Insightful Musings on theScriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Greetings, special people.

We had a great time yesterday with our guests. The four little kids had an absolute blast playing in and along the creek. Dandy dog had a blast with them…chasing balls and whatever else they would throw.

Speaking of Dandy, now we are again bummed. He’s gone. We returned home from church and he’s nowhere to be found. We have no idea what has happened in his canine cranium to suddenly prompt an urge to wander.

Have a great rest of your day.

Love, Dad/Ray.

Four simple words are joined together here to form the most profound, viable, and wise advice on the subject of sex that anyone could ever be given. And yet the history of man, including our own modern society, reveals that men have not paid much attention. Ironically, our secular environment is clearly inclined to promote the exact opposite. Television, movies, books, magazines, and even public schools with their so-called sex education programs, are all effectively promoting old-fashioned promiscuity and sexual immorality. The dismal result is more obvious today than it ever has been. Marital failure due to adultery, teenage pregnancies due to fornication, STDs (sexually transmitted diseases) due to all manner of sexual perversion are at an all-time high. And HIV/AIDS, already claiming the lives of multiplied millions since its identification in 1982, holds the potential of exterminating the human race.

The big crusade of a mixed-up world now pushes “safe sex”—which is nothing short of a big lie. It has proven to have absolutely no statistical effectiveness—quite the contrary. Condoms are being applauded as a kind of magical protection for all sexual dangers to accommodate those who are encouraged to be “sexually active.” And homosexuality is being presented as a very legitimate “alternative lifestyle.” But let’s get this straight, and do everything we reasonably can to communicate this truth to our vulnerable youth—THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS “SAFE SEX” OUTSIDE THE BOUNDARIES OF GOD’S LAWS AND DESIGN. It is all very dangerous and destructive emotionally, socially, physically, economically, and spiritually. And today’s Bible reading emphatically exclaims that if this kind of behavior is not dealt with by sincere confession and repentance, it has the ultimate consequence of disqualifying and excluding people from the Kingdom of God. That sure doesn’t sound very safe to me!

I think it is appropriate to observe that the scripture does not say, “Flee from sex.” For God has clearly designed the gift of sexuality and the “act of marriage” (sexual intercourse) to be realized ONLY within an exclusive marriage relationship where there is one man and one woman, with the ideal being chastity (virginity) before marriage, and faithfulness after marriage. That has to be the intended message of Hebrews 13:4:“Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.” So FLEE FROM SEXUAL IMMORALITY, or any other use of sex outside the fence of this standard. And where there has been sexual misconduct, the Biblical mandate and Gospel opportunity is REPENT AND CONFESS. The glory of this Gospel is that we can even flee from the guilt and condemnation of SEXUAL IMMORALITY in the past—“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). I’m convinced that we are given no safer view of “safe sex.” And there is no other righteous advice that can produce desired righteous results concerning God’s gift of sexuality.