I am doing a series of messages called BlackOut - Understanding The End Of The Age and this is Part 9. It’s important to listen to the whole series so you get each message in context. If you have not listened to previous lessons I encourage you to do that before you start Part 10.
I’m calling this series of messages BlackOut and basing it on a scripture in Isaiah chapter 60 verse 2 which says: “Behold, darkness shall cover the earth and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you”. The scripture describes a darkness over the earth and a thick darkness upon its inhabitants. However, in the midst of great darkness we have the promise that the glory of God will be seen upon us.
What I am hoping to do through this series of messages is to help give you a framework for understanding our times in light of the word of God. It’s a view that has helped me navigate some complex topics throughout the years up to the present. Deception has become so widespread that it affects all of us today. It’s what compels me to do this series of messages because this series of messages titled “Blackout” is about deception. In a world of confusion, distortion of facts, extremism and outright falsehood the church is supposed to be a place of sound truth. Paul in I Timothy chapter 3 verse 15 called the church “a pillar and foundation of the truth”.
Let me tell you a story that happened in the first couple of years of me first getting saved. I was dramatically saved from addiction at the ate of 19 and just one year after getting delivered from a drug addicted lifestyle I became involved in a Charismatic cult in East Texas. I was there for 2 years. I left disillusioned, confused and grasping to understand. I had become friends with a group of ministers from New York while I was at this church and discipleship school who went back to New York. I was invited by them to go to Long Island and help them plant a church, so I needed to save up some money. I had moved back to Dallas after leaving East Texas and I spent the summer cleaning carpets since I had spent the last few years running a janitorial business.
I grew up in Dallas, so I was familiar with various parts of the city. I was sent out that morning in one of the cleaning vans to do a carpet job just northwest of downtown Dallas. I got off the highway and arrived at a high-rise apartment building. It was the summer of 1991; I was 22 years of age, and I was in good shape. I remember walking into the building and this guy seemed to be checking me out. I really didn’t pay him any attention, but something just felt weird. We got up to the 5th floor of the building and a young guy opened the door, so we set up to clean.
I’m cleaning and as always, I’m observant so I’m looking at pictures in the apartment. I see two guys together in all these pictures and still not really thinking about anything. We finish cleaning and get out into the hallway. All I see is males. We get to the lobby again, all friendly males and again I feel like I’m getting checked out.
To me something felt strange, but it still hasn’t clicked. We packed up and I pull out of the apartment complex. I drive down the road and get to a T in the road with a red light. I’m sitting at the red light when I look up right in front of me is this hot pink modern looking building that says Metropolitan Community Church. At that moment it clicked, and I realized exactly where I was in the middle of one of the biggest same sex districts of Dallas.
Embracing Alternative Sexual Lifestyles: A Controversial Debate in Christianity
I tell this story because in 1991 the sight was like spotting a rare unicorn. Metropolitan Community Church was a forerunner of what is now a large part of the church in America where alternative sexual lifestyles are not just tolerated but celebrated. I could go down a lot of rabbit holes on this subject and volumes of books have been written on both sides of what has become one of the greatest debates of our times.
The question is can you reject the created order and be a faithful believer in Christ? Can you live in, accept, affirm and celebrate alternative sexual lifestyles while saying you are a follower of Christ? The question is important because our sexuality is something that is sacredly tied to the very depths of our hearts and the most intimate parts of our identity.
What I am hoping to do is share my journey of learning how to live in the truth of the love of God that has been demonstrated to us through the redemptive work of the cross. The times in which we live we are seeing the shifting with the sand of every wind of doctrine. We are witnessing the twisting of scriptures and the craftiness of men’s deceitful schemes in open view. It’s confusing to a lot of people. We’ve all watched those who we thought were solid believers walk away from and even denouncing the faith.
What I am hoping to do is help you be grounded in some of the eternal truths by which I’ve learned to live my life in a world going the opposite direction. I’m going to let scriptures speak for themselves because the vast amounts of scriptures speak very clearly on this subject concerning our sexuality.
