Short Take #4: Turning from Sexual Sin

Here is another short take from The Christian Worldview with David Wheaton. If you are listening today and you understand now what sexual purity is versus sexual immorality, it 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, God is offering to restore you, reconcile you to himself, and when you come to the point of realizing and 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'll 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, 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 Christ-likeness. That's the foundation and then it's really committing to sexual purity in our life, knowing that it can be overcome. This has been a short take from The Christian Worldview with David Wheaton. To find out more about The Christian Worldview, order resources, make a donation, become a monthly partner or contact us at thechristianworldview.org. You can also call us at toll-free 1-888-646-2233 or write to us at Box 401 Excelsior, Minnesota 55331. That's Box 401 Excelsior, Minnesota 55331.