, all of a sudden Christ goes into 40 days of fasting and temptation by Satan himself immediately after this high moment of his life and ministry. This is why it's really important to be in the Word of God on a daily basis.

Otherwise it's very easy to lose perspective when things are going well for us, we forget who we are, we forget who we serve, all of a sudden we become open to greater types of temptation that Satan brings in our lives. But in this case with Joseph he hasn't become proud but he's rather being targeted by Satan through, lo and behold, the wife of the master of the house, Potiphar's wife. Verse 7, right after it says now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance, it says this, it came about that after these events that his master's wife looked with desire at Joseph and she said lie with me.

I mean this wasn't a subtle temptation, this was a direct temptation to be sexually immoral with her. Verse 8, look at Joseph's response, but he refused and said to his master's wife behold with me here my master does not concern himself with anything in the house and he has put all that he owns in my charge. There is no one greater in this house than I and he has withheld nothing from me except you because you are his wife. And then this line is incredibly key, how then, Joseph says, how then could I do this great evil and sin against God?

Right here is the first step, the model for how every Christian needs to overcome sexual temptation. There's a direct proposition from Potiphar's wife that there's going to be no work on Joseph's part for this easy gratification. He's not going out and bar hopping to find some woman for the evening one night stand, no. His master's wife is propositioning him, easy gratification at his fingertips.

All he needs is a little bit of privacy and secrecy with a willing accomplice which Potiphar's wife appears to be. But there's no indication that he even hesitated or thought about this, it just says but he refused. I mean, would we respond that same way when we encounter sexual temptation?

Just refuse. There's no hesitation here, apparently by Joseph, because he is walking closely with the Lord. In other words, God is always at the forefront of his mind, so when he's tempted, he immediately just, no way, that would be offensive to God, there's no way I'm doing that, I refuse. One thing he understands, he's had this great success, he understands and honors God's design for marriage and for sex, he understands that. But the key line, though, in this whole passage is, how then could I do this great evil and sin against God?

In other words, Joseph wasn't concerned primarily, at least, with the physical or relational or the vocational consequences that I mentioned earlier of getting involved in sexual immorality, not at all. He's concerned about what his actions are going to do to his relationship with God. In other words, Joseph feared God and loved God more than he feared any of those other consequences of getting caught, or he feared and loved God more than he loved pleasing himself. That is ultimately the decision or the choice that we face with every temptation.

Am I going to please myself, or am I going to please God? That's ultimately what it comes down to, and Joseph in this example, there was no question. He refused, and how then could I do this great wickedness and evil and sin against God? He had a choice.

I can please and honor God, or I can please myself. And fortunately for Joseph and for us as a great example, he chose to please God over pleasing himself. Now, words were not going to be enough with Potiphar's wife, and they're often not enough when we face sexual temptation as well. Reasoning, good reasoning like he had here, refusing, that was not going to be enough. Verse 10, chapter 39 of Joseph, the story continues, as she, Potiphar's wife, spoke to Joseph day after day.

This is continuing day after day. Day after day, Joseph did not listen to her to lie beside her or be with her. Verse 11, now it happened one day that he went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the household was there inside.

Notice now what's a ripe environment for sexual immorality, being alone with someone of the opposite sex. Verse 12, she caught him by his garment saying, lie with me. And this time, by the way, it says lie with me with an exclamation point after it. The first time was lie with me, period.

This time the proposition becomes a declarative, lie with me. What was Joseph's response? In this case, she's got him by the garment, and Joseph left his garment in her hand and fled and went outside. This time, Joseph realizes that words and reason are not going to be enough. Now, she obviously can't rape him.

He's stronger than she is. So why does he go outside? And he left his garment in her hand and fled and went outside.

Why does he go outside? Joseph had the wisdom to realize that he needed to get out of there. 1 Corinthians 6 says, flee immorality.

Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. As far as I have read in Scripture, the temptation to sexual immorality is the only temptation that we're actually not to confront. The Bible says to flee it, to remove yourself from it, to get away from it. In other words, it's so powerful that if we leave ourselves in the situation trying to reason with someone else or reason with ourselves or talk someone else out of it or try to kind of be one foot in the door and one foot out, we're going to get burned. And so the lesson here is that overcoming temptation requires, as Joseph knew, that we realize that God is watching and weighing our actions, our thoughts, our motives, and our sin ultimately is against him.