Let’s start the conversation by talking about something we all share alike which is pain. The pain of sexual abuse is one of the deepest scars that any individual will ever have to endure. I wish it was something rare, but all of us know someone or maybe we have been sexually abused by a family member, a member of the clergy, some other authority figure or we endured a violent sexual incident.
The trauma left upon the soul is something only God can heal. I know because it happened to me. I never believed in repressed memories unconsciously blocked because they are associated with trauma that is too severe to be kept in conscious memory. I always thought it was something a therapist induced, and people just needed a scapegoat to feel better about themselves. Well, I was 33 years old and had been teaching in discipleship schools, a team member on church plants, pastoring churches and on the mission field for over 10 years. I had been active in ministry with a master’s degree in theology and had already written 2 books.
I did not get married until the age of 26 and I was delivered from drugs at the age of 19. I spent 7 years of my life single, and I did not date. I just pursued God and focused all my attention on him. I lived a life free from sexual immorality. I had my struggles, but overall, I lived pursuing God with all my heart. I found victory in Christ because I embraced the cross. Did I still have to struggle with lust? Of course, but I always imagined getting married one day and it would put that to rest.
Well, I was married, but I still struggled with lust and then came the age of the internet. I was 33 and had just left a ministry experience that was unhealthy. I was beaten up, defeated and burned out. As a young teenager I had a problem with porn, and I was sexually awkward. I knew I had a problem but didn’t understand myself. Well at 33 I got on the internet which was new at the time and found some porn. In a short time, I couldn’t control myself. My wife at the time discovered what I was doing. I remember it like it was yesterday, but as I sat at that kitchen table confessing my sin, my mind was flooded with a memory of being sexually abused by a family member at the age of 9.
I never believed in repressed memories until it was mine. I tell this story with one hope in mind and that is to help anyone struggling with sexual sin to know that there is healing in the cross. I’m not talking to you about something that is theoretical, but I want us all to understand that even in our pain we can choose to either turn to the cross or we are going to turn away from God. Yes, it’s going to be a struggle, but the life of faith is about struggle and that’s why it's called the good fight of faith. Eternity is worth the struggle so we must learn to put to death the deeds of the flesh and allow the blood, water and Spirit of God to heal the wounds of our hearts.
The founder of Metropolitan Community Church Troy Perry has a very painful story. His father was a criminal who died when he was 11. He was then abused by his stepfather and dropped out of school by the age of 15 and became a licensed Baptist preacher. He had same sex attractions but married the daughter of his spiritual mentor and pastor. The pastor told him it would resolve his sexual dysfunction. He ended up moving to Los Angeles to pastor a Pentecostal church when his wife discovered a book, he had about same sex attraction.
Troy eventually divorced and was excommunicated from ministry.
After leaving the Pentecostal church he attempted suicide then in 1968 he started the first Metropolitan Community Church. Today there are 222 churches, and it is considered a mainline Protestant church having the Nicene Creed as its statement of faith. Troy Perry is the pioneer of gay theology and has been celebrated by Presidents of the United States and Fortune 500 corporate leaders.
The Danger of Embracing Gnostic Heresy and the Impact of the Sexual Revolution
It seems to me that Perry took his pain and instead of turning to the cross he made a left turn into twisting scripture. He embraced the Gnostic heresy that says gnōsis is the key to salvation and we must learn to embrace our true inner self. Gnosticism teaches that male and female sexual distinctions are of the material creation. What really matters is what’s in your heart which is your true inner self. Perry embraced that heresy however, as a leader the path he chose has affected many people and is causing multitudes to become enemies of the cross of Christ.
I think most of us have heard the boiling frog analogy. It describes a frog being slowly boiled alive. The premise is that if a frog is put suddenly into boiling water, it would jump out. However, if the frog is put in water, it enjoys it then you slowly raise the temperature until it grows to a boil and the frog will not perceive the danger. The frog will be cooked while it enjoys the ride slowly roasting to its ultimate death. I do think the analogy is quite accurate when comparing it to how the Sexual Revolution has transformed American culture along with the church.
