06/16/19 - Your Body Counts - 1 Corinthians 6:12-20

“For this is the will of God, your sanctification : that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God…” (1 Thessalonians 4.3-5) There are very few times in Scripture where God speaks so directly about His will—his expressed desire—his ideal, his plan, his best design for us. Paul says that God’s best for you is to abstain from sexual immorality and to exercise self-control. Living in our culture means you are affected by sexual immorality – our technology has made it freely and instantly available, everywhere at any time to anybody (including children), and always anonymous. It affects our clothing, our schools, our TV, our films, our music, our media, even our coffee. We hear about it; we read about it; we see it; we think about it; we even legislate it. Without doubt, you or someone you know has been and will be affected by the worship of sex because, as Peter Kreeft (professor of philosophy at Boston College) has said, “Sex is the effective religion of our culture.” Our culture, like Corinth, has hijacked sexuality, taking what is an awesome gift that blesses and making into an awful god that controls and destroys. This Sunday, the Apostle Paul will speak truthfully, directly, and passionately to the Corinthian believers and us, giving perhaps the clearest perspective in all of Scripture on our bodies and sexual sin. I wouldn’t have chosen this text for Father’s Day, but then again, Paul’s words may be the gift many really need and want to receive…