And number two, the second part of this account of Joseph fleeing is overcoming sexual temptation requires you obey by fleeing. Leave the room. Get out of the car. Make no provision for the flesh.

Discard your phone or your computer if you have to. You need to get out of there. So what happens to Joseph for doing the right thing? He reasoned correctly with her. He fled sexual temptation. Well, don't expect to be praised for doing the right thing, and that's exactly what happened to Joseph. His rejection of Potiphar's wife turns into her trying to seek revenge on him. It says in verse 13, Genesis 39, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside, she called to the men of her household and said to them, See, he, my husband, blaming her husband, has brought in a Hebrew to us to make sport of us. He came into me to lie with me, it's a bald-faced lie, and I screamed, another lie, when he heard that I raised my voice and screamed, another lie, he left his garment beside me and fled and went outside. So she left his garment beside her until his master, Potiphar, her husband, came home. Then she spoke to her husband with these words, The Hebrew slave whom you brought to us came into me to make sport of me. In other words, he tried to rape me, another lie, and as I raised my voice and screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled outside. Notice how she's blaming him. This Hebrew slave whom you brought to us came in to make sport of me.

This is your fault for bringing him here. Now in verse 19, Potiphar makes the very bad decision without looking into the situation, trusting his wife before getting any other evidence, talking to Joseph when his master heard the words of his wife, when she spoke to him saying, This is what your slave did to me, his anger burned. So Joseph's master took him and put him into the jail, the place where the king's prisoners were confined, and he was there in the jail. And this is why the Me Too movement with I Believe Her should never be assumed. We can never assume someone is telling the truth about some sexual offense that they say they've received. We must always do what the Bible says and gather evidence.

Things must be proven before we punish people for sins they may or may not have done. I want to just point out one more thing at the end of this chapter that doesn't have to do with sexual morality, but the chapter started out by saying how favored and blessed Joseph was. Well, as we go to the end of Genesis 39, Joseph has been sold into slavery by his brothers and falsely accused of raping his master's wife.

He's in jail. Look what it says about Joseph. But the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer. The chief jailer committed to Joseph charge all the prisoners who were in the jail so that whatever was done there, he, Joseph, was responsible for it. The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph's charge because the Lord was with him and whatever he did, the Lord made to prosper.

I mean, it's just amazing. This chapter, Genesis 39, it starts out Joseph is successful. He's favored. He's being blessed. The house of Potiphar is being blessed on account of Joseph being there because the Lord is with him. You go through this whole sexual temptation with Potiphar's wife. He gets thrown in jail. And where do we end up at the end of the chapter?

The same place as at the beginning. God is causing all things to work. All things to work together for good to those who love God, Joseph to those who are called according to his purpose. The Lord was there with Joseph, even though he was in jail, being treated in a treacherous way by his brothers, being lied to by Potiphar's wife, being falsely accused and imprisoned.

God was allowing all of this, not just because Joseph was favored and God was blessing him, but because God was using this situation or would use this situation to ultimately bring Joseph to the head of the land just under Pharaoh and save Joseph's family and his father in the land of Canaan, where there's going to be a huge famine over this entire region. The Christian Worldview with David Wheaton returns in just a moment. David Wheaton here, host of the Christian Worldview. For over 15 years, our mission has been to sharpen the biblical worldview of Christians and to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. We pursue that mission on air through radio programs, in-person hosting events, and online through audio, video and print resources. We are an all-volunteer ministry, but have monthly operating expenses, the most significant being the cost of airtime on the station, website or app on which you hear the radio program. We are looking for monthly partners so that each station or website is supported by its own listeners.

The level of financial support for a given outlet is a key decision point whether we continue paying to broadcast there. To become a monthly partner of any amount, call us toll-free 1-888-646-2233 or visit thechristianworldview.org. Thank you for listening to and supporting the Christian Worldview.

program. These bite-sized highlights are great for those who don't have time to listen to the full 54-minute broadcast. Short takes can be heard at our website, podcast feed and our social media pages on Facebook and YouTube. For more updates, program previews and resources, be sure to sign up for our free weekly email by visiting thechristianworldview.org or calling 1-888-646-2233. That's 1-888-646-2233 or visiting thechristianworldview.org. Thanks for joining us on the Christian Worldview. Just a reminder that today's program and past programs are archived at our website thechristianworldview.org. Short takes are also available and be sure to share with others.

