What does sex have to do with Godly living? What does sex have to do with a "Revival blog?" Keep reading to find out.
Why is it that it's not so easy for couples, young and old alike, to uphold moral Godly standards in their relationship related to sex before marriage? Why, in contrast, is it a joke sometimes that "sex stops with marriage?" Some older couples even joke about the idea that their love life certainly isn't like it was on the honeymoon. I understand that people aren't getting any younger, but no matter what your age, you can certainly still enjoy your spouse in this way. Why is it so hard to stay pure before you get married and oftentimes hard to cultivate a lively, exciting sexual relationship after you get married? The answer is simpler than you think, and it has to do with covenant.
The enemy (Satan) wants nothing more than God's people to break covenant. Break covenant first with God, then break covenant with their bodies and with their interpersonal relationships. They do so before marriage by having premarital sex and break covenant after marriage through abstinence and, at worse, adultery. Marriage is a sacred act and God intended sex the night of your marriage to be the shedding of blood (woman's hymen) that signified the seal of this covenant. Malachi, Chapter 2 talks in detail about the marriage covenant and the consequences of breaking this.
When people engage in sins of sexual immorality, they are not just affecting themselves. They are hurting God's heart and damaging the spirit and soul of their partner, not to mention the possibilities of the consequences of sexual sin related to physical sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)!
Your body is one of the greatest possessions on earth we have to steward (manage) before we go home to be with the Lord in heaven.
1 Corinthians 6-
18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. 19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
At one point in my past when I made a bad sexual mistake with a woman which led to stimulation, not intercourse, thank God, the Lord repremanded me in a very strong way. Stimulation is just as bad of a sin as intercourse, since God judges the heart in the matter, which in this cases was consumed by the lust of the flesh. Intercourse can have more negative soul-level and body-level consequences, but the spirit-level immorality is just the same. For around three straight days and nights I could feel His discipline as He led me to study every detail of the following passage in Romans 12:
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
This passage is very important to God. Certainly the Bible states that God desires "obedience over sacrifice, (Hosea 6:6)" but God also clearly states that denying your carnal fleshly desires, abstaining from premarital sex, etc. is a way that we can not only honor God but is our only REASONABLE, only OBVIOUS, and CLEAR way to offer to Him a spiritual sacrifice. It's amazing that something "physical" can be our "spiritual" act of worship. Wow, why is the physical nature of our bodies so important to our spiritual man, anyway?! True worship is found in our daily choices, not just in songs we sing. Our choices in the natural can affect our spiritual walk and our eternal destination!
Clearly, the Holy Spirit gives spiritual life to our spirit man which is housed in these flesh containers (our bodies), which still, at many times are subject to the carnal nature of sin. Just read how Paul describes this battle in Romans, Chapter 7:
21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law;23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature[d] a slave to the law of sin.
The good news is that the battle is won when we walk in the freedom of the Spirit! The point is that the desires of sin, leads to bondage. These bondages can lead to spiritual death (James 1:14-15). That's why the flesh is so important to bring under submission to the law of the Spirit; the life of Christ! The flesh affects the spirit man, because our choices to submit the flesh to the laws of Satan or the laws of God are what represent whom we serve. The Bible asks, choose you this day whom you will serve (Joshua 24:15). It also says, man can only serve one Master (Matt. 6:24)!
We MUST let our flesh be mastered only by the power of the Spirit, the life of Christ in us! True freedom is being a bondservant to Jesus Christ. Worldly definitions of freedom, like "Free love," is not free at all! It's the best way to keep yourself in bondage and the best way for Satan to condemn your soul to hell.
The flesh affects your soul
The pleasure you "feel" in the flesh actually creates emotional responses and can sear lifelong memories into your memory and your physique. This is why it is not out of the question for mature Christians of many years to fall back into sins of the flesh upon a simple temptation. When you taste the fruit of the knowledge of the tree of good and evil when it comes to fleshly sinful pleasures, these "feelings" and "memories" can last with you for a lifetime. Even more reason to never "go there" in the first place! Personally, I am not tempted by drugs, because I have never been subject to the bondage of drugs, physically, or mentally. BUT I am subject to the knowledge of sexual immorality in the form of pornography. That was a struggle of mine from an early age and STILL, after many years of Christian Kingdom living, a battle that I have to stay accountable to in my own life so that I can ensure a victorious life in Christ, not a depressed life in Christ.
Too many Christians live depressed lives because of bondages to carnal sin! If this is you, SUBMIT FULLY TO THE LORD YOUR GOD TODAY AND LET HIM BREAK OFF ANY FLESH BONDAGE, SOUL TIE, OR STRONGHOLD IN THE NAME OF JESUS! The Anointing of Jesus breaks EVERY yoke (Isaiah 10:27), including ANY struggle you may be going through!
God longs for a people who will dedicate themselves to living Holy lives, full of POWER and PROMISE. Don't let the enemy derail your train before it has a chance to get to its final destination. We must run this race of Christianity, this marathon, as those dedicated to finishing and finishing strong (Acts 17:11, Heb. 12:1-2). Please, don't be another "sexual statistic" in The Church (someone who falls to immoral temptation, thus bringing down the name of Christ and Christianity). I pray to God daily that I am not either. We are all subject to the devil's temptations to break covenant before AND after marriage. I pray you stay strong in your relationship with your boyfriend/girlfriend before marriage and stay strong in your physical relationship with your spouse after marriage!
When you get married does the Bible not say that your body does no longer belong to yourself but to your spouse (1 Cor. 7:4)? Solomon said to enjoy the breasts of the wife of your youth (Prov. 5:18-19), but he didn't intend for you to stop when you got older!
Allow God to revive you and renew your mind AND BODY, so that you can enjoy great physical relations with your spouse. Don't even think that this is not possible! Many places in the Bible commend Abraham for his great faith. The Bible even states that Abraham's body was revived by faith to perform sexually (Rom. 4:19-20)... so can yours be!
Sex is one of the least talked about subjects in all of Christianity and, in my opinion, one of the most important subjects to talk about because it is such a great weakness for many. Satan doesn't want you to understand the power of covenant in your life before or after marriage, even more reason why we need to!
Stay strong, be blessed, keep living a life of The Kingdom, a life of Revival!
MS
www.youarerevival.com
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this is so God Matt, ty for sharing it!
Posted by: Amy Baker | 02/28/2011 at 09:12 PM