Lesson 30

When God first made man, he made them male and female.
He brought the woman, Eve, to Adam, so that they could live as man and wife (Genesis 2:21-24).
Within this marriage of the first man and woman, sexual union between man and woman was righteous in God's sight.

Sexual union is thus not a sinful act when conducted between a married couple.
God created sex and God ordained marriage between men and women.
Sex and marriage are therefore not evil or dirty, but God's plan for man.
It is our perversion and abuse of sex that brings upon man God's wrath and judgment.

God wants His people to lives that are sexually pure (Hebrews 13:4; Titus 2:5).
We are not to pervert the gift of sex to satisfy our lust and passions.
We must refrain from all acts and thoughts that incite desire not in accordance with our single status or our marriage vows.

Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept PURE, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. 
                                                                                                               (Hebrews 13:4)

Then they (the older women) can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be SELF-CONTROLLED AND PURE, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.                                                 (Titus 2:4-5)

Our Lord Jesus reminded the Jews that it was God who brought man and woman together in marriage (Matthew 19:4-6).
He reaffirmed that because of this, sexual union between man and woman within marriage is an act blessed by God.

"Haven't you read," He replied, "that at the beginning the Creator made them male and female, and said, 'For this reason a man will leave His father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate."         (Matthew 19:4-6)

Any form of sexual union outside of a marriage is a violation of God's law.
God' word forbids man to commit the following acts of sexual immorality:

Marriage is a life-long covenant commitment between a man and a woman.
Sexual union within marriage is an expression of this commitment.

Fornication is pre-marital sex, sexual union between unmarried person.
It is an act between two persons that seeks the pleasure of sexual union without the desire for commitment to one another.
This sinful act violates God's purpose for sex in marriage.

Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.                                (Hebrews 13:4)

Adultery is sexual union between a person who is married with a person who is not the spouse.
The married person who commits adultery thus breaks his covenant commitment to his own spouse, and sin against God.

You shall not commit adultery.                                                      (Exodus 20:14)

If a man commits adultery with another man's wife - with the wife of his neighbor - both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.
                                                                                                             (Leviticus 20:10)

Sexual relations between persons of the same sex are forbidden by God.
Homosexual relations are a perversion of the sexual relationship that God has ordained for a man and a woman within the bounds of marriage.

If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their head.                                                                                   (Leviticus 20:15)

Sexual relations between man and animal is forbidden by God.
It is a perversion of the normal us of sex that has been ordained by God.

If a man has sexual relations with an animal, he must be put to death, and you must kill the animal.                                                       (Leviticus 20:15)

Concerning sexual impurity, God has also declared that marriage to a close relative is a sin.
These relatives include one's mother, father's wife, sister, step-sister, daughter-in-law, father's or mother's sister, uncle's wife, sister-in-law.
Marriage to a close relative will bring dishonor to the father, mother or husband of the girl that is involved in the marriage.

No one is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations. I am the LORD.
Do not dishonor your father by having sexual relations with your mother. She is your mother; do not have relations with her. 
                                                                                                            (Leviticus 18:6-7)

God laws on sexual conduct are all moral laws, applicable to all men at all time, both under the Old as well as the New Testament.
In fact, under the New Testament, our Lord has set an even higher standard of sexual conduct as compared to that under the Old Testament (Matthew 5:27-28).
Here, even a sexually impure though is a sin in God's sight.

"You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' But  I tell you that anyone who looks a women lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart."                                                  (Matthew 5:27-28)

God warned His people Israel when they enter the Promised Land (Canaan), they are not to practice any of the sexually immoral practices of the inhabitants of the land.
The people and the land have become unclean (defiled) because of such practices.
Because of these sins, God punished the Canaanites and drove them from off the land (Leviticus 18:1-30).

No one is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations. I am the LORD.
Do not dishonor your father by having sexual relations with your mother. She is your mother; do not have relations with her.

Do not lie with a man as one lies with a women; that is detestable.

Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out before you became defiled.
Even the land was defiled; so I punished it for its sin, and the land vomited out its inhabitants.

But you must keep my decrees and my laws. The native-born and the alien living among you must not do any of these detestable things, for all these things were done by the people who lived in the land before you, and the land became defiled. and if you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it vomited the nations that were before you.

Everyone who does any of these detestable things - such persons must be cut off from the people.                                (Leviticus 18:6-7, 22, 24-29)

God's people who commit acts of sexual immorality will be put to death under the Mosaic Law.
If the whole nation defiled themselves with sexually immorality, then the whole nation will lose its inheritance.

Likewise, for believers under the New Covenant, sexual immorality brings us under a judgment of death - spiritual, social, emotional and physical death.
God will cut us off from His people, through shame, ridicule and expulsion.

In the New Testament, God warns that all those who are sexually immoral will lose their inheritance if they do not repent (1 Corinthians 6:9; Galatians 5:19-21).
They will be separated from the salvation and blessings of God.

Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters not adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers with inherit the kingdom of God.                                                                   (1 Corinthians 6:9)

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. 
                                                                                                         (Galatians 5:19-21)

God has judged various persons, cities, and nations for their sexual immorality in the Old Testament, e.g.

He will continue to do so today; God does not change.

God hates sexual immorality, especially adultery.
This is because the consequences of adultery are far-reaching, destroying the very fabric of the individual, the family, and society itself.
These consequences are an expression of God's judgment on adultery in a society.

