Strip Off the Old Ways || Boundaries of Your Sexuality || Part 4

Welcome to Part 4 of the “Boundaries for Your Sexuality” Bible study. This study takes a deep look at sexual immorality, from understanding the original Greek to looking at today’s legalistic definitions. The goal is to understand what sexual immorality looks like today from a Bible perspective. In the last one, we adjusted our working definition of sexual immorality to be:

Sexual immorality: committing sexual acts or being nude with someone(s) outside of the boundaries of a healthy, God-led romantic relationship with the intent to accomplish sexual satisfaction, obtain money, satisfy lustful desires, or obtain gratification in a noncommittal manner in a way that can involve a variety of forms of abuse, force and/or inhuman treatment of those involved. (Changes are italicized.)

Part 3 was all about connecting body defilement to sexual immorality. Overall, we learned that God wants us to honor our bodies in our sexual relationships because God wants us to be happy, healthy, and holy. Part 4 takes us to the book of Colossians to talk about how we can put our old sinful ways to death and become a new being through Christ.

Colossians 3:5-11

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5 So put to death and deprive of power the evil longings of your earthly body [with its sensual, self-centered instincts] immorality, impurity, sinful passion, evil desire, and greed, which is [a kind of] idolatry [because it replaces your devotion to God.	5 So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.	5-8 And that means killing off everything connected with that way of death: sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy. That’s a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God. It’s because of this kind of thing that God is about to explode in anger. It wasn’t long ago that you were doing all that stuff. But you know better now, so make sure it’s all gone for good: bad temper, irritability, meanness, profanity, dirty talk.
6 Because of these [sinful] things the [divine] wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience [those who fail to listen and who routinely and obstinately disregard God’s precepts],	6 Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming.
7 and in these [sinful things] you also once walked, when you were habitually living with them [without knowledge of Christ.]	7 You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world.
8 But now rid yourselves [completely] of all these things: anger, rage, malice, slander, and obscene (abusive, filthy, vulgar) language from your mouth.	8 But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language.
9 Do not lie to one another, for you have stripped off the old self with its evil practices,	9 Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds.	9-11 Don’t lie to one another. You’re done with that old life. It’s like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you’ve stripped off and put in the fire. Now you’re dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete. Words like Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and irreligious, insider and outsider, uncivilized and uncouth, slave, and free, mean nothing. From now on everyone is defined by Christ, everyone is included in Christ.
10 and have put on the new [spiritual] self who is being continually renewed in true knowledge in the image of Him who created a new self –	10 Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.
11 a renewal in which there is no [distinction between] Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, [nor between nations whether] barbarian or Scythian, [nor in status whether] slave or free, but Christ is all, and in all [so believers are equal in Christ, without distinction].	11 In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.

Paul encourages the Colossians to get rid of all sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires from their lives. They were worshiping these things more than God. When sexual activity becomes everything we think about and do, then we’re struggling with an addiction and need to go through the steps of recovery to regain our lives. We shouldn’t be submitting ourselves to be all about sex and how we can get more of it. We should be submitting ourselves to God and his teachings and allowing sex to be a wonderful part of our lives. The Bible doesn’t condemn sex, but the improper use of sexual expressions is a sin. Is the sexual activity we’re watching or committing going against the compassionate way God created it to be? Is the sexual activity we’re watching or committing harming ourselves or those around us? God wants sexual experiences to be full of love, passion, and commitment between two consenting adults.

Now, my study Bible cites two passages to support heterosexual marriages, which I’ll go into later in this blog. The overarching idea is that Christian men and women should be open to true love – and to sexual intimacy – within the commitment to a lifelong exclusive relationship. They use these passages as instructions to enhance and protect family bonds and ensure respect and integrity for spouses. Sexual involvement outside of a romantic relationship destroys the sanctimony of the connection, intimacy, and passion. It causes people to focus on craving that high and turning away from God.

Genesis 2:21-24

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21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam; and while he slept, He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place.	21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the Lord God took out one of the man’s ribs and closed up the opening.	21-22 God put the Man into a deep sleep. As he slept he removed one of his ribs and replaced it with flesh. God then used the rib he had taken from the Man to make Woman and presented her to the Man.
22 And the rib which the Lord God had taken from the man He made (fashioned, formed) into a woman, and He brought her and presented her to the man.	22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man.
23 The Adam said, “This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”	23 “At last!” the man exclaimed. “This one is bone from bone, and flesh from my flesh! She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken from ‘man.’”	23-24 The Man said, “Finally! Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh! Name her Woman for she was made from Man.” Therefore a man leaves his father and mother and embraces his wife. They become one flesh.
24 For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, and she be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.	24 This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.

