Sex and Porn

But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints (Eph 5:3).

WARNING: This is going to be a VERY blunt discussion of sex and porn.  It’s a very uncomfortable topic for many followers of Jesus.  But it MUST be discussed.  It’s in the Bible for Pete’s sake!  So put on your big boy pants and big girl panties and let’s get to work.

First, let’s back up for a little context.  Every imitation of someone includes key traits.  Things that are unique to the one we’re trying to imitate.  Paul continues to let us know what it takes to “be imitators of God” (Eph 5:1).  This includes “forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you” (Eph 4:32).  And we should “walk in love,” living a life of others-first self-sacrifice like Jesus (Eph 5:2).  If these are musts for our God imitation, the apostle gives us a few things to make sure we DON’T do.  At the top of that list is sexual sin.  “But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints” (v3).  Jesus didn’t have one whiff of sexual sin during His life.  No stash of porn under His bed.  No charges for adult channels on His hotel bill.  No wandering eye that wondered what someone would be like.  Jesus’ followers don’t include those traits in their God imitation.  And as a result, His church is no place for the filth of porn and sexual sin. 

Paul tells us that there’s some key things that should never be said about folks who follow Jesus.  No one should ever be able to find a reason to accuse us of sexual immorality.  That does NOT mean we have to be squeaky clean and super holy before we turn to Him.  As a matter of fact, He’s an expert in that kind of clean up!  Just ask the folks in Corinth.  They were living and breathing proof that there’s forgiveness and recovery in Jesus from sexual sin!  This church was in the first century version of Las Vegas.  Sex and porn were so much a part of daily life that they part of the local pagan religion.  The temples to the gods included hookers!  But Jesus did something crazy right there in Sin City.  He transformed clients and workers in the city’s sex trade into His church.  That’s EXACTLY what the apostle describes in 1Cor 6:9-11.  He lists just about every sort of sexual sin and then declares  “And such were some of you!” (1Cor 6:11).  Something amazing has happened!  Something miraculous has occurred!  “You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ by the Spirit of God” (1Cor 6:11).

What in the world does this have to do with the Ephesians?  Well, the port city of Ephesus was right across the Aegean Sea from Corinth.  In many ways, it was its sister city.  As an important center of trade for western Asia, Ephesus would have also been a center for sex and porn.  That included a temple to the Greek god Artemis.  She was a fertility god so sacred sex was part of her worship.  So, yeah, sexual sin was also a big deal in Ephesus.  A VERY big deal.

So let’s be honest.  Are things really all that different today?  We may not have the temple to a horny god right down the street but take a look around.  Better yet, turn on your TV.  Or power up your laptop.  Or turn on your smart phone.  Sex and porn are EVERYWHERE!  My point is that Paul’s 2000-year-old teaching is just as important for us today as it was for his Ephesian friends in the first century.  Agreed?

The man from Tarsus begins his list with “sexual immorality” (v3).  This is the Greek word porneia.  Yeah, it’s EXACTLY what you think it is.  It gives us our word porn.  It describes any illicit sexual practice outside of marriage including adultery, fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism and prostitution.  Mark Driscoll is right on target when he says this is Paul’s junk drawer term for every kind of sexual sin.  Any sort of sex outside of Christian marriage, whether in your bed or in your head, is sin.  Period.  

So what’s the deal?  Aren’t we past all that?  Come on, this is the 21^st century America.  God’s truth is timeless.  So God’s truth about about sex and sexual sin is timeless.  It’s not that He’s against sex.  Why would He be?  It was His idea!  He created it!!  God hates sexual sin because of what it does to us.  It destroys like no other transgression.  All sin is rebellion against God and equally disgusting to Him.  But sexual sin is actually a sin against your own body (1Cor 6:18).  Sexual intimacy creates a bond between two people that has long lasting implications.  “The two become one flesh” (Gen 2:24; 1Cor 6:16).  Sexual sin is false intimacy.  It breaks God’s heart.  It not only denies His best for us, it’s the disgusting gift that keeps on giving.  Flip through 1Cor 6:15-20 for more.

As we said, sexual sin is nothing new.  Jesus’ little brother Jude described it as the sleazy pastime of Sodom and Gomorrah (Jd 7).  David’s lack of control over his libido began with leering at a naked woman and led in the murder of her husband.  Solomon, David’s son by that very same woman, warned his own son that messing with sex is like playing with fire (Prov 6:26).  That’s because it starts LONG before you have sex outside of marriage.  Jesus raised the bar on sexual sin to the point that He included a VERY strong warning against sexual fantasy (Mt 5:28).  Or in the words of Billy Ocean, “Get out of my dreams and into my car!”  Sorry, Billy.  That’s adultery!

God’s design for you and me is to stay focused on Christ.  We’ll be much less tempted to let our eyes wander, helping us to “abstain from sexual immorality” (1Th 4:3-4).  When faced with sexual temptation, we need to beat feet!  “Flee from sexual immorality!” (1Cor 6:18).  That’s exactly the tactic Joseph used when his boss’ wife put the move on him (Gen 39:12).  Sexual intimacy is reserved for committed couples in marriage.  And couples are to bust their tails to keep the marriage bed pure (Heb 13:4).

Paul continues to focus the rest of the list in this verse on sexual sin.  “Impurity” (Gr. akatharsia) describes immorality, lustful living, especially in regards to sex.  Jesus actually used this word when talking about a decaying human corpse (Mt 23:37).  Yuck!  That’s how disgusted God is when my sexual appetite runs out of control.  When folks choose to worship sex over Jesus, God allows them to make their sinful choice.  “God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity (Gr. akatharsia), to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves” (Rom 1:24).  If that’s really what you want, He’ll let you have it.

Then we see “covetousness” (Gr. pleonexia).  It’s a compound word that literally means to have more.  This is greed.  Avarice.  The desire for more and more and more.  Covetousness is all about want and nothing about need.  It’s wanting what you don’t have (Lk 12:15).  That includes someone you’re sexually attracted to who’s not your spouse.  It’s the result of not being satisfied with what God has given you.  It’s my way saying God is not enough and can’t be trusted.  That’s why Paul equates greed with idolatry (Col 3:5). 

The apostle makes it clear that these are things folks shouldn’t be saying about God’s “saints” (v3).  This is the Greek noun hagios.  It describes someone or something set apart by God, consecrated, holy and morally pure.  Here it means holy ones.  Paul reminds them of who they are if they’ve trusted in Jesus’ purity and holiness.  Right out of the gate, he calls them “saints” (Eph 1:1).  But let’s remember the order of how the Gospel works.  We don’t act morally pure in order to be morally pure.  We act morally pure because God has made us morally pure in Jesus.  And He’s given us the supernatural strength to avoid sexual sin and remain faithful to Jesus because we are “strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being” (Eph 3:16).

So, are we clear?  Sexual sin and porn are NOT part of our Jesus imitation.