Staying Pure...For Her
Staying Pure for God
By Travis K. McSherley

The title of this series is "Staying Pure...For Her."  First and foremost, however, we must remain chaste because God told us to (unfortunately, that just didn't rhyme)!  In the Galatians passage mentioned before, we saw that the Spirit of God wrestles with the desires of our flesh when they contradict His will.  Therefore, we must be willing to sacrifice our lusts so that we may please Him.  Paul also tells us in Romans to "put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof" (Romans 13:14).  Again we see the contradiction between desires of flesh and God.

The theme of the articles in this series revolves around that word "purity."  I hope that you have or will gain a desire to be or stay sexually pure through marriage.  Take note that I said "through" marriage.  It is every bit as important to stay sexually pure after marriage as it is before.  But doesn't any kind of sex take away that purity?  Not at all if it's done God's way.  Well, then who determines what being "pure" really means?  Ha!  That is the main point of this month's article, and in many ways it is the theme of the whole series.  The One who determines when sex is pure is the One who gave it to us in the first place!  Only One who is completely pure has the authority to differentiate between purity and impurity.

I Corinthians 10:31 says that "whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."  We are to seek God's glory in all that we do.  Did Paul mean to please Him in everything we do except sex?  I don't think so.  This means that we must be trying to please God in every aspect of our lives and in every aspect of our relationships, including the sexual part.  Joshua Harris, author of I Kissed Dating Goodbye, says that every relationship gives us an opportunity to model Christ's love.  In fact, many times in Scripture the church is regarded as Christ's bride (see Ephesians 5).

Paul discusses more about staying pure in I Corinthians 7. 

Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman.  Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.  Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband.  The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife. (v. 1-4)

Sex is a gift, given by God.  His intention, beginning with Adam and Eve, was for a husband and a wife to become "one flesh."  When this happens to God's glory, what a beautiful and incredible thing it is!  But when it is induced by our own lustful desires, what a terribly sad waste it becomes.  I realize that some of you reading this may have already committed this sin of fornication, but might I remind you what Jesus said in His Sermon on the Mount.  "But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart" (Matthew 5:28).  Uh oh.  I think that everyone has probably lusted in his and her heart,  myself included.  Fortunately, the same Man who spoke these words also sacrificed Himself so we could be clear of them.  Romans 3:23 says that "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God."

None of us are really pure.  Hopefully, most of us are waiting till marriage to have sex, but we still need to go to God to be cleansed within.  Fornication is a sin, but so is the lust that drives us to it.  God knows our thoughts and our hearts.  Therefore, to enjoy truly pure sex in our marriages, we all must pray to God for forgiveness of our lusts, whether we acted upon them or not.  Even if it is too late for you to be married as a virgin, that doesn't mean you have to be married sexually impure.  Remember that you're staying pure out of love for God, and He's the only One who can give you purity anyway.  In our story, Jason had lusted after Brittany, he had sinned in acting upon his own desires; but he finally conceded them because he knew God's view on the matter.

You may have begun reading these articles wondering why you should even bother trying to save sex for marriage.  After all, it's a good thing, the desire is there, and as long as I love her (or him), what's the big deal?  I hope by now you can see that we must try to do everything to give glory to God.  As hard as it may sometimes be to wait (and it is difficult, I know), it is possible if we stay pure out of love for Him.  And next month, I'll try to get you thinking of the other person involved.