As part of our walk through the book of Ephesians, God’s Word talks about what allegiance to Jesus looks like practically. Jesus says ”yes” to so many areas of our lives. We enjoy freedom and forgiveness in His presence. Realizing this, when we see Jesus instructing us to stay away from something, we must take into account there is a good reason. Therefore, His loving ”no” is always something to dig deeper into when we do not agree.
During the message, I hope is to give us three ideas to think about:
- In Ephesians 5, sexual immorality is not just about the LGBTQ+ lifestyle. It is about all sex outside of God’s ordained design. This is male and female in the context of marriage. Therefore pornography, affairs, fornication, etc are all also not God’s good and holy design. The goal of sexuality is not to be homosexual or heterosexual. The goal is Holy Sexuality.
- Sex is actually a gift from God meant to be freely expressed within the security and protection of a committed marriage relationship. It is one of the most intimate ways two people can be together. So, God is protecting this deep revealing of oneself.
- The church has done a TERRIBLE job of speaking the truth in love on these issues. Therefore, people who are far from God have been left confused or misinformed.
- This is not simply a ”stop it” type of situation. There are so many things fighting against someone who is struggling with this type of sin issue. Therefore, the goal of the church is to be safe, kind, patient, loving, honest, and to provide places for people to find healthy relationships.
This the tip of the iceberg in a really long conversation about God’s proper view of sexuality. Below are some resources intended to help you further the conversation. While, sexual immorality covers a wide range of sexual addictions and actions, the highest profile cultural issue is with the LBGTQ+ lifestyle. Therefore, most of the resources below are for your consideration. When studying this topic, be sure to widen your research to cover more than this one topic.
Holy Sexuality (Christopher Yuan)
The Gospel Comes with a House Key (Rosaria Butterfield)
Gay Girl, Good God (Jackie Hill Perry)
A Change of Affection (Becket Cook)
People to Be Loved (Preston Sprinkle)
Finally Free: Fighting for Purity with the Power of Grace by Heath Lambert
Sexual Temptation for Heterosexuality–
Every Man’s Battle (Stephen Arterburn)
Every Woman’s Battle: Discovering God’s Plan for Sexual and Emotional Fulfillment (Shannon Ethridge)