Now back to today's program with host David Wheaton. Let's just summarize here about how to overcome sexual immorality. Just some bullet points looking at this life of Joseph. First of all, number one, to overcome sexual immorality, you must be saved. In other words, if you don't have the indwelling Holy Spirit, you don't even have the potential, the power inside of you to be able to overcome sexual immorality. Romans 8 said, the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God, for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so. For those who are in the flesh cannot please God. So if you are listening today and you understand now what sexual purity is versus sexual immorality, all has to do with marriage, of course, one man, one woman, marriage, and you're feeling convicted over the fact that I'm involved in sexual immorality, I'm sinning against God, I'm doing this great evil against God, and I can't overcome and I can't help myself, I'm enslaved to it.

I'm enslaved to pornography or living with my boyfriend or girlfriend in unrepentant sexual sin. Here's the good news, that God is offering to restore you, reconcile you to himself. And when you come to the point of realizing or confessing, agreeing with God about your sin, confessing it to him, yes, God, you're right, I am sinning against you, I deserve judgment, I repent of that, help me go in a whole new direction, I believe in who you are and who your son is, that you sent your son to earth to live a perfect life so that he could be the perfect sacrifice and pay the penalty. I deserve to pay for my own sin in that through that payment that Christ made in the cross that your wrath and your justice is completely satisfied for all my sexual immorality against you, I trust in him fully, not any of my own works, but trust in Christ for salvation and eternal life. The good news is God will forgive you, he will reconcile you to him and all of your past immoralities he will forgive.

And as far as the east is from the west, so far will he remove your transgressions from you. And when you are saved, you are born again, as Jesus said in John 3-3, you must be born again, spiritually born again, God gives you this incredible gift of his Holy Spirit to indwell you so that you have the power to be able to overcome sexual immorality in the future going forward. You remember that verse I read earlier from 1 Corinthians chapter 6, do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God, don't be deceived, neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor effeminate nor homosexuals, and it goes on, will inherit the kingdom of God?

Well I didn't read the next verse, and here's the verse of hope. If you've been one of those persons and you repent and believe in who Christ is and what he did for you, you believe in him, it says this in verse 11, such were some of you, but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. In other words, that can be in your past, that can be who you were, and you can be one who is washed in the blood of Christ, who's sanctified, made holy, and you can be justified, declared righteous, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

What a powerful message of good news, that if you are involved in sexual immorality, God is willing to forgive you and rescue you. So not only must we be saved, but also we must be being, if I can say that, being sanctified. It's an ongoing process of pursuing holiness in Christlikeness. Romans chapter 12 says, Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, and here's the key phrase, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. So here's the being sanctified part. In other words, once you're saved, the whole point of the Christian life is to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

So how do we do that? Well, we don't get conformed to the world and its ways of being sexually immoral, but we're transformed, we're changed by the renewing, making new again, renewing of our minds. We're in the Word and we're letting God's Word change the way we think about who God is, about who we are, understanding what sexual immorality is, and how to overcome it. So it's being saved through repenting and believing in who Christ is, it's being sanctified, pursuing holiness or Christlikeness, that's the foundation, and then it's really committing to sexual purity in our life, knowing that it can be overcome. If you have been involved in sexual immorality, it's never too late to start.

Repent of it, get right with God, and commit to being sexually pure. And this is where I believe the evangelical church today has compromised so much and relinquished God's standard on this issue of sexual purity. There's so little teaching, and there's a lot of looking away on this particular topic, and there shouldn't be. This is a big topic.

This destroys people's lives. You hear in the church all the time, just people don't even know, they're professing Christians, they don't know what sexual purity is, they don't know that living together before marriage is wrong according to what God says in His Word. They haven't been taught this perhaps in the youth group at church, or they don't think it's a big deal. Maybe they've just seen it so much in the church, divorce is kind of overlooked, people living together is overlooked, so there's no church discipline, so it's really not that big of a deal. Or maybe they think it's just impossible to overcome.

