Many people in the world are involved daily in sexual sin. This can be an incredibly difficult sin to find freedom from, but through God, there is so much hope.

A Call to Holiness

In Leviticus 11:44, God commands us to “Be holy, for I am holy.” The opposite of every single sin is holiness. Change is not the absence of temptation; it is the Spirit-wrought ability to be holy even in the midst of those temptations.

The Biblical View vs. the Revisionist View

When trying to understand what God thinks about sexuality, we can go to several different sources for ideas: Scripture, reasoning, science, and our own experiences. These can all have helpful things to say. The problem is when we put them in the wrong order.

One view is the historical Christian (biblical) view of sexuality. This puts Scripture as the first and primary authority in our lives. Secondary to that is reasoning, logic, and scientific discoveries. Our experiences get third place.

But others hold a revisionist view, which switches the places of Scripture and experience. Those that hold this view think their experiences are the most important, while the Bible is the least important.

In order to form ideas that honor God, the Bible must be the first authority, not the last.

Studying the Context

To see what God really thinks of sexuality and sexual sin, we must use exegesis, which means getting the true meaning out of the text rather than inserting our own opinions and biases into it. When we read the Bible, our goal is to say, “What was God’s intent when He wrote this?” This includes looking at the context. There are three types of context we can study: literary, historical, and canonical.

Looking at the literary context means studying the verses and chapters around any passage of Scripture.

Studying historical context means asking questions like, “Who wrote this? When was it written?”

Finally, using canonical context means reading a passage in the light of the whole canon of Scripture — all 66 books. The Bible is one unified book tied together by the Holy Spirit, proclaiming one unified message: the Gospel that saves.

When we read Scripture in this way, we will discover that one passage will reference another. One book of the Bible will quote from or allude to another. In other words, we will discover that Scripture affirms Scripture.

Resources for Further Reference

Dr. Christopher Yuan has written several books that go much deeper into the topic of viewing sexuality in a biblical way. They include Out of a Far Country and Holy Sexuality and the Gospel: Sex, Desire, and Relationships Shaped by God’s Grand Story. He also offers a resource called The Holy Sexuality Project, which is a series of videos for parents and teens meant to teach them God’s view of sexuality and sexual sin.