The Sexual Revolution of the 1960’s has transformed the soul of America and there is no putting the Genie back in the bottle. As I look around the landscape of the church it has had an undeniable and detrimental effect upon far too many. I don’t think I have to point out the obvious because the number of high-profile Christian leaders in all Christian traditions across America have not just fallen into sexual sin, but many have made public pronouncements of their rejection of the core tenets of the faith. We have even seen some move over to a doctrine of inclusion when it comes to same sex attraction as accepted conduct for those who profess faith in Christ.
It started in the 1960’s, but since the Digital Revolution our direct access to what can only be described as Sexual Idolatry has laid bare the heart of wickedness. The heat has been turned up to a hard boil and you will not be able to sit on the fence regarding sexuality. You will have to make a clear choice on the issue of sexual orientation and sexual sin. It will be one of the dividing factors separating the wheat from the tares.
Embracing the Cruciform Way: Choosing Christ Over Apostasy
In America your stance on sexual orientation could at some point determine if you retain your 5013c status. If the Woke Revolution is successful it could very well cause you to either compromise to keep your organizations tax free status or sacrifice your standing and face persecution for standing on what is clearly taught in the scripture concerning sexuality.
I believe the apostolic fathers had depth, width and breadth, but they were also simple. Simple enough for any man, woman or child to understand. John especially was clear, decisive and cut right to the point. It was Christ or antichrist, light or darkness, truth or deception, denying Jesus in the flesh or partaking of Christ in the flesh. What I hear today in the church so many times is the confusion of Babylon. Endless speculation and endless debate over issues that are clear if you take the word of God as actually saying what it clearly says.
We now stand in the valley of decision! It’s only the cross that cuts through the chaos. The choice before us is embracing the cruciform way of following Christ or the apostasy of postmodern sexuality. Pride is the original sin and from which all rebellion against morality exists. The flesh is chaos, rotting flesh, vultures of demonic activity, death and the absence of God. Jesus likened the days of his return as like the days of Noah and the days of Lot where both periods were judged for their rejection of the covenant keeping God who restrains our conduct.
The Babylon spoken of in Revelation 17 and 18 by John is described as overflowing with sexual immorality. It gives us a vivid description of the inhabitants of the earth becoming drunk on the wine of that perversion. It talks of her being a dwelling place for demons, unclean spirits and detestable things. It is a description of open brazen displays of sexual immorality flooding the earth. It says that all nations will drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality. The Protestant Reformers interpreted this text as Babylon being the Catholic Church and yes, they were correct for their times.
Revelation 17:6 says that Babylon is drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. I’m not interpreting this text, but I am using it to show that the lawlessness of sexual immorality is one of the main things we must all come to terms with if we want to continue in the faith. It is one of those main central issues that oppose the blood of the cross and how you stand on this issue will determine if you embrace the message of the cross or if you will become an enemy of the cross.
What we are witnessing today in the church is nothing short of apostasy. Is this the great apostasy spoken of by Paul in II Thessalonians 2:3? I personally don’t think so, but it’s an apostasy that is undeniable as you look at the landscape of the American church. It’s shaking the foundations of the church in America, and everyone is going to have to answer for themselves when Jesus asks them: “Who do you say that I Am?”
Is he the Jesus who condones, embraces and celebrates same sex attraction? It’s no longer just same sex attraction. At the writing of this book, we are now up to LGBTQIA2S+. Honesty, I’m not even sure what that means except confusion. It’s because Gnostic spiritually is a gospel of lawlessness where anything goes and confusion reigns. You have no end to the depravity and imagination of a heart given over to idolatry.
The end of the age is about revival and apostasy happening simultaneously. I understand it shakes and challenges some people’s, ‘once saved always saved’, theology. No, the term ‘once saved always saved’ is not in the Bible and the apostolic fathers never used it. I think scripture teaches that if you choose to walk away and deny the cross that the Spirit will contend with you, but he will not nor can he override your will. Our salvation is secure in the power and wisdom of the cross. No one can separate us from the love of God, but we can deny him, and it’s called apostasy.