They see everyone's doing it in our culture, so therefore what's the big deal? It's just a physical transaction, correct? And so there has to be this commitment. You have to want to be—I mean, this is kind of an obvious point—but you have to want to be sexually pure and overcome sexual immorality in order to overcome it.

You can't just be, well, maybe or maybe not, I'll see how it goes. No, there has to be a commitment to it. You not only have to commit to it, but you have to know it can be overcome. This verse we've been reading the last couple weeks is from 1 Corinthians 10 13. No temptation—this is a very hope-inducing promise—no temptation, including sexual temptation, has overtaken you, but such as is common to man, and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. You should know from just this passage that God will not allow you to be tempted sexually beyond what you are able to endure, but even more than that, with the temptation, he will also provide a way of escape from the temptation so that you can overcome it.

I mean, that's incredible news. We have responsibility here, though. Again, the idea of driving down a freeway and we're going toward the destination of sin, God will provide off-ramps to get off that freeway, but we have to choose to take him. He's not going to pull us off or make us drive off the road.

He'll provide those off-ramps, those ways of escape, but we have to choose to take them. Be saved, being sanctified, committing to sexual purity, and just a couple more quick ones, you need to guard your eyes and your thoughts. So much of sexual temptation comes into our eyes, or even if it doesn't come through our eyes, it just comes into our minds.

We live in a fallen body, a fallen, unredeemed human flesh, and that's never going to change. Even if you're born again, we still have this flesh with its own desires, its own sinful desires, and we need to guard our eyes and guard our thoughts. Scripture says about Job, the great righteous man Job, that he made a covenant with his eyes that he would not look at a woman to lust for her. We need to learn how to divert our eyes. You really can't even avoid seeing something that's sexually tempting in the world we live in. Like I said, you can go to a Christian website and there will be pictures, ads coming up all over the website of sensual images, but we need to learn to divert our eyes. When we see that, recognize it's not wrong to just see it. The wrong part, the sinful part, comes when we linger on it and then start to lust about it.

Imagine it. So we need to radically divert our eyes when we see sensual images. We need to dress with discretion.

The dress is a big thing. If you're dressing to attract attention to anything but your face, you're aiding someone else to lust with their eyes. And then with our thoughts, we need to recognize sin, recognize a tempting thought, and replace it with a truth of Scripture. You need to take every thought, as the Bible says, captive to the obedience of Christ. We need to recognize that a tempting thought is coming and say, flee fornication. Every other sin a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body.

In other words, we need to have some passages of Scripture that are replacers, the replacers when we recognize that a tempting thought is coming our way. So be saved, being sanctified, commit to sexual purity, guard your eyes and thoughts. Number five is don't feed your flesh. The Bible says, make no provision for your flesh. We're all very environmentally sensitive.

And what I mean by that is, you go to a funeral, you feel a sense of sobriety, you go to a party, you go to a sporting event, there's a sense of excitement and drama and so forth. It's the same thing with sexual environments. You go to the wrong kinds of places, put yourselves in the wrong kinds of situations, you are not going to be strong enough in your own flesh to be able to overcome it. So don't feed your flesh, don't put yourselves in front of screens, phones, movie theaters, rooms, situations with the opposite sex or even the same sex if you have that particular sinful desire. Don't put yourself in environments or situations that are ripe for sexual immorality. Next bullet point is to do like Joseph, flee fornication.

That's what it says. It's the only sin we're not to face. I won't belabor that one, but that's an important one.

Get away, get out of there. Don't need to try to reason with anyone, just remove yourself from the situation. Next point is, have an accountability partner or partners that are going to hold you accountable. I think these can be important and very helpful, but we also realize that accountability partners can be fooled as well. We can deceive them, so that's not a fail-safe plan. More than an accountability partner of a fellow human being, realize that God is watching and weighing what you're doing.

