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Sexual sin covers a lot of topics and affects millions of people, but it’s important to know that any sin is an issue of the heart, and is disobedience to a holy God. Sin damages our relationship with Jesus Christ. Sexual sin has consequences and hurts people around us, and it brings guilt, shame, and often self-condemnation.
How do we gain the victory over this giant in many of our lives? Not on our own, that’s for sure!
To make things worse, in modern times, we are bombarded with sexual ideas and images. The world would have us believe any kind of sexual gratification is normal and healthy. Satan would have us believe the lie that we deserve to be happy – which includes acting on practically any form of sexual expression to fulfill our lustful desires.
From Hollywood and the media to Television and the Internet, we can’t get away from the assault of sexual imagery. But as Christians, it’s what we do with those temptations and how/if we act on them, giving into sin. Don’t give up, there is hope!
TODAY’S GUEST – Josh Parise
At Ephesians 5 Ministries we know that lasting freedom and comfort come only through the Good News of Jesus Christ, because we have faced the struggle of sexual sin and marital betrayal first hand. Our desire is to come alongside individuals and couples, equipped with the power of the Gospel, during seasons of struggle, difficulty and confusion. Those interested in seeking help through Ephesians 5 Ministries will benefit from intense bible study, support, discipleship and accountability.
Ephesians 5 states:
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil… submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. (Ephesians 5:15-16, 21)
SIX MYTHS ABOUT SEXUAL SIN (addressed and explained during today’s podcast)
- All sex is bad or wrong
- A little lust or porn won’t hurt – after all, everyone does it!
- Masturbation (aka “self-sex”) is okay
- Everything in my life is fine – I just have a problem with sexual sin
- If I love Jesus enough, I won’t be tempted
- I can keep my sexual sin a secret and overcome it on my own
STAGGERING (PORN) STATS: 68% of church-going men and over 50% of pastors view pornography on a regular basis. Of young Christian adults 18-24 years-old, 76% actively search for porn.
SCRIPTURES:
But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. 4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. Ephesians 5:3-4 (NIV)
And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. 12 Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!” Revelation 12:11-12
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
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; 28 but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell. Matthew 5:27-30
ARTICLES & RESOURCES
8 Bible verses about sex, purity, lust, and temptation
35 Bible Verses about Sexual Purity
NE Wisconsin, Ephesians 5 Ministry