The Battle Against Idolatry in John's First Epistle
The little statement that John ended his first epistle on has always intrigued me. John ends his letter saying in 1 John 5:21: “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” He writes this whole epistle seemingly saying nothing about idolatry and then ends with this admonition. Could it be that John’s epistle is all about combating idolatry in the life of the believer and he ends with an obvious statement?
The gospel of sexual immorality is nothing new; we are just being confronted by sins of the heart, mind and bodies in ways that have never been imagined. Just as in the days of Noah the lawlessness of man is great in the earth and the thoughts of his heart are only evil. Sexuality goes to the very heart of who we are and who we are, has everything to do with worship.
Paul starts the book of Romans giving a clarion call of the heart of the gospel. Chapter 1:16 - 17 he says: “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed beginning and ending in faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith’.”
A Journey of Our Ancient Faith In Hebrews 11
The author of Hebrews in chapter 11 has given us one of the best historical views of our ancient faith. He takes us through a list starting with Abel's blood sacrifice and the patriarchs who all demonstrated through their lives that they chose to worship the one true living God in the midst of great wickedness, idolatry and hostility.
The author of Hebrews says that we are rewarded for our faith. God will walk with us during our journey in this life providing for us along our way, but our ultimate reward awaits the resurrection from the dead at the judgment seat of Christ. Read the whole chapter and it will show you what faith looks like.
Volumes of books have been written about this chapter. Rightfully so because it is packed with a variety of examples of what it means to be a person of faith living in a surrounding culture that seeks to quench the fire of God from your heart. I want to share with you a text that has helped me tremendously in my journey.
Hebrews 11:25 - 26 says this about Moses who had to make a choice between the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life or the way of the cross. It says that he chose: “rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.”
Moses had to make a choice between the false spirituality of Egypt, or the cruciform life of faith found in the lamb of God. Moses choice to obey the call to follow resulted in the deliverance of the Hebrew nation through the display of power demonstrated through the Passover story.
God's Wrath in Revealed in the Book of Romans
Paul in Romans chapter 1 goes from talking about the power of the gospel and faith to a text in verse 18 that will most likely be debated about until the return of Christ. He says: “for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.” To go from the power of the gospel and us being saved by faith then right into this statement seems abrupt and out of place. It seems to me he is making the same kind of contrast that John made in his first epistle.
What we have tried to do in our postmodern mindset is always find a way out. We prefer nuance because quite honestly, I would agree that in a lot of arenas finding middle ground is necessary. I worked in corporate America for 20 years and the only way you get things done in the corporate world is learning to compromise. Corporate America could very accurately be called Babylon in so many ways. Just like Daniel, we need the wisdom of the cross so that we can get things done and many times that will mean compromising or finding middle ground.
Paul taught us that we live in this world, but we are not to live by the spirit of this world. Living by the spirit of the world is not finding middle ground to get things done. Living by the spirit of this world is compromising the moral standards clearly laid out in the word of God and sexual sin is clearly shown to be against God. Daniel lived in Babylon, but he did not bow to their idols. He did not compromise the clear moral standards of scripture.
I’m not saying we need a scripture for every decision we make or everything that we do. To think that way is simply religious and quite ridiculous. The Bible does not tell us everything about how to live this life, but it clearly says that God’s will is that we abstain from sexual immorality.
Religion adds to the Bible like the Pharisees: we make up rules, ways of thinking and man-made standards. We say this is the way to live if you really want to know God and do what is right. Just follow our way because we’ve figured it all out. Jesus nor did the apostolic fathers leave us a 10-step program to follow on how to live this life of faith.
Jesus came to deal with our hearts. Remember he said, “out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.” Jesus went straight to the root of the problem which is worship because man has a vacuum in his heart that is going to be filled with something.
Paul in Romans chapter 1 hits us right in the heart and strikes right at the feet of our idols. The error described in Romans 1 is not the neglect of worship, but the exchange of worship. It’s exchanging and rejecting the created order. It’s rejecting the God who created male and female. To reject that order is to reject the God who created all things.