Look vertically, realize you're accountable to God. And the final point I'm gonna make is, get married. In 1 Corinthians 7, Paul writes to the Corinthians, and that town was like our society today. It was full of sexual temptation and all kinds of sexual immorality. And so what does Paul write to the Corinthian believers? He says, now concerning the things about what you wrote, it is good for a man not to touch a woman. In other words, don't be involved sexually with someone who's not your wife or husband. Verse 2, but because of immorality, each man is to have his own wife, and each woman is to have her own husband. In other words, to avoid immorality, you should strive to be married if you don't have the gift of singleness, which we'll talk about in a second. Verse 3, the husband must fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband, saying, when you're husband and wife, you should and must be involved in a sexually intimate way. Skipping down to verse 6, but this I say by way of concession, not of command.

What does he mean by that? Well, verse 7, yet I wish that all men were even as I myself in. He's single. However, each man has his own gift from God, one in this manner and another in that. In other words, some have, most have, will have a desire to be married. Some, a minority, will have a gift of singleness, and both are okay. Verse 8, but I say to the unmarried and to widows that it is good for them if they remain even as I, single. Verse 9, here's the last verse, but if they do not have self-control, let them marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion. So that's why this final point is, get married. If you have a desire, a strong desire for sexual intimacy, don't try to rate 15 years to get married.

Don't try to wait till you're a certain age. Find a fellow believer, key point there, find a fellow believer with whom you can be compatible with in marriage, and that's a whole other topic in itself, but get married. Because again, this passage said, sexual immorality is a sin to avoid. Marriage is God's design for this sexual relationship. It's good to remain single and celibate if you have self-control, and sexual desire will vary according to people in life. Some have more, some have less, but if you don't have self-control, if you don't think you can hold off on this, then get married to another believer. And this is another thing I think the Church could teach, pastors could teach better today, is preparing young people to get married early on when they're prepared, and find a fellow believer to marry.

Okay, so I'm just gonna repeat the game plan one more time. To overcome sexual immorality, never one, you must be saved through placing your faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ on your behalf. When that occurs, God gives you His Holy Spirit, which is a supernatural power inside of you, giving you the ability, the opportunity to be able to overcome your fallen nature. Number two, you are being sanctified, becoming more holy through being in a close daily relationship with God, through reading His Word and prayer and being under sound biblical teaching. Number three, you must be committed to sexual purity, knowing that you can, with God's help, can overcome it.

It's not impossible to overcome. Number four, you must guard your eyes and your thoughts, taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, diverting your eyes from anything that would lead you to sin. Number five is, don't feed your flesh, don't make any provision for your flesh, don't put yourself in sensual situations where sexual immorality is a possibility. Number six is, if you find yourself in a situation, flee fornication, get out of there. We're not to confront it, we're to flee from sexual immorality.

Number seven is, get an accountability partner if that could be helpful. And finally, number eight, get married but in the Lord, unless, of course, you have the gift of singleness. Time went really fast today and I wish we had more of it, but hopefully it gave you some biblical foundation to think about and consider and some really concrete things to be able to overcome sexual immorality, because we do live in a world that is full of sexual temptation and full of sexual immorality.

It's not just there, but it's affirmed. If you believe the biblical model for sexual purity, you're a hater, you're actually evil today in this world, you're a discriminator. But we can be encouraged by what the Bible says. Jesus Christ and His Word, they're the same yesterday and today and forever.

They've never changed on the issue of what God's standard is for this beautiful gift of sex that He designed to be enjoyed and used for procreation, intimacy, and unity within the boundaries of marriage between one man and one woman. Thank you for joining us today on the Christian worldview. Until next time, think biblically, live accordingly, and stand firm. The mission of the Christian worldview is to sharpen the biblical worldview of Christians and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. We hope today's broadcast encouraged you toward that end. To hear a replay of today's program or to sign up for our free weekly email or to find out what must I do to be saved, go to our website thechristianworldview.org or call us toll free at 1-888-646-2233. The Christian worldview is a listener supported ministry and furnished by the Overcomer Foundation, a nonprofit organization. You can find out more, order resources, make a donation, become a monthly partner, and contact us by visiting thechristianworldview.org, calling toll free 1-888-646-2233, or writing to Box 401 Excelsior, Minnesota 55331. That's Box 401 Excelsior, Minnesota 55331. Thanks for listening to the Christian worldview. Until next time, think biblically and live accordingly.