It’s unique to me that they base the standard heteronormative marriage on the Creation narrative. Because a woman was created from man, then man and woman should join together in a marriage covenant and become one being once more. We see the circle of the creation narrative forming here. From a literary perspective, the story makes sense in this context. From a literal context, this is easily digestible and gives credence as to why people should get married.

God created all of us to do various tasks, leading to the same goal – honoring God. From a biblical perspective, man gave life to woman, and woman gives life to the world. Each role is unique and doesn’t give either person the right to believe they are superior. However, believing that marriage is solely based on the man embracing the woman and the woman giving children to the world shrinks out the ability of what marriage can look like. God gave marriage as a gift, the ability of two people who are perfect for each other to receive a marriage covenant for eternity.

Marriage was instituted by God and has three basic aspects: one leaves their home and, in a public act, promises themselves to their significant other. They are joined together by taking responsibility for each other’s welfare and by loving each other above all others. They are untied into one intimacy and commitment of sexual union. This is a God-honoring marriage. Today’s culture doesn’t want a marriage that is all about pro-creation but about taking care of what we have on earth and making the world a better place through what we have.

Matthew 19:4-6

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4 He replied, “Have you never read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female,	4 “Haven’t you read the Scriptures?” Jesus replied, “The record that from the beginning ‘God made them male and female.’”	4-6 He answered, “Haven’t you read in your Bible that the Creator originally made man and woman for each other, male and female? And because of this, a man leaves father and mother and is firmly bonded to his wife, becoming one flesh – no longer two bodies but one. Because God created this organic union of the two sexes, no one should desecrate his art by cutting them apart.”
5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined inseparably to his wife, and two shall become one flesh’?	5 And he said, “This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’
6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate.	6 Since they are no longer two but one, let no split apart what God has joined together.”

Jesus’ teaching came from the original teaching of Genesis, written by Moses. Jesus learned about the Old Testament teaching as his foundational scripture, just as we did. We have to apply what we’ve talked about in Genesis 2. The unique thing about this that isn’t discussed in the studies of this passage is verse 6. No one should separate what God had joined together. Don’t create situations where a marriage covenant can be broken. Homosexual condemnation comes from verses 4 and 5, but yet two of these three verses are a quote from Genesis 2. Yet the teaching Jesus adds is in verse 6.

How do we move on from our old lifestyles, teachings, and ways that we understood life?

Romans 6:6

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6 We know that our old self [our human nature without the Holy Spirit] was nailed to the cross with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin.	6 We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin.	6-7 Could it be any clearer? Our old ways of life was nailed to the cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life – no longer captive to sin’s demands! If we get included in Christ’s sin-conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving resurrection.
7 For the person who has died [with Christ] has been freed from [the power of] sin.	7 For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin.

The power of sin over us and the penalty for sin died with Christ on the cross. Our old sinful selves died one and for all with Christ on the cross, making us free from our sin-loving, rebellious nature. We often fall into the pattern of sin without warning because of the old nature of humanity that we inherited when we were born.

Paul has stated that through faith in Christ, we stand acquitted, having been declared not guilty before God. We don’t need to live under sin’s power. God doesn’t take us out of this world or make us robots, meaning that we’ll still be tempted to sin. The difference is that before we were saved, we were slaves to our sinful nature. Now, we can choose to live for Christ.

Romans 8:13

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13 for if you are living according to the [impulses of the] flesh, you are going to die. But if [ you are living] by the [power of the Holy] Spirit, you are habitually putting to death the sinful deeds of the body, you will [really] live forever.	13 For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if you through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live.	13 There’s nothing in it for us, nothing at all. The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with your new life.

When we turn away from sin’s appeal in the Holy Spirit’s power, regarding sin as dead, we can ignore temptation when it comes.

The Romans passages are all about putting aside the sinful nature of our lives and switch over to God’s lifestyle taught by Jesus. Our sexual desires are often submitted through our sinful nature. We try to crave the high that comes from having sex or doing sexual activities by ourselves or with others. The oxytocin we receive helps us build trust and a romantic attachment with those we have sex with. The problem is when we release that oxytocin to many different people in an effort just to feel that release. We need to be cautious with who we have sex or what porn or virtual sex we partake in because that release will create a bond with that genre or that person, making it harder to separate from it the more we commit to it if needed. Trust God’s judgment when it comes to your sexual desire, listen to the convictions that come from God, and listen to him to get a healthy sexual lifestyle.

That wraps up Part 4. In Part 5, we will turn to the Book of Jude to discuss sexual immorality in Sodom and Gomorrah. Until then, stay blessed.