the ten commandments of sexual purity
"No fornicator, no unclean or lustful person...has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God." —Ephesians 5:5
God's word speaks boldly to a society wallowing in sexual sin.
- Our holiness forbids the mention of "lewd conduct or promiscuousness or lust of any sort" (Eph 5:3).
- Not only obscene but silly or suggestive talk is out of place (Eph 5:4).
- We should replace such talk with words of thanksgiving (Eph 5:4).
- An unclean or lustful person is in effect an idolator (Eph 5:5).
- No lustful person "has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God" (Eph 5:5).
- People will use "worthless arguments" to deceive us about sexual morality (Eph 5:6).
- Sexual sins "bring God's wrath down on the disobedient" (Eph 5:6).
- We are to "have nothing to do with" sexual sins (Eph 5:7).
- We are to go to extremes to resist the temptation to look lustfully (Mt 5:28).
- "Whoever rejects these instructions rejects, not man, but God" (1 Thes 4:8).
The Lord not only commands us to resist sexual temptations but gives us the grace to do so. By His grace, we can be pure as Jesus is pure (1 Jn 3:3).
Prayer: Father, may I be "pure and follow the Lamb wherever He goes" (Rv 14:4).
Promise: "Should not this daughter of Abraham here who has been in the bondage of Satan for eighteen years have been released from her shackles on the sabbath?" —Lk 13:16
Praise: John, a young man of twenty, prays continually for a "rebirth of chastity, especially in the youth."
Rescript: †Reverend Joseph R. Binzer, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, May 1, 2008
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