If the worship of God is abandoned, the result is not a state of ‘no worship’, but of ‘false worship’. Idolatry destroys human dignity and freedom, and it ushers people directly into the experience of the wrath of God. False worship results in ungodliness and God’s active opposition against the suppression of the truth.
It’s not my intent to fully deal with this text, but I want to bring out a few things to help you understand that when you embrace the gospel of lawlessness then you make yourself an enemy of the cross. In Romans 1:25 it says when we do this, we: “exchange the truth about God for a lie and we worship, and we serve the creature rather than the Creator.”
Understanding the Heart of Idolatry
A lot in the church have focused on same sex attraction as being the main point of this text in Romans chapter 1. In their inquisition against one specific form of idolatry they miss the idols in their own lives. It’s what Jesus was saying when he said you are trying to take a splinter out of other people’s eyes while you're blind to the idols of your heart.
I don’t see Paul making an argument against one form of sin or type of lawless act. He is simply showing us that when we refuse to give God his rightful place in our hearts then our hearts are going to be filled with the spirit of lawlessness.
If you read the whole text, same sex attraction is just a small portion and only one of the many sins of the heart listed in Romans chapter 1:28-32. Paul also lists envy, murder, strife, deceit, hatred, gossips, slanderers as some of the many lawless acts of those who are
not loving God and loving others. All these sins show us that we are practicing lawlessness, living in the works of the flesh and in opposition to the Spirit. The list is very similar to the sins that Jesus said comes out of the heart defiling a person and Paul gave us in Galatians 5:19-21.
Sexual immorality is a form of worship and Paul equates it with idolatry. Worship goes to the heart of who we are being created in the image of God. Man was designed to be a dwelling place of the Creator with the imprint of his nature embedded upon our hearts. Our sexuality lies at the core of our hearts and sexual activity is one of the most intimate acts that we can do in this life.
Sexual idolatry makes fewer moral demands than God and promises us much more freedom. It’s living a life with no restraints on our sexual desires and exchanging a focus to creation instead of our hearts focused on the Creator. Inner motivation and affections make their impact on outward attitudes and actions that come from the heart. The freedom that idols offer is in fact nothing other than slavery.
Peter said it this way in II Peter 2:19 that: “They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.” Paul said it this way in Romans 6:16 “Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?”
The Dangers of Putting Sex on Par with Basic Necessities in a Postmodern World
The body has the natural needs of food and water, or we die.
Our postmodern world, just like service to ancient idols, has put sex on par with food and water as a necessity to live. To do that is to put sex in a place it was never intended. It’s when we refuse to acknowledge God giving him his rightful place in our hearts that we become our own god. The result of being our own god leads to sexual immorality because we do whatever our lawless hearts want to do. It’s a heart void of self-control. Practicing sexual immorality is a demonstration that we are not abiding in the Spirit because one of the fruits of the Spirit is self-control.
Sexual immorality is intertwined with the redemptive story from Genesis to Revelation because it’s something we all face in varying ways. Rahab the harlot, Tamar who played the harlot, Bathsheba the bathing beauty, Jacob visited prostitutes, David committed adultery, and Solomon had a major problem with his sexuality. All of these individuals are a part of the lineage of Christ. To me that speaks to the reality that God knows our frailty regarding our sexuality, and he is interested in helping us find our way.
Sexuality is at the heart of being human. The body and sex are not evil, but our hearts if not dedicated to the cross and surrendered to the Spirit can be. The redemptive story and the very lineage of the Messiah is telling us something about a merciful God who understands our weakness. The same God who created all things is also a redeemer, our restorer and ultimately took upon himself human flesh to reconcile our hearts back to his covenant of love.
In Acts chapter 15 when discussing the issue of Gentiles living under the law of Moses an agreement was made. Acts 15:19 - 20 it says that: “we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality and from what has been strangled, and from blood.”
