In the modern world, there has been a trend to redefine the terms and acceptability associated with sexuality. This is perhaps best explicated by the presence of modern-day laws that advertently protect sexuality that is known from the basic laws of nature to be ‘unnatural’. Humanity in the contemporary world has seemingly yet very certainly so, changed the whole concept of sexuality to suit the status quo of modern-day sexuality. Additionally, there is quite a lengthy array of sexual misconduct accorded to humankind by God through the Bible, and that has apparently become a mere ‘conjecture’ to the present humankind. The Bible warns of such heinous acts as fornication, adultery, incest and bestiality. The Bible explicitly affirms that:
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it.
This is God’s way of telling humans to desist from such immoralities and that even though man is a weak species prone to temptation, God has put forth a limit to it. The change in sexuality contrary to God’s will can be explained using quite a few guesses; it perhaps might be that the modern humans are experiencing some form of bedevilment or it may be that evolution has changed the way man thinks and his attitudes towards sexuality. Whatever the cause for this paradigm shift might be, it can be appreciated that the result is just the same; sexuality is transforming in a wrong path and the only solution to this stubborn scourge would be sought for from the Bible. It is written in The Bible that “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth” and this can be interpreted as that humans use emotions and their minds to judge their path of actions. This is why immorality has become a norm in the modern world because humans are free thinkers, and there is never a limit to their imagination. Humans will want to learn why immorality is not allowed in the Bible and this, of course, is purely out of curiosity.
It is with this then that God clearly wants humans to divert their minds from thinking about such atrocities and focusing on more important spiritual matters. Man, somehow, has succeeded in making his rules regarding what is to be considered wrong or right; the Bible has come out very clearly about such doings. Sexual pervasion has been landmarked as a go-to place for humans in the recent past and this, unfortunately, is being passed on down generations as a ‘unicultural norm’ world over. Fornication has particularly become a powerful yet evil realm amongst the youth. Indulging in premarital sex is out of the question according to the Bible, yet young people are vehemently engaging in this act in the name of leisure. This can be owed to the works of Satan in misleading God’s people. According to Crow (2016);
Satan has used sex in this world to destroy the God-designed sanctity of marriage, working through people's desires, insecurities and ignorance. There are many different reasons people have sex at a young age. Boys and girls may have sex because society promotes it as normal, fun and exciting. They may have sex to try to heal a relationship or to make up for other problems they are having. They might use sex as a way to get affection or to feel loved and connected to someone. Girls or boys may believe they can keep their boyfriend or girlfriend from leaving them by having sex. And sometimes it is simply the case of trusting the wrong people. Just because someone is a “Christian” or “in the Church,” doesn't mean he or she will never pressure you to go further than you want to.
The Bible also continues to address this issue as follows; “Flee fornication, every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committed fornication sinneth against his own body” (1 Cor 6:18 KJV). The young people should, therefore, have no excuse to fornicating yet this is somehow a song of the wind.
The laws of the land in the modern world, though mostly structured on a Christian framework, have perhaps too few restrictions regarding what the Bible requires vis-à-vis the liberties granted to humans regardless of God’s rule. The land laws have more like given the modern human being the ability to choose for himself, whether to follow the laws of God or to act otherwise. This, as expected, comes with a punishment for whosoever decides to revolt against what God desires. “Meats for the belly, and the belly for the meats; but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body” (Cor 6:13 KJV). The following caption shall be used to forecast on a quagmire that is infecting the souls of many youths that are willing to take a turn for the better as far as fornication and the laws of God are concerned.
I personally have been struggling with sexual purity. I feel stuck and I do not understand where to begin. Every time I think I’m in a good place, I end up struggling with lust. I believe that this be a good way to acquire and understand God’s word on why waiting is so important, and also learning strategies for fighting sexual sin. I understand that learning strategies alone is not enough to achieve sexual purity, but I think that obtaining knowledge about this topic can help me better understand God’s will and better understand how to obey him when it comes to sexual purity.
Lust is an element brought about by Satan. It has badly affected the contemporary humanity and has caused problems as far as sexual purity is concerned. At the onset of puberty and adolescence, human beings start struggling with sexual purity and lust and it is here that Satan takes prior advantage to mislead the young by luring them into engaging in sexual immorality that is fornication. At later stages in life, adulthood also brings other forms of immorality with adultery being on top of the list.
