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Speaker: Jerry Cisar
We live in a sex saturated culture. I don’t need to trot out statistics to prove that. If you have any doubt, watch 15 minutes of TV. Any channel should suffice to make the point.
The Thessalonians lived in a sex saturated culture. I could demonstrate that with numerous references to historic documents. We would see, in regard to sexual immorality, that what Paul was saying to the Thessalonian believers in their sex saturated culture can be spoken directly to believers in Tampa Bay in our sex saturated culture. That said, you might think this text would be as easy as, “Read & Apply!” However, there is a problem: we get the culture right, but far too often we get the motivation wrong!
Quite often after telling Christians that we are called to stay away from sexual immorality, preachers and teachers quote statistics showing that monogamous marital relationships lead to happier and healthier lives; that saving oneself until marriage will prevent problems later in marriage; or that any kind of sex outside of marriage will end in misery. But all that is beside the point; at least Paul’s.
Paul didn’t tell us to abstain from sexual immorality so that we could arrive at the wedding altar as virgins because that makes for healthier marriages (though it does). Nor so that marriages will be happier. Paul doesn’t tell us to abstain from sexual immorality in order to make us happy; He tells us to abstain from sexual immorality to make God happy! Don’t take my word for it, take Paul’s.