Sex and sensual pleasure: Biblical Perspective

I find it very disturbing when I listen to the talks of some Christians, even elders of the church so engrossed in the discussion of a movie and its details. They have no qualms in going over to a theatre or screening a movie at home or inviting their fellow believers for so-called outing, which in essence is just to expose you to sin in the form of a movie. And it reminds me of my days when I lived a sinful, disobedient life. A life that only sought physical and sensual pleasures. All the thoughts and deeds were to satisfy my sexual desires. During the week offs, all I did was watch movies for hours. There was no concept of reading the Bible. There was no concept of prayer in my life.

There was no concept of Lordship of Jesus Christ in my life. My passions were sinful, my desires were sinful, my longings were sinful. Not only was I living a life of sin, I was continuously exposing myself to sin and fanning my sinful and sexual passions by watching movies, listening to secular music, with all their sexual undertones and overtones. I was listening to music which were generating in me the emotions designed by God to be exercised inside marriage. They were generating in me a desire and longing for the opposite sex. There is nothing wrong in being attracted to the opposite sex but to let myself engulf with the desire for sensual pleasure is sin. During this phase, I had no longing to live a holy life. I had no desire to live a holy life. There was no guilt for the sins I was committing. There was no remorse. I was enjoying the pleasures of my sinful, sexual and sensual passions. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh. Rom 8:5a

 And then I came back to Christ. All of those desires and longings to watch a movie, listen to those songs are gone. It's just gone. Those feelings are just not there anymore. I did not struggle to leave them. I did not do anything. That's the work of the Holy Spirit who through His indwelling fills us with a new desire and longing. All I did was repent of my sins and come back to Christ and accepted His Lordship. When I see these so called Christians and elders of the church so zealously discussing movie, I know they are where I was when I lived a sinful and a disobedient life. They may fool the world but not me because I've lived the life that they are presently into. What they are indulging in, I've already indulged in. And I've been saved from that sinful life. I am a new creation. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things are passed away; behold, all things have become new. II Cor 5:17 They who are of Christ's have crucified the flesh with all its lusts. If anyone loves the world or the things of the world, the love of the father is not in him. The Bible is so plain and clear in this matter. There has to be an outward evidence of the inward transformation that we claim to have.

The acid test to do a thing or watch or listen a thing is given by Paul in Phil 4:8, 'Finally Brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy-meditate on those things.'

So, if that thing that you desire to do or watch or listen is true, noble, just, pure, lovely, is of good report, has virtue in it, is praiseworthy, then do it. I Thess 5:22 says, 'Abstain from every form of evil.'

Death Sentence: To Them or Us too?

Guwahati India. Monday July 9, 2012. Around 10 PM. A 20-year old girl is molested, slapped, beaten, groped, and stripped outside a bar in full public view by a mob of twenty and more persons. The crime was caught on camera and uploaded on social networking site. Due to the outrageous and ghastly act, people are demanding a death sentence for all the accused involved.

Is the mob consisting of twenty and more people the only ones who are guilty of such a heinous crime? Are they the only ones who are to be sentenced to death? Are we not in the same league? Have we not committed the same offence?

Every male, who has attained puberty, has, in his lifetime, raped girls and women, with his eyes. Every male, including you and me, in our thought process and imagination, have lusted, molested and raped innumerable girls and women. Are we not guilty of the same offence of which these guys are guilty of? Should not the death sentence be pronounced on you and me who are guilty of the same offence?

Now that the Indians themselves have voluntarily demanded a death sentence for the accused and they themselves are not excluded from the guilt, they themselves are the accused, should all be acquitted or all be sentenced to death? If those twenty guys only be punished, then it would be an unjust judgement. It would be discrimination. It would be a partiality. The judgement would be tenable to appeal as it acquits us for the same crime and convict the other few.

Should all be set free because we ourselves are guilty of the same crime? If that be the case, then we accuse ourselves of lowering the standard (that we set ourselves-Death Sentence) since we are not able to meet the standard. It should not be that way. Just because we do not meet the standards, does not mean, we lower the standard. Bible says in Romans 6: 23, 'For the wages of sin is death.' We sin, we get death. That's God's judgement too.

Should all be punished? How could all be punished since the one who passes the order of punishment is also guilty of the same crime? Should a woman pronounce the judgement? Is she not guilty of the same offence? Is she not guilty of lusting, raping and sexual assault on men through her eyes, thoughts, imaginations and fantasies? Bible says in Romans 3: 23, 'For all have sinned and fallen short of the standard set by God.'

Is God capable of pronouncing the judgement, convicting us, the accused and sentence us to death? For Him to be capable of doing that, He has to be holy, pure and sinless. Bible says in I Jn 3:5, 'in Him there is no sin.' In II Cor 5: 21, it is written, 'He knew no sin.' In Isaiah 6: 3 and Revelation 4: 8, the angelic beings are always saying, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!"


But God does not take delight in the death of the wicked. He does not want to kill us. In Ezekiel 18:23, God speaks and says, "Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?" Why would He not kill us? Because He loves us. Bible says in Jeremiah 31: 3, God speaks, "I have loved you with an everlasting love."

Since we all have sinned and are worthy of death sentence, since God is capable of pronouncing the verdict but He does not want us to die because of His immense love for us, He became man and bore the punishment of our sins on the cross and died as He Himself had commanded and forgave us our sins who accepted this wonderful work of God's grace towards us.

This man is Jesus. Bible says in II Cor 5: 21, 'For He (God) made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.' When you accept the work which Jesus did on the cross, then, God looks at you through Jesus and finds you, innocent. Jesus acts as a prism, as a filter, as a mediator. Bible says in Jn 3:15, 'That whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.'

You do not have to work towards proving yourself innocent. You do not have to suffer the pangs of guilt for the crimes you have committed. You do not have to suffer the ordeal of not knowing there is a way out. You do not have to walk through a dark alley not knowing that your sins, your crimes, your shame, your guilt has already been taken care of by God Himself through the death of Jesus Christ.

You do not have to make the treacherous trip to Amarnath. You do not need to go to Shirdi, Vaishno Devi, Gangotri, Ganges, Tirupati, Velankani, Mecca, Ajmer Sharif, satsanghs, meditation, self-realization camps.

What must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, that He alone is God. Ask forgiveness of your sins from Him. Accept Him as Lord and Master of your life. Turn away from all your sinful ways.

How will I live a new life? On the third day, Jesus Christ rose again from the dead. God raised Him from the dead. The power with which He raised Jesus from the dead is the same power He gives us to live a pure, holy, sinless, spotless and blameless lives. God's Holy Spirit comes to reside in our bodies who helps us creating a longing, a desire, a passion to live and lead a holy life. He helps us in revealing God's truth to us hidden in Bible. He speaks to us through Bible and Bible alone. All other teachings, preaching, books, articles, leaflets, audios, videos, and talks have to be verified with the Bible to ascertain if they are in accordance with Bible's teaching. If they are not they are false. They are lies. They are fraud.

Bible says in Jn 3: 16-18, 'For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son (Jesus Christ), that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 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.'