All these things do not seemingly appear wrong in the eyes of the humans committing them, and this is why the concept of God’s wrath upon His people has never left the earth. Deadly sexually transmitted diseases are interpreted as God’s way of trying to keep humankind away from immorality but even yet, humans are still using the minds God gave them to counter His actions. The use of contraceptives to prevent these diseases and also the development of cures for most of them has led humans to ignore the dangers of engaging in immorality. The idea of persons being non-self-judgmental has stuck since time immemorial; this would date back to the time of Jesus. As Henry (2016) puts it;
The command is here laid down (v. 27), Thou shalt not commit adultery; which includes a prohibition of all other acts of uncleanness, and the desire of them: but the Pharisees, in their expositions of this command, made it to extend no further than the act of adultery, suggesting, that if the iniquity was only regarded in the heart, and went no further, God could not hear it, would not regard it (Ps. 66:18 ), and therefore they thought it enough to be able to say that they were no adulterers, Lu. 18:11
The justification that adultery is only a physical element and that that which is in the mind is not in any sense harmful has been a mantle that has persisted over the years. Unfortunately, even despite the Bible persistently warning about adulteration of the mind, this concept still feels rather nonsensical to most of the humankind. “But I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart” (Mathew 5:28). As Henry puts it;
This command forbids not only the acts of fornication and adultery, but, (1.) All appetites to them, all lusting after the forbidden object; this is the beginning of the sin, lust conceiving (James 1:15); it is a bad step towards the sin; and where the lust is dwelt upon and approved, and the wanton desire is rolled under the tongue as a sweet morsel, it is the commission of sin, as far as the heart can do it; there wants nothing but convenient opportunity for the sin itself.
Humans will, however, argue that lusting over a woman only with the mind has literally no effect because clearly, the woman lusted after probably won’t even know it and the man, on the other hand, shall not speak of it but will only think of it in his mind. Henry (2016) further elucidate this gesture as;
We are here taught, that there is such a thing as heart-adultery, adulterous thoughts and dispositions, which never proceed to the act of adultery or fornication; and perhaps the defilement which these give to the soul, that is here so clearly asserted, was not only included in the seventh commandment, but was signified and intended in many of those ceremonial pollutions under the law, for which they were to wash their clothes, and bathe their flesh in water.
In the New Testament, the apostle Paul did extensive writing work with accordance to the topic of sexual immorality. In his scripts, he intensely boycotted this act and asserted his firm belief in sex after marriage. All this, however, he did with strict observance and consideration of the reaction of the Corinthians, to whom these writings addressed. He also deliberated on the issue of legal grounds upon which sexuality at that time was hinged. He tried as much as would be possible not to create conflict between these two sexuality addressers and where he could support what the law required, he did. According to the Asbury Bible Commentary (2016),
Paul's total rejection of sexual immorality is the necessary preparation for his treatment of the appropriate place of sex within marriage. It is unnecessary to assume that either sexual indulgence or asceticism was widely practiced within the Corinthian community. Paul's customary approach to ethical instruction is moderation, the middle course between legalism and license. The crucial issue here is not marriage per se but the place of sex within marriage.
The journey of sexuality is one that began at creation. God created Adam and thought it wise to give him a companion and with whom the sexual aspect would be perfectly compatible. Eve, Adam’s accompaniment in life’s journey was created to be a symbol of sexual completeness for humankind as well as a partner for when child-bearing was a necessity which, in actuality, was one. According to Stanton (2016),
God, and those who follow Him, take sex very seriously, and the Christian picture of sexuality is much more seriousWhile it might seem old-fashioned or passé to people outside the faith, the Christian view of sexuality is actually a very radical one. It's radical because it goes against the culture and holds up human sexuality as nothing less than an icon of the inner life of God
During creation, God had the interest in sexuality and humankind in a straightforward way: “Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.” In Genesis 1:28, it is written “God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.” God’s ultimate plan for the whole sexuality concept; for humans to reproduce and make the earth full of their kind.
However, when Adam first saw the companion that God had brought forth for him, he failed to look at Eve in a more intellectual perspective. Rather, Adam felt a surge of excitement after seeing Eve, and the Bible continues to describe this; “The man said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman, ' for she was taken out of man.” This scenario begs the question that has become one of the most subjective matter to most Christian theologies; was man born of sin? Why would a newly created creature in a new world and with no knowledge at all about a woman, feel excited in a rather sexual manner, upon the sight of a woman? Yes, indeed humans are wired to be sexual creatures, but the idea that sexual arousal is almost always the most immediate reaction is rather unfortunate.
