Sexual Immorality

I wanted to write to this for all men who struggle in anyway shape or form with their eyes, their minds, and their hearts in regards to this topic. This is dedicated to you, may God bless you with this message.
Sexual immorality has been around with every type of culture. Sodom and Gomorrah has sexual immorality as one of its major problems between men and women, men and men, and women and women relations. The Caananites had it in the OT with their orgies and sacred prostitutes. They had these to entice their gods Baal and Ashtart into having sex so it would rain and provide fertile ground. The Greeks had the same: lustful sexual orgies that involved no love but simply gratification. The Romans had them as well, orgies, some bathhouses were used as places of sex between homosexual men.

With sexual immorality we know that biblically its wrong, but not just biblically we know socially it can be very damaging, and mentally we know it can provide alot of hurt. Statistics today say that abstinence is at one of its highest points in US history, but another statistic says that yes they are not having sex but the % of oral sex has gone through the roof.
ADDED 3-3-05:
On msn.com Dr. Patrick Carns (leading doctor on sexual addiction) talks about the growing concern of internet pornography and sexual addiction states that " it creates relationshional problems, destroys marriage, can lead to jail time, violence, abuse to others." He also states that "50% of people coming to him for help are suicidal".
God said the body was not meant for sexual immorality.......

There are many passages of Scripture on this but these are the closely related parts I want to focus on.
Lets see what the Word tells us about sexual immorality:

1 Corinthians 6:12-20
Paul writes this letter to the Corinthians to settle many different topics that they had been completely confused about. He tackles sexual immorality in chapter 6.
Vs. 12
"Everything is permissible for me" but not everything is beneficial. " Everything is permissible for me"--but I will not be mastered by anything.

-Pauls starts with this because the quotations are the sarcasm that Paul is expressing. These could have been an actual quote from the Corinthian letter sent to him. SOme thought they could do anything they pleased, and Paul is countering with the fact that yes anything is permissible BUT it isnt necessarily beneficial. Not being mastered by anything is Pauls response in saying that people get engrained or addicted to their indulges whatever it may be but especially in sexual indulges.

Vs. 13
"The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord...

-Paul has already cut right to the heart of the matter, our bodies werent meant for this immoral behavoir. Look up 1 Thess. 4:7-"For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life." God never intended for the body that He made for you to used for sexual immorality but yet to live holy. (refer. 1 Peter 1:15-16-- "But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do. For it is written: Be holy for I am holy.")

vs. 14-17

Paul uses these verses to explain that since Jesus was resurrected in His body and we will be raised physically with our bodies, and that our bodies are united in Christ we should treat our bodies with honor and holiness. He focuses on the fact that when we engage in sexual things (sex primarily) we are becoming one with their body. Going back to the verse that explains the proper premise(marriage--Hebrews 13:4) for sexual activity between 2 people and that the best model is how we are united with the Lord.

SO what do we do when sexual immorality strikes:

Vs. 18
1. Flee ( other words are: runaway, avoid, get away, leave, skedaddle, vanish) from sexual immorality.
-Well what do you mean leave, flee? Just that get out, leave the place this is occuring, flee the heat of the moment, run away from the opportunity to involve yourself in any sexual immoral way.
He talks of the committing of this sin being against his own body. Scholar have thought that it might have been a Corinthian slogan but more so the fact that when one sins sexually he hurts himself: physically (STD's, AIDS), mentally (rejection, hurt, never filling the void left) and spiritually ( God never intended the body for its use like this therefore its sin which is a wall).


In 1 Thessolonians 4: 3-8 Paul describes the same issue: sexual sin

vs. 3
"it is God's will that you be santified; that you should avoid sexual immorality"
-its not Paul's will, nor evangelicals, your parents, but God's. His will is that you AVOID (flee) sexual immorality!

Vs. 4+5
"that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen who do not know God."

-look at how personal the Word is, that EACH of you, it just doesnt gloss over and make it general but every single person (each one) should learn. Now I love how it says "learn to control" because sexual sin isnt something that just instantly changes. Its like sanctification, or educational learning, it is a journey. To be able to get to a state of control there must be a state of learning how to control. In order to control the urge of sexual sin whether it be mind, or body must be learned and practiced. We know its wrong because its NOT God's will, well then we must learn if not then we will be in passionate lust in a way that we do not know God! If we continue to indulge (like in the Corinthians passage) in sexual sin we are placing ourselves farther from God so much that we look and act like the ones who do not know God.

vs. 6-8
"and in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him."
-Here Paul talks of how sexual sin affects other people and robs (future spouses) the pleasure of virginity with their partner.

"The Lord will punish men for all such sins as we have already told you and warned you. For God did not call us to be impure but to live a holy life."

-Well said God!


THE POINT:

Well simple
1.- God has called us to AVOID sexual sin.
1 Thess. 4:3,7-"God's will that you be santified; that you should avoid sexual immorality.."
"For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life."
1 Cor. 6:13 "body is not meant for sexual immorality"

2. Any time spent lusting, and focusing on sexual sin is time spend not focusing on God, and His awesomeness.
3. This never means you wont be afflicted, this just means that you must be aware of sexual sin where ever you are: TV, movies, magazines, internet, alone time with someone of the opposite sex, and too much time spent alone. ( Look what happened to David when he didnt go off to war like he was supposed to??)
Be aware and then learn to control your mind and body in a way that is holy and honorable. Why? Well its God's will. May God bless you!