How should Christians regard sexual immorality in a society holding numerous different narratives surrounding sex and purity? Why should we approach these issues in a manner that is distinctly Christian, or gospel-centered? In this video, Heath Lambert analyzes two perspectives with which Christians should approach concepts of sexual immorality and purity. Christians must primarily examine the trajectory of society’s perceptions of sexual morality and immorality, and hold them in contrast to Scripture. Once we have established where Scripture stands concerning sexual immorality, Christians must look to Christ as the only one who can free us from the strongholds of impurity.
- Approaching in a Pluralistic Society
- Sexual Immorality Has Staying Power
- Jesus Earned Our Obedience When We Could Not
How Should Christians Think About Sexual Immorality?
So there are two reasons why an approach to sexual immorality needs to be Christian in nature. The first has to do with the trajectory that we’re on. So we live in a pluralistic society where everybody thinks that they get to define what sexual morality and sexual immorality is. In fact, we live in a society where you’d be hard pressed to define sexual immorality at all in the wider culture. And so we need a Christian approach because a Christian approach requires us to look at the Bible to define and understand what the issues are that would define purity at all.
What is Sexual Immorality?
A second reason why we need a Christian approach to purity is because sexual immorality has staying power. I mean, people do it. It has a strong pull. There are people that are watching this right now that are thinking it’s never going to be any different than it is. They feel overwhelmed and they wonder, what is it that is going to be the force that pushes me into a different way of life? And what a Christian approach to purity teaches is that Jesus Christ has lived a perfect life to earn our obedience that we could never earn on our own. He died a brutal death on the cross to pay our penalty for sin, and he rose from the grave to demonstrate his power over sin and death and the devil.
That is the kind of power that people who are watching this need to reach purity. Where are you going to find the resources to break the strangle hold of lust, of impurity, of pornography? Well, those resources are found in the gospel of Jesus Christ who sets us free from sin. And it’s only Christians that can talk about that.
