Purity is the Goal

"If your goal is purity of heart, be prepared to be thought very odd."

-Elisabeth Elliot

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Recently someone questioned my definition of "sexual immorality". In my messages on holiness and sexual purity I define sexual immorality as "any sexual activity that is outside of marriage." So if I am willfully engaging in some act with another person (not my wife) that is sexually stimulating I would consider it a sexually immoral act.

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I later went to my Bible dictionaries to see if perhaps I had misunderstood this topic or strayed from what is doctrinally sound or accurate. So here's the most detailed definition I found ("fornication" is the old English word; modern translations like the NIV use "sexual immorality")

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FORNICATION — sexual relationships outside the bonds of marriage. The technical distinction between fornication and ADULTERY is that adultery involves married persons while fornication involves those who are unmarried. But the New Testament often uses the term in a general sense for any unchastity. Of the seven lists of sins found in the writings of the apostle Paul, the word fornication is found in five of them and is first on the list each time (1 Cor 5:11; Col 3:5). (from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Copyright © 1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers)

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The words "for any unchastitity" means that sexual immorality is not limited solely to intercourse, but rather any act that leads in that direction and would make us impure. In fact the goal is Purity, not simply to see how much I can get away with without being considered immoral.

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But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people.

Ephesians 5:3

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The Goal is Purity of Heart. When I have this, I will not engage in any act that even gives "a hint of sexual immorality".

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Later God gave me this verse:

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Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.

Ephesians 4:19

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Sensuality comes before sexual immorality. Sensuality is behaviour that stimulates the senses, especially in regards to sex. We all know when a movie scene is sensual. It does not show two people having sex, it simply shows them in a steamy conversation or situation that stimulates the sex drives in the audience.

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As Paul tells us, some people (Christians included) lose their sensitivity to what is right and give "themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more."

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These people engage in behavior that stimulates them sexually, thus becoming impure, and it will eventually lead to the very act of immoral intercourse. Unbridled sensuality and impurity leads to "a continual lust for more" and more fleshly gratification. It saps our strength to resist which leads to the inevitable moment of regret when we do what we never thought we would and certainly did not intend it.

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So I will stick with my definition of sexual immorality even if I'm thought of as odd. I think it is accurate and will keep me and my congregation from falling into sin. My hope is that it will help us live a life worthy of the gospel of Christ. When the Goal is Purity, you don't want to see how close you can get to the edge before falling off --- you want stay clear of the edge and close to center of the heart of Christ.