God intended sexuality to be purely about reproduction, and not necessarily lust and pleasure. In the New Testament, God also talks about man and woman and His intention for the on this earth; this He did through the teachings delivered by His Son Jesus Christ. In Mark 10:6-9, it is written that Jesus said, “But at the beginning of creation God 'made them male and female.' 7 ‘for this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, 8and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one. 9Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.” Violation of sexuality is the most conspicuous evil that is rocking the Christian foundation of the world. People, Christians or not, are indulging in sexual violations like it were normal. The Bible is also explicit about these misdoings. According to Deem (2016),
Several specific sexual relationships are forbidden in the Bible. Among these are homosexuality, bestiality (sex with animals), and incest (sexual relations with close family members, including your mother, sister, niece, aunt, daughter-in-law, and sister-in-law), fornication (sexual relations outside of marriage), and adultery (sexual relations with another person's spouse), and rape (forced sex). To emphasize the seriousness of these kinds of offenses, the penalty was death. Although not specifically mentioned in the Bible, it is clear that pornography is not to be viewed by Christians.
All these obscenities (except pornography watching) are punishable by death according to the Bible. This is however by a long shot because the laws of the land far overpower the Biblical laws. The embracement of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual (LGBT) community by lawmakers as a legally ‘appropriate’ group in the society indicates that there is perhaps an all too palpable change that is slowly but assuredly engulfing the phase of the earth. Since the wake of humankind, dating back to creation, God had put to place a clearly distinguished logic to facilitate sexuality; this involved the creation of man and woman and not two of any one of them. God’s will and intent is justified concerning the whole issue of sexuality, and it was upon man (and woman) to observe the same and uphold it. Pornography has become like a disease in the contemporary society. The worst thing about it is that it is something to be discerned by the human eye and not anything spiritual. According to Dallas (2016),
The eye is indeed the lamp of the body (Matt. 6:22–23). If a person’s eye is perpetually exposed to darkness, there comes an inevitable distortion in that person’s thinking. It is in this darkening of the mind that pornography makes its leap from an act that is morally repugnant to one that has frightening consequences
Sexual violations in the modern world have brooded some very brutal outcomes which when critically analyzed, makes us humans our own worst enemy. Child molestation, juvenile rape, and incest are amongst the heinous acts that humans inflict upon other humans. God pours His wrath upon humans using such scourges.
Conclusively, God created all of us in His likeness, and He brought all of us to this earth with a purpose which is far from suffering or lamentations. God, in His rule of law, expects as to observe decency in matters concerning sexuality and dignity. Humans have been invaded by what is known to many theology scholars as a dark force; the works of Satan in misleading Christians using very attractive means has become an all too common occurrence as evidenced by what is occurring in everyday living amongst humans. Sexuality, notwithstanding cannot be dismissed in this category. It is therefore upon every Christian in the world to stand firm in prayer and ask God for guidance through life’s journey in this world full of temptation. Concurrently, it is paramount that every Christian knows that sexual violation corrupts not only the physical aspect of our being but also, the spiritual us, which is where God’s Spirit dwells in us. As Paul said in his 1st letter to the Corinthians,
Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. 19Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body” (1 Cor 6:18 NIV)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ammerman, N. T. (1987). Bible believers: Fundamentalists in the modern world. Rutgers University Press.
Barker, K. L., Burdick, D., & Burdick, D. W. (1995). The NIV study bible, new international version. Zondervan Bible Publishers.
Brown, P. (2008). The body and society: Men, women, and sexual renunciation in early Christianity. Columbia University Press.
Ellingworth, P. &. (1994). A Handbook on Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians. American Bible Society.
Kennedy, M. (2000). Christianity and child sexual abuse—the survivors' voice leading to change. Child Abuse Review, 124-141.
Moltmann, J. (1989). God in creation.
Reik, T. (1960). The creation of woman. G. Braziller.
Swedenborg, E. (1870). Concerning fornication. General Convention of the New Jerusalem.
Trible, P. (1978). God and the Rhetoric of Sexuality (Vol. 2). Fortress Press.
Wiesner-Hanks, M. (2014). Christianity and sexuality in the early modern world: Regulating desire, reforming practice. Routledge.