Paul confirms his stance on sexual immorality and goes so far as to say in 1 Thessalonians 4:3 - 5 that: “this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God.” Paul and the other apostolic authors are clear and uphold the moral standards of a sexuality that stands in stark contrast to the lax sexual appetites run wild in a society that has rejected God.
I’ve had to grapple, struggle and put my sexuality in its proper place in my life. The scriptures clearly teach us that one of the fruits of a life lived in union with Christ is self-control. I’m not going to tell you that it’s without struggle. However, once you understand that’s it’s God’s will to live your life free from sexual sin dominating your life, at that point you begin to surrender. It’s only in totally dedicating your life to the cross and giving the members of your body to be governed by the Spirit that you can live in freedom.
Exploring Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians: Addressing Key Issues in the Church
Let’s look at Paul's first letter to the Corinthians. Paul addressed four main issues in the church that was in the city of Corinth:
The first one was that they had become too focused on the cult of personality which he addresses in chapters 1 through 4.
The second one had to do with how to live sexually pure in an idolatrous society that gave license to sexual immorality in chapters 6 through 10.
The third one was how to practice our faith in a way that promotes equality among all the members of the body no matter socioeconomic status or gender as discussed in chapter 12. Head coverings for wives in chapter 11 was a specific cultural context for Corinth and not a universal standard.
The fourth issue he stressed was the need to practice our faith in a way that brings edification and structure while giving a place to the liberty of the Spirit in chapters 11 through 14. He ends in chapter 15 addressing the fundamental doctrine of resurrection from the dead.
I want to look at some of the things he says centered around idolatry and sexual immorality. Paul starts chapter 5 discussing a dysfunctional sexual situation in one of the families of this community and tells them they need to address it because it is causing disruption. In addition, it’s demonstrating an inaccurate representation of the redemption found in Christ to unbelievers.
Paul ends the chapter instructing us to not judge unbelievers for their sexual sin, greed, idolatry, drunkenness and dishonesty. At the same time, he tells us that we need to hold one another in the body of Christ accountable to the standard of living the cruciform life.
In chapter 6 Paul continues his discussion using similar terminology as he did to the Galatians. He tells us in 1 Corinthians in 6:9: “Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality” will inherit the kingdom of God. It’s in chapter 10 where Paul continues his focus on sexual sin tying it in with worship and idolatry.
He opens chapter 10 using Israel being delivered from the power of this worldly system through the cross and our identification with the cruciform life being understood in the doctrine of baptisms. He then goes into a dialogue showing us examples of how we must not allow evil desires to overtake us, keeping us from fulfilling our journey of faith.
The Dangers of Indulging in Immorality
1 Corinthians 10:7 - 8 says: “Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did.” The term "play" here, as The Expositor's Bible Commentary brings out, means "drunken, immoral orgies and sexual play." They ate the food sacrificed to the golden calf and then many indulged in a sexual orgy in accordance with the pagan cult practices of Egypt. It’s just one of many examples the New Testament gives us.
If you examine the Bible, you will see that food and sex are inextricably tied together. Let’s look at Abraham’s oldest son Esau whose genealogy you can trace to the Arabic people of today who are located geographically in the Middle East. Esau sold his birthright to his brother Jacob for a bowl of lentil stew because he cared more for instant gratification than the promises of God.
In Hebrews chapter 12 verse 16 when the author mentions this story, it is interesting how he comments about Esau and the context in which it was written. In mentioning him, the author then exhorts us to not be “sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal". Illicit sexual activity is a pathway to spiritual darkness.
All sexual activity outside of the covenant of marriage between a man and woman is fornication. The Bible many times calls it sexual immorality which is an all-encompassing term of any sexual activity outside marriage. Sexual activity demands covenant responsibility; it's the way God designed it from the beginning.
The New Testament only speaks of one covenant made through the body and blood of Christ. It’s to be our primary focus as those who have been purchased by his blood, sanctified through baptismal identification and empowered by his Spirit to live a life in union with him.