Although "stolen water is sweet," it ultimately brings death and destruction to the individuals involved and to other innocent parties (Proverbs 9:13-17; 7:1-27).

When a man goes from one sexual partner to another, he will ultimately suffer the physical destruction of his body. God will not protect him.
He will die from sexually transmitted diseases from which there will be no cure (including syphilis, gonorrhea, AIDS, etc).
His suffering and early death will be a financial and emotional burden for his family and children, if he has any.

All at once he followed her (an adulteress)
     like an ox going to the slaughter,
like a deer stepping into a noose
     till an arrow pierces his liver,
like a bird darting into a snare,
     little knowing it will cost him his life.                                  (Proverbs 7:22-23)

Those who indulge in illicit sexual unions have no desire to fulfill their responsibilities when a pregnancy takes place.
Otherwise, they would have married their sex partners.
When a pregnancy occurs, the woman will be abandoned, and the child that is born will suffer from hurts, bitterness and rejection.

A society which promote sexual permissiveness is thus breeding citizens who are unwilling to bear the responsibility for their own actions.
With such citizens, it will not be long before that society falls apart.

The land is full of adulterers;
     because of the curse the land lies parched
     and the pastures in the desert are withered.                     (Jeremiah 23:10)

An adulterer, by his unfaithfulness to his wife, has broken the covenant vows he made to his spouse (Malachi 2:14).
By his action, he has shown that he is a person who cannot be trusted.
If he has been unfaithful to his own wife, he will also not be expected to fulfill any other promise he makes.

As a result, an adulterer will find it difficult to regain the trust of others.
He will bear shame for the rest of his life (Proverbs 6:32-33).
His reputation is permanently blemished.

But a man who commits adultery lacks judgment,
     whoever does so destroys himself,
Blows and disgrace are his lot
     and his SHAME will never be wiped away.                      (Proverbs 6:32-33)

That is why the word of God demands that a leader in the church must be a husband of one wife only (1 Timothy 3:2).
He must be a man who has remained faithful to his wife.
Otherwise, no one will respect him as a leader. His words will have no moral authority.

Now an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, ...                                                                                                            (1 Timothy 3:2)

When a spouse commits adultery, he has broken his covenant commitment to that marriage. He has violated the holiness and integrity of the family.
The family will break down eventually, unless God intervenes.

Otherwise, the innocent spouse can become bitter over the betrayal, while the children will feel hurt, abandoned and rejected.
Such children will grow up insecure, unstable and rebellious, and will take their revenge on both parents and society in the end.

E.g. Because of David's adultery with Bethsheba, God pronounced judgment that involved turmoil and strife in his own family (2 Samuel 12:7-18; 13:7-29; 16:22).
One of his sons raped a half-sister, while another (Absalom) violated David's wives.

As children of God, we must honor God by keeping ourselves sexually pure.
God has given us His word to keep us from falling into sexual sin.
As we obey these instructions, we will live a life pleasing to God.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 1:7; 9:10).
Do not despise God's word, or treat God's warnings with contempt or scorn.
God judged King David because he despised God's word (2 Samuel 12:10-11).
Do not say, "God is old-fashioned," an do as your lust lead you to.
Obey God's word, and His blessings will over take you (Deuteronomy 28:1-14 NKJ).

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,
     but fools despise wisdom and discipline.                              (Proverbs 1:7)

Our eyes are a gate to our emotions and desires.
We must set a watch over our eyes so that impure desires are not aroused.
We must make a stand never to read pornographic books, watch pornographic tapes and photos, or look lustfully at a girl, as Job did (Job 31:1; Matthew 5:29-30).

"I made a covenant with my eyes
     not to look lustfully at a girl."                                                            (Job 31:1)

Always set your thoughts on things are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8).
In this way, the God of peace will be with you.

Never keep your mind or body idle (e.g. King David in 2 Samuel 11:1-5).
Otherwise, you will be easily tempted by the devil to lust after another person, and so commit adultery in your heart or in your body (Matthew 5:27-28; 2 Samuel 11:1-5).

Paul exhorted Timothy to "treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity" (1 Timothy 5:1-2).
In other words, when a man deals with a lady, "there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality" (Ephesians 5:3).

To safeguard himself and the other party, a man must not meet secretly with  a woman or counsel her alone, unless she is his wife or fiancée.

Flee from every temptation to sin, whether sexual sins or otherwise.
Do not hesitate to run away from any situation which will lead us to sin against God.
Instead, we must keep ourselves occupied with the things of God. (2 Timothy 2:22).

Flee from the evil desires of youth, and pursue after righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.                                                                                        (2 Timothy 2:22)

This was what Joseph did when Potiphar, his master's wife, tried to seduce him day after day. Joseph ran from the temptation to sin (Genesis 39:1-15).
And God honored him and exalted him to the governorship of the land of Egypt.

And though she (Potiphar) spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.
One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. She caught him by his cloak and said, "Come to bed with me!" But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.                                                                                      (Genesis 39:10-12)

Your thought

1. What are the factors contributing to the rise of sexual immorality in your country and in other countries of the world? Read Romans 1:21-32 for a major cause.
   (E.g. Every year, hundreds of thousands of tee-pregnancies occur in the US, while millions of Asian boys and girls are sold into child prostitution, Why is this so?)

2. How do we go about establishing righteousness in sexual conduct in our society?

3. How does sexual immorality affect society in the long term?

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