Immorality: Adultery, Fornication and Homosexuality, Part 5

January, 2005

by: Jack Hughes

• Common Sins

In the last four Calvary Reviews we have been examining immorality and some of the ways it is expressed in our culture. What we haven’t had a chance to do is take some time to discuss the Church’s proper response to immorality. Christians can become great protestors and complainers against certain sins. Yet many Christians decry certain sins but never attempt to be part of the solution. Christians must not only speak out against what is wrong, they must take affirmative action to be part of the solution to the problem. In this Calvary Review we will discuss the Church’s proper response to immorality both in the church and the world.

Doing Something About Immorality in the Church

So, you want to do something about immorality in your church. Where do you start? Well, the heart beat of every church is the pulpit. Whatever is consistently preached from the pulpit will invariably be lived out in the church. God changes people through the Word of God. If preachers proclaim what the Bible says about immorality and its eternal consequences, that truth will both instruct and transform the people of God. Because of this, every church member should insist that his/her preacher/s preach the entire counsel of God’s Word and not avoid any topic, specifically immorality.

A preacher can easily be distracted from God’s call on his life. Pastors want to see their churches grow. They want to see their church members happy and content. They want people to like them and their preaching. All of this leads to one of the deadliest sins of all for the preacher – the fear of man. When a preacher forgets that he is God’s servant, called to do God’s will, in God’s way, he invariably becomes a man pleaser. He becomes concerned with numbers, with avoiding persecution, and with the popularity of his church in the town he lives in. Yet as Prov. 29:25 reminds us, “The fear of man brings a snare, But he who trusts in the Lord will be exalted.”

Satan is more than willing to increase the numbers, programs, and popularity of a church if the pastor will avoid preaching against certain sins. Invariably, churches shepherded by man–pleasers end up as breeding grounds for immorality. J. C. Ryle in his book Holiness describes how this happens:

How many clergymen work hard in their profession for a few years and then become lazy and indolent from the love of this present world! At the outset of their ministry they seem willing to spend and be spent for Christ; they are instant in season and out of season; their preaching is lively and their churches are filled. Their congregations are well looked after; cottage lectures, prayer meetings, house–to–house visitation are their weekly delight. But, alas, how often after “beginning in the Spirit” they end “in the flesh” and, like Samson, are shorn of their strength in the lap of that Delilah, the world! They are preferred to some rich living; they marry a worldly wife; they are puffed up with pride and neglect study and prayer. A nipping frost cuts off the spiritual blossoms which once bade so fair. Their preaching loses its unction and power; their weekday work becomes less and less; the society they mix in becomes less select; the tone of their conversation becomes more earthly. They cease to disregard the opinion of man; they imbibe a morbid fear of “extreme views,” and are filled with a cautious dread of giving offense. And at last the man who at one time seemed likely to be a real successor of the apostles and a good soldier of Christ settles down on his lees as a clerical gardener, farmer, or diner out, by whom nobody is offended and nobody is saved. His church becomes half empty; his influence dwindles away; the world has bound him hand and foot. He has walked in the steps of Lot’s wife. He has looked back.

For this reason churches must insist that their preachers fear God and preach the whole counsel of God’s Word. Yet even if the preacher is fulfilling his responsibilities before God, professing Christians still often choose to engage in immorality. The Bible tells us what is to be done when this happens, also.

When a Christian discovers that another professing Christian is living in immorality, it is his/her responsibility before God to lovingly confront that person and call him/her to repentance (See Matt. 18:15-19; Acts 5:1-11; Rom. 16:17; I Cor. 5; Gal. 6:1; I Thess. 5:14; II Thess. 3:6-15; I Tim. 5:20; Titus 1:13; 3:10, 11; Rev. 2:2, 14,15, 20). The Scriptures state that every Christian is under obligation to privately confront any other believer in the Church if he/she catches that person in any unrepentant sin. If the person repents, then the matter is dropped. If the person refuses to repent then the confronting party brings someone else with them as a witness. If the person repents, the matter is dropped, but if the person in unrepentant sin still refuses to turn away from their sin, then the matter must be brought up before the elders who will then bring the unrepentant person up before the congregation so that the entire congregation can encourage them to repent. Still, if they will not submit to the Word of God, the elders and the entire congregation, God says they are to be excommunicated from the Church.