The Covenant of Marriage in the New Testament: Union with Christ Over Roles and Responsibilities
The New Testament never uses the actual term covenant when speaking of marriage. It is however, clearly implied in Christ and Paul’s usage of the imagery in comparing marriage between the husband and wife to our union with Christ (Matthew 19:6; Ephesians 5:31 -32). Marriage is the husband and wife in union under Christ the head. I lean stronger towards an egalitarian view of marriage since the original creation was not about an over/under, structure, but the union of the two becoming one.
The man and woman were in the garden both naked and were not ashamed. The sexual union between husband and wife is much more than just procreation, it’s about intimacy. The design is Trinitarian. God, husband, wife = oneness. The mystery of marriage which Paul called it in Ephesians chapter 5 used the Genesis text and likened the union between husband and wife as a picture of Christ in union with his body.
To me the goal of a healthy marriage is two becoming one under Christ the head. The focus is union not roles and responsibilities. The Bible does not tell us that the wife is to rule the kitchen while the husband is to be served. It does not tell us that the husband is supposed to be the sole provider, and the wife is to be home raising children. A certain 1950’s American culture tells us that. If that’s how you want to live, I think that’s fine, but don’t tell me it’s because the Bible teaches this idea.
The Bible does not teach this 1950’s perfect idea of American culture and its simply an American myth. The Bible does not teach a wife cannot work outside of the home. Just because you are convicted of a certain way to live your life don’t judge others if they don’t hold to your personal convictions. The New Testament is about the freedom of the Spirit within the law of love. It’s not about conformity to religious systems made by man.
Married couples should have the freedom and uniqueness to work out the details of how they are going to live in partnership with one another. To make people fit into some kind of clearly defined roles is what the Pharisees did, and it restricts the creativity of the Spirit in a couple's lives.
Marriage is not commanded in the Bible and it’s not for everyone. Paul said marriage is a choice and if you choose that path then you are brought into a union with your spouse where Christ is to be the center. Paul said in I Corinthians 7:8-9 that: “it is good…to remain single, as I am”. But if “you cannot exercise self-control,” you “should marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.”
Paul taught that if you do choose to marry then it has its own set of problems. No one is supposed to live in the middle of marriage partners. No, not ministers, not fathers or mothers and not kids. No one, but Christ because he alone can help a couple finish the good work of being one flesh that he started in their relationship. To become one flesh is going to take two people laying down their lives for one another. The only way to truly do it is both following the command of Jesus to take up their crosses first and foremost following him.
The Significance of Fellowship in Christian Faith
If you look in I Corinthians chapter 10 as Paul discusses food, idolatry and sexual immorality he is communicating in terms of union. If you look at verses 14 - 33, he gets really clear on these subjects and shows us why it's so serious. Verses 14 - 21 Paul says: “my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ?
The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.” There is no middle ground when it comes to sexual purity.
A lot of implications can be drawn from this text. The first one is fellowship because our faith was founded on the fellowship of Christ and one another. As believers we share together in the one sacrifice of Christ through his body and blood. We have been brought into union with Christ and by participation with the same altar we have been brought into union with one another.
I think that’s what John was talking about in his first epistle as he emphasized love and truth. John used different terminology than Paul, but he was saying the same things. All the apostolic writers gave us this exact same message which is you cannot be a friend of the world while saying you are in union with God. It’s impossible!
Paul said in 1 Corinthians 6:12 - 13 that: “I will not be dominated by anything. “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.” He then once again puts sexuality in the context of worship, union and identification in verses 16 - 20. Sex is much more than a physical act. It’s a spiritual one that penetrates not just the body, but the heart.
The Spiritual Impact of Sexual Sin
Paul is using this exact same imagery in I Corinthians chapter 6 warning us against sexual immorality because it does not bring us into the freedom of the Spirit, but the bondage of a flesh ruled life. Paul in verse 17 says: “he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”
Sexual sin is about worship, and we cannot worship at the altar of sexual immorality while we say we are partaking of Christ. The only way to do that is to live in the false illusions of lies which is idolatry. Sexual sin opens your life up to spiritual darkness. The Bible equates sexual sin with idolatry which the Bible clearly articulates from the book of Genesis to Revelation.
