Biblical Sexuality Pt. 8

Weekly Update – May 16th, 2024

Over the last year, we have been slowly walking through our newly adopted statement on Biblical Sexuality.  There are nine points to this statement.  This week we will look at point eight.  Point one can before found HERE.  Point two, HERE.  Point three, HERE.  Point four, HERE.  Point five, HERE. Point six, HERE. Point seven, HERE.  Point eight is as follows:

The grace of God in Christ gives both merciful pardon and transforming power. This pardon and power enable a follower of Jesus to put to death sinful desires and to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord. The grace of God in Christ is sufficient to forgive all sexual sins and to give power for holiness to every believer who feels drawn to sin.

We ought to begin from a proper standpoint.  Regardless of what sin we are referring to here, whether sexual sin or otherwise, we are all by nature sinners (Ps. 51:5).  Romans 3:23 is clear here when Paul says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  All sin causes separation between us and a holy God (Is. 59:2), leading to the rightful punishment of eternal death (Rom. 6:23).  The only hope anyone has is for God to intervene by his grace to save us from our sin, through the perfect life and sacrificial death of his son Jesus Christ (Is. 53:5; Rom. 5:15; Eph. 2:5; Col. 2:13-14).   

This grace by which God saves us provides the merciful pardon that we need.  Apart from this grace, our eternal destiny is set enduring the wrath of God in hell (Matt. 25:46; Jn. 3:36; 2 Thess. 1:9; Rev. 20:15, 21:8).  But thanks be to God, we have victory over sin, in Christ, as we are set free from our rightful punishment and made heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ of eternal life (Jn. 8:36; Rom. 6:7; 8:1, 17; 1 Cor. 15:57).  This grace that we receive is sufficient to forgive any sin, including any sexual sin, that we have committed, for there is nothing too great that cannot be cleansed by the shed blood of Jesus Christ (1 Tim. 1:15-16; 1 Cor. 6:9-11; 2 Cor. 12:9; 1 Jn. 1:9).

This news gets better though.  Not only does the grace of God mercifully pardon us from our sin, but the grace of God provides the power to transform us away from our sin as well (Rom. 6:4-14; Eph. 2:10; 2 Pet. 1:3-4).  When God forgives us through Jesus Christ, there is a pronouncement of “not guilty” proclaimed over us.  This is called justification (Rom. 3:24).  The glorious part of our justification is, yes, that we no are no longer doomed to eternal punishment apart from the presence of God, but now, even greater, we are placed in union with Christ (2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 2:20; Col. 3:1-4).  This union with Christ not only provides us with the righteousness that God requires of us, but we also receive Christ’s holiness as well (1 Cor. 1:30; Eph. 1:4; Col. 1:22; Heb. 10:14). 

Holiness, then, ought to be understood in two ways for us.  First, it is, what is called positional. At the point of salvation, through God’s grace, we are no longer seen as sinner but as holy and blameless (1 Cor. 1:2; Eph. 1:4; 1 Pet. 1:13-16).  Yet second, not only do we receive a positional holiness, but we now live out a practical holiness.  What this means is that not only are we seen as holy before God, but we now pursue holy living before God as well (Rom. 12:1-2; Gal. 6:7-8; 2 Thess. 1:7-8).

Therefore, with regard to sexual sin, God’s power within us, through our union with Jesus Christ, enables us to live lives that are progressing away from sin and towards his standard of holiness.  There is hope for all who struggle, because now, through Christ, the very power that raised him from the dead is alive and at work in us (Phil. 3:10).  Sin, and in particular, sexual sin, doesn’t have to have the final word over any of us.  For that is who we were.  But now, we have been sanctified (1 Cor. 6:11).  And because we have been sanctified, Christ’s power is within us to put on the new self in holiness (Eph. 4:24), be transformed by the renewal of our mind (Rom. 12:2) and live out our calling to holiness (1 Thess. 4:7).

Let us then walk in the holiness to which we have been called.  At the same time, let us call others to walk in the holiness of Christ as well.  Sin has been defeated through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, therefore, whether it be a sin struggle that we might have, or if we are counseling someone else through a certain sin, even sexual sin, let us believe that Christ’s power with us can change, and let us pursue this change through faith in Christ. 

Serving Him with You,
Pastor Michael Nelson