Paul addresses a specific case of immorality in I Cor. 5 where the church at Corinth was not practicing church discipline. Paul argues in vs. 6 saying, “Do you not know that a little leaven, leaven’s the whole lump of dough?” Paul describes immorality in the church as leaven in a lump of dough. He goes on to tell them “clean out the old lump” (vs. 7), “not to associate with any so–called brother if he is an immoral person” (vs. 11), and “remove the wicked man from among yourselves” (vs. 13).

Church discipline is done for five basic reasons: 1) to restore the unrepentant person, 2) to maintain holiness in the Church, 3) to maintain a good witness in the world, 4) to cause the congregation to be fearful of sinning, and 5) to show love to God by submitting to His Word. When God’s Word is obeyed, immorality does not become a problem in the church because people are either encouraged to repent of their immorality or removed from the church.

Doing Something About Immorality in the World

Churches that do preach the Word and practice church discipline are often frustrated by the moral decay in our society. They see our culture’s morality slowly being eroded by the consequences of evolutionary theory and a humanistic world view which teaches that people are just animals, there are no absolutes, and that God doesn’t exist or if He does exist He is indifferent to how people live. So why not sin? Why not be immoral? For that matter why not murder, lie, cheat, and steal? When the Bible is rejected, the opinions of men reign and when that happens, immorality flourishes.

Some have sought to stem the flood of cultural immorality through political activism. Many churches have even been tempted to engage in politics and pour their resources into lobbying for candidates, bills, and amendments which promote biblical standards of morality. They reason that if they can get the right candidates in office to pass the right kinds of laws, then sinful behavior will be held in check. And their reasoning is sound because laws do provide some deterrent against sin – but not a cure. Those who now sin in the open, might by the passing of certain laws, retreat to sin in private. This may slow the corrupting influence of sin in society, but it does not address the root problem.

For instance, if the government passed the death sentence for fornication, adultery, and homosexuality, you can imagine how that might affect society. Thousands would be executed and the fear of being caught and executed would cause many to refrain from committing immoral acts. Yet, laws and their penalties fail to address the root problem – the wicked hearts of men.

Another way Christians have tried to stop the corrupting influence of immorality in society is by reminding people about the destructive consequences of immorality. Many Christians try to reason with the world arguing that immorality is harmful, e.g., “You might get AIDS,” “You might get pregnant,” “You will be giving away your virginity to someone who isn’t your spouse,” “If you don’t want someone to defile your future spouse, then don’t defile that person’s.” There are many arguments like this which do contain wisdom and which do provide some deterrent against immorality for those who are willing to listen to wisdom.

But again, it fails to address the root problem. People sin because their hearts are wicked. If people lived by wisdom, they would floss their teeth, wear sun screen before going outside, and exercise regularly. But many don’t. Why? Because they don’t want to listen to wisdom. It’s like the smoker who says to himself, “I won’t get lung cancer, emphysema, or have a heart attack.” Because there is a small chance they won’t, they convince themselves that they are going to be one of the “lucky ones.” Their slavery to their habit compels them to act against wisdom.

In the same way many practice immorality against wisdom because of the pleasure they receive from it. They know what the consequences are but they are willing to risk the consequences in order to have their lusts fulfilled. This is why making the practical consequences of immorality known to those of the world is only a superficial deterrent but not the cure.

So is there anything that can help cure the sinful hearts of men? Yes! The answer is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus made it clear to Nicodemus in John 3 that salvation causes people to be “born again.” The prophet Jeremiah made it clear that those under the New Covenant would receive God’s Spirit and a “new heart.” We are not to understand “new” as meaning perfect but new as meaning having the ability to obey God and change. Before salvation our hearts are dead to God and alive to sin. After salvation they are alive to God and dead to sin. We are told to work at making sure they stay dead to sin. This process of spiritual growth is called sanctification.

Sanctification happens when the Holy Spirit and the Word of God are received and implemented by the believer. The Holy Spirit uses the Word of God to reprogram our wicked hearts so that we both desire and live according to the Word of God. This is the cure for immorality in the world and this is why Jesus commands us to make disciples of all nations, teaching them to observe all He commanded (Mt. 28:19-20). Don’t just complain about immorality in the world, be part of the solution by living a godly life and sharing the Gospel with the lost.