Paul ends the book of I Corinthians talking about the resurrection of the dead. In this letter he addressed sexual dysfunction as one of its main emphases and then at the end finds it necessary to reestablish them in a clear understanding of the resurrection of Christ. What is Paul doing in ending his letter with the doctrine of resurrection from the dead? It seems to me that he is addressing the Gnostic idea that Jesus did not have a physical body and come in the flesh. It explains the attitude that the Corinthians had because they had devolved into a spirituality devoid of the message of the cross.
In I Corinthians 15:1 - 7 Paul takes us through the gospel story establishing the numerous eyewitnesses of Jesus being the first man raised from the dead as the basis of our faith and confession. In verse 17 - 19 he says: “if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.” He basically says why do you even meet together? If Christ did not rise from the dead, then we are all just living a lie and therefore we should just live however we want to live.
Living by the Spirit vs. Embracing Lawlessness
Paul then makes a statement that I’ve had to ask myself many times on my journey of faith. If the dead are not raised, then why am I struggling against sin? Why am I taking up my cross daily and fighting this good fight of faith? Why don’t I just live like the rest of the world who says: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” The antichrist gospel of lawlessness is to live without restraint and self-control. The actual motto of Satanism is “do what thou wilt”.
Do whatever you want and get the most out of this life. Eat and drink with no restraints because there are no consequences beyond this life. The spirit of antichrist says, “Jesus has paid for all our sins, and we live under grace not the law. We aren’t religious, we are spiritual, and we live by the winds of the Spirit. We can fulfill the desires of our hearts because that’s what really matters. We deserve the best in this life, and we should not be restricted by some outdated moral code. The Spirit doesn’t restrict us; he gives us freedom to do what we want.”
It’s why foundations are so important because resurrection from the dead and eternal judgment tell us something completely different. It teaches what Paul taught us wrapping up his first epistle to the Corinthians that we will all appear before the judgement seat of Christ. It’s why he says in verse 33 “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company ruins good morals.’ Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.”
The Bible not only warns us over and over concerning sexual immorality, but it also clearly warns us against those who would promote a gospel of lawlessness. We are being deluged daily to worship at the altar of sex and to compromise what the Bible explicitly says to turn away from.
The power of Groupthink is a powerful force! It’s the frog in the kettle that happens in the church as scripture is twisted, perverted and sexual immorality takes on an appearance of godliness. What word do you use other than apostasy when large segments of what used to be called the Christian church in America are now preaching a gospel of lawlessness? Oh, it’s couched in the terms of inclusion, acceptance and the love of Christ. However, make no mistake Jesus along with all the other apostolic writers would call it sin, idolatry and a departure from the foundation of Christ.
If you do not take up the cross of Christ and put to death the deeds of sexual immorality, you will not inherit the kingdom of God. I wish I could tell you there was middle ground, but in my personal experience along with the testimony of scripture; the only way to live for Christ is to eat of his flesh and drink of the blood of his covenant in total surrender. Jesus said except a seed falls into the ground and dies it remains alone.
He clearly told us in Matthew chapter 16 the same thing. Remember this is just after Peter’s confession and Jesus establishing his ekklēsia or the body of Christ upon the clear understanding of who he is as the very foundation. He then says: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” We try to explain away the command of Christ to complete surrender our lives to him using Paul’s message of grace. However, its adulterating Paul’s message of grace and taking it out of context.
If you will take the time to read all of Paul's teaching in context you will see that he is preaching the message of the cross in all his epistles. Paul in Romans was saying that to abandon God takes you on the descent into the dark abysses of idolatry and lawlessness. It’s rejecting the God who created all things through the power of his word. It’s rejecting his majesty displayed through his power, its majestic beauty and design clearly seen in creation. It’s also rejecting the God who showed us his glory and holiness through the Mosaic Law.
If you enjoyed this lesson, then please subscribe to my YouTube channel, Foundation Publications, so I can reach more people and you will be notified when I post more videos. Please share this information with your friends on any social media platforms that you may use people and you will be notified when I post more videos.
Comments