Standards of Sexual Morality

Believers,
first and foremost, must be
morally and sexually pure.

• (II Corinthians 11:2; Titus 2:5; 1 Peter 3:2). The word 'pure" or "chaste" means to be free from all taint of that which is lewd. It suggests refraining from all acts and thoughts that incite desire not in accordance with one's virginity or one's marriage vows. It stresses restraint and avoidance of all sexual actions and excitements that would defile, debase, or cheapen one's purity before God.
  
  
• (I Thessalonians 4:4-5). It includes controlling one's own body "in sanctification and honour" and not in "lust". This instruction of Scripture is for both those who are single and those married.
  
  

With regard to the Biblical teaching
concerning sexual morality,
note the following:

1. Sexual intimacy is reserved for the marriage relationship and is approved and blessed by God only in that state.
   
   Genesis 2:24 tells us that God ordained marriage and the family unit as the first and most important institution on earth. God's plan for marriage consists of one male and one female who become one flesh united physically and spiritually. This excludes adultery, polygamy, homosexuality, immoral living, and unscriptural divorce. The physical and emotional pleasures resulting from a faithful marriage relationship are ordained by God and held in honor by Him.
   
   
2. Adultery, fornication, homosexuality, sensuality, impure desire, and degrading passions are considered grave sins in the sight of God since they are a transgression of His law (Exodus 20:14) and a defiling of the marriage relationship. Such sins are severely condemned in Scripture (Proverbs 5:3-7) and exclude the guilty from the kingdom of God (Romans 1:24-32; I Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 5:19-21)
   
   
   1. Exodus 20:14 Thou shalt not commit adultery. This seventh commandment prohibiting adultery (Leviticus 20:10; Deuteronomy. 22:22) encompasses immorality and all sexual sins (Matthew 5:27-32; I Corinthians 6:13-20). Adultery is so abominable in God's sight that the Bible everywhere condemns its practice.
      
      The Bible teaches the following concerning adultery:
      
      
      1. It transgresses God's moral law as expressed in the Ten Commandments.
         
         
      2. In the O.T. law, it was punishable by death (Leviticus 20:10; Deuteronomy 22:22).
         
         
      3. It brings permanent and serious consequences (II Samuel 11:1-17; 12:14; jeremiah 23:10-11; I Corinthians 6:16-18); the one committing adultery will carry reproach for the rest of his or her life (Proverbs 6:32-33).
         
         
      4. Adultery is an especially heinous sin when committed by leaders of God's people. If and when they commit this sin, it is equivalent to despising God's word and the Lord Himself (2 Samuel 12:9-10). By marital unfaithfulness professed believers disqualify themselves from being chosen for or continuing in church leadership. Note how in the Old Testament, adultery filled the land because of the influence of profane prophets and priests Jeremiah 23:10-14; 29:23).
         
         
      5. Adultery and promiscuous sex among the leaders and members of God's people are normally the result of prior spiritual adultery, i.e., unfaithfdness to God (Hosea 4:13-14; 9:l.
         
         
      6. Adultery begins as a desire in the heart before it is expressed as a physical act. Lust is clearly regarded as sin in the Bible Job 31:1,7; Matthew 5:28).
         
         
      7. Adultery is a sin of such magnitude and consequence that it gives the innocent person the right to end the marriage by divorce (Matthew 19:9; Mark 10:11).
         Read my study on Marriage and Divorce
         
         
      8. Sexual immorality within the church must be disciplined and never tolerated (I Corinthians 5:1-13).
         
         
      9. Unrepentant adulterers have no inheritance in the kingdom of God, They are separated from the life and salvation of God (I Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 5:19-21).
         
         
   2. The two following scriptures warn us that sexual immorality is one of the things that will prevent a person from inheriting the kingdom of God.
      
      
      1. I Corinthians 6:9-10
         
         
      2. Galatians 5:19-21
         
         
3. Sexual immorality and impurity include not only forbidden intercourse or consummated acts, but also involve any act of sexual gratification with another person other than one's marriage partner, achieved by uncovering or exploring the nakedness of that person. The contemporary teaching that sexual intimacy among 'committed" unmarried youth and adults is acceptable as long as it stops short of full sexual union is contrary to the holiness of God and the Biblical standard of purity. God explicitly prohibits the "uncovering of the nakedness" or "seeing the nakedness" of anyone who is not a lawful wife or husband (Leviticus 18:6-30; 20:11,17,19-21).
   
   
4. The believer must exercise self-control and steadfast restraint with reference to all sexual matters before marriage. To justify premarital intimacy in the name of Christ merely on the ground of a real or a felt commitment" to another flagrantly compromises God's holy standards with the world's impure ways and, in effect, justifies immorality. After marriage, sexual intimacy must be confined to one's marriage partner. One's faith commitment to God's will opens the way to receiving the power of self-control. (Galatians 5:22-25).
   
   
5. Biblical terms used for sexual immorality, describing the breadth of its evil, are as follows:
   
   
   1. Fornication (Gk. porneia) describes a wide variety of sexual activities (both before and after marriage) including harlotry, adultery, and incest. Any intimate sexual activity or play outside the marriage relationship, including the touching of the intimate parts of the body or viewing the nakedness of another person, is included in this term and is clearly a transgression of God's moral standards for His people (Leviticus 18:6-30; Leviticus 20:11-12,17,19-21; Matthew 5:32, Matthew 19:9; I Corinthians 6:18; I Thessalonians 4:3).
      
      
   2. Lasciviousness (Gk. aselgeia) denotes the absence of clear moral principles, specifically, disregard of sexual reserve and restraint that maintains pure and chaste behavior. It includes the inclination toward indulging in or arousing sinful lust, and thus is a partaking in Biblically unjustifiable conduct (Galatians 5:19; Ephesians 4:19; I Peter 4:3; II Peter 2:2,18).
      
      
   3. Defraud (Gk. pleonekteo) means to deprive another of the moral purity and chastity that God desires for that person in order to satisfy one's own self-centered desires. To arouse sexual desires in someone which cannot be righteously fulfilled is defrauding that person (I Thessalonians 4:6; Ephesians 4:19).
      
      
   4. Lust (Gk. epithumia) is having an immoral desire which one would fulfill if the opportunity arose (Matthew 5:28; Ephesians 4:19,22; I Peter 4:3; II Peter 2:18).