Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves
From all filthiness of the flesh and spirit,
Perfecting holiness in the fear of God [2 Cor.7:1]
Purity & the Will of God
It is God’s will that you be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honourable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God;
And that in this matter no-one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you.
For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you His Holy Spirit [I Thess.4:3-8].
What is Impurity?
[1] Desires in the heart for sexual relations defile a person and makes him/her impure. But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart [Mt.5:28].
[2] Touching a person’s body in any way that arouses lust is immoral and impure. It is good for a man not to touch a woman [I Cor.7:1].
[3] Caressing a woman’s breasts is the same as prostitution. They committed harlotry in their youth; their breasts were there embraced, their virgin bosom was there pressed [Ezek.23:3].
[4] Lying sexually in shameful naked lust is hated by God. You degraded your body and you spread your legs to anyone who passed by, and multiplied your acts of harlotry [Ezek.16:25].
[5] Homosexual lust and sexual sin with animals are both unnatural perversions and even more hateful to God than other kinds of immorality. You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination. Nor shall you have sexual relations with an animal and defile yourself with it. A woman must not present herself to an animal to have sexual relations with it; that is a perversion [Lev.18:22, 23].
What Encourages Impurity?
[1] Looking at nakedness stirs up evil desires to sin against God. If a man takes his sister…and sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a wicked thing and they shall be cut off in the sight of their people [Lev.20:17]. Many defile themselves by looking at pictures of naked people in magazines or on the Internet. This is a great evil that must be stopped if you will become pure.
[2] Immodest dressing leads to lust in the heart and then to sin with the body. Clothing was given by God to cover the shame of our nakedness [Rev.3:18]. Any clothes we wear that do not cover the shame of our private parts is evil. Though you may not actually be showing your skin, if the clothing worn is tight, it focuses the eye upon your shame and invites people to lust after your body. This is how the Bible says that the prostitutes dress [Prov.7:10].
[3] Much of the music that is popular today speaks openly about sexual sin. It fills the heart with lustful desires to commit sin. You should stop listening to its evil words and rhythms.
[4] Wild dancing is nothing more than a lustful way to tell someone that you wish to have sex with them. The movements of the body in public express what you wish to do with them in private. It is an evil that must be forsaken if you will be pure in mind and body.
[5] Being friends with people who practice evil will corrupt you along with them. Do not be deceived: Bad company corrupts good morals [I Cor.15:33].
[6] Evil imaginations and lustful thoughts will lead you into actual sin with your body. He plans wickedness upon his bed; he sets himself on a path that is not good; he does not despise evil [Ps.36:4].
God’s Judgment on Impurity
[1] If you reject the Word of God about the evils of sexual sins, God will reject you. He will give you up to the lustful ways you have chosen which will bring you into destruction. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another…God gave them over to shameful lusts…since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, He gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done [Rom.1:24, 26, 28].
[2] The Lord expects that we will keep ourselves pure both in body and soul. Sexual relations are meant for a husband and wife alone and with no one else. God will judge all sexual acts outside of marriage. Marriage should be honoured by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral [Heb.13:4].
[3] No sexually impure person will ever enter into the kingdom of God. All will perish in the fires of Hell. Even if you are in the church or pray in the mosque, you cannot be saved while continuing in sexual sin. Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral… nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders…will inherit the kingdom of God [I Cor.6:9, 10].
[4] In the Old Testament times, all sexually impure people were put to death for their sins; whether fornicators, adulterers, rapists, or homosexuals [see Lev. 20-10-16; Deut.22:20-27]. In the New Testament times, all who do not repent of their sexual evils will be cast into everlasting punishment in Hell. But the…unbelieving, abominable… and sexually immoral…shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death (Hell) [Rev.21:8].
God’s Solution to Impurity
The true and living God who loves every person, no matter how deep in sin you may have gone, has provided a way of rescue from your sin and its coming judgment.
You cannot save yourself. Your sin is too strong for you to overcome. Even if you could, this will not remove the guilt of your past sins. Only the power of Jesus Christ the Lord can save you.
Come to Him. He died to set you free from God’s wrath by being punished in your place. He was raised from the dead to now give you forgiveness, a new heart, and His life of power over sin’s bondage.
Read the following verses from the Bible and then pray to God to forgive you and cleanse you from your sins.
He who covers his sin will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them
Will have mercy [Proverbs 28:13]
There is a way that seems right to a man,
But its end is the way of death
– Proverbs 14:12 –
And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are gossips, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, senseless, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them [Romans 1:28-32].
Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, sexual immorality, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, self ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, orgies, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God [Galatians 5:19-21].
The Lord Jesus said, I tell you; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish [Luke 13:5].
And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved [Acts 4:12].
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him [John 3:16, 18, 36].
For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit [I Peter 3:18].
And He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again [2 Corinthians 5:15].
As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name [John 1:12].
Jesus said, Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest [Matthew 11:28].
If you confess with your mouth, Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame� [Romans 10:9-11].