Stay Pure

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Hebrews 13:4  (NIV)

4 Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.


Ephesians 5:3  (NIV)

3 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.


1 Thessalonians 4:3-5, 7 (NIV)

3 It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should learn to control your own body[a] in a way that is holy and honorable, 5 not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God; 7 For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.

1 Corinthians 6:18-20 New International Version (NIV)

18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. 19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.


Passion need parameters.  


Galatians 5:24  (NIV)

24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.


From this Day Forward, I will...

1. Make a commitment to God's Standards.

Psalm 119:2 New International Version (NIV)

2 Blessed are those who keep his statutes
    and seek him with all their heart—


2. Manage my mind.




Job 31:1 (NIV)

 “I made a covenant with my eyes
    not to look lustfully at a young woman.


Psalm 101:3 A  (NIV)

3 I will not look with approval
    on anything that is vile.




3. Magnify the consequences.


Proverbs 6:32  (NIV)

32 But a man who commits adultery has no sense;
    whoever does so destroys himself.


4. Maintain proper relationships. 


Proverbs 13:20 (NIV)

20 Walk with the wise and become wise,
    for a companion of fools suffers harm.


Three Responses


1. Defensiveness. It is rebellious.   


2. Remorse.  You feel condemned.  God does not condemn.  He convicts.


3. Repentance.  It is a moment of pain.  Unrepentance is a lifetime of pain.  


2 Corinthians 7:10 (NIV)

10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.


Chris Hodges, Church of the Highlands
https://www.churchofthehighlands.com/media/message/stay-pure

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