Insight for Living

Bill Meyer: Resisting sexual temptation isn't complicated, but nobody said it would be easy. God's standard is clear, yet the pull toward compromise can feel overwhelming. So, how do we stand firm when everything around us says to give in?

Today, on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindoll offers a solid four-point game plan for maintaining purity. His approach is biblical, practical, and proven. Whether you're fighting for your marriage, your integrity, or your walk with God, Chuck equips you with the tools you need to win this battle. He titled today's message "A Plea for Morality."

Chuck Swindoll: 1 Thessalonians 4, we're just getting started. That you abstain... verse 4: "that each of you"—I love the way he puts that, there's an individualization here—"each of you" and each one is different. "Each one know how to possess his own vessel." Scholars dance between whether the vessel has a reference to wife or a reference to body. "That each one know how to control, or how to cultivate, or how to manage his wife or husband or body." Perhaps for the sake of illustration, we'll use "body." That each of you know how to manage your body when passions take charge. And to do so in sanctification and honor. I love the way he puts it: "know how to do it."

Verse 5 talks about when we are alone, and verse 6 addresses when we are with others. Verse 5: "not in lustful passion, like Gentiles who do not know God." Anything that stimulates the path toward porneia—hands off. Verse 6: "and that no one transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger." I said we would be reading about this. "The Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we told you before and solemnly warned you." Verse 7 puts the capstone on it: "God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification." Wonderful. God has called us to be people of holiness.

Will you believe it? God has our good at heart. This isn't judgment; this is assistance. This is great coaching. This is counsel on how to stay healthy. This is the best advice you could give your child, your teenager, the young adult who still lives in your home. This is straight talk from the Book. The lingering warning of this passage, let me give it to you: in obedience to God's command against immorality, resist. Yes, it is possible. In obedience to God's command against immorality, resist.

Now, back to 1 Corinthians chapter 6. Same era, same writer, another town. But don't think because we've left Thessalonica that we've come to prudish Corinth. You know what the other word for fornication was in the days of Paul? Corinthianize. That ought to tell you something. If you had a wild night, if you had some kind of orgy, if you were engaged in some kind of drinking bash with a bunch of guys and you had a bunch of women, you Corinthianized that night. That was the word used. We're talking people who gave themselves to that, even in worship. The worship of pagan gods included cohabiting with priestesses who stayed at the temple for the services of men. Like I say, this was no puritanical society in the first century.

1 Corinthians 6:15 to 20. Six times the same word is used. See if you can figure out which one it is. Verse 15: "Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? May it never be. Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a harlot is one body with her? For He says, 'The two will become one flesh.' But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him. Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body."

Six times the word "body" or "bodily" appears. The apostle's point here is directly related to one's physical body. The general context is the inappropriate connection of the body to that which is specifically described as porneia. Let me put it this way: I have never had this explained to me like I want to explain it to you, so this is sort of an original. When you come to know the Lord Jesus Christ, there is a bonding that takes place, like the meshing of gears with one another. You are linked together in a bond. You become members of one another.

Somehow, in the inappropriateness of sexual involvement outside the bonds of monogamy, there is a fracture in that bonding. This mystical union is violated. It is broken. And you become a member with the partner in sex and thereby break, through the promiscuity, this mystical bond between you and the Lord. And it takes a devastating toll on your life. It opens the door to all kinds of violations, and sometimes they are—I have to say it—irreparably damaging. Sometimes there isn't recovery.

I think this is what Paul has in mind when he writes of passion at the end of chapter 9 of 1 Corinthians and says many of the same things. He says, "I buffet my body and I keep it under." It's the word for beating myself black and blue. "Lest when I have preached to others, I myself should become adokimos." The word means disqualified. When I am seen in that fractured violation, I have forfeited the right to minister as I once ministered. You see what he says in verse 18? This is terribly important. "Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body."

Now, look closely. "But"—that's a negative particle, showing a contrast with what he just said—"but the immoral man sins against his own body." Listen closely. In this case, and only in this case, "the body is the instrument of sin and becomes the subject of the damage wrought," says A.T. Robertson. The body is the instrument of sin and becomes the subject of the damage wrought. In gluttony, food is taken in the body, and the sin is gluttony from without, outside the body. In armed robbery, a crime committed against society, the body, of course, holds the pistol or whatever may be the weapon. But the body isn't the instrument of the sin. Only in sexual immorality is it the instrument of sin and thereby creates a damage in the psyche, in the soulish, mystical part of one's being.

And I can't describe it any further than that. I can only tell you what it says. And there is a uniqueness to this kind of sin that is like none other. And I warn you, it is from the scriptures that I speak. We're seeing in our day a growing difficulty with AIDS, directly linked in most cases with illicit sex. The lingering warning is—and get this—for the sake of bodily health and our bonding to Christ, run. He says it: "Flee immorality." Just get away from it. Run. Strong words, I realize, but not impossible to do. You can do it. God can give you that kind of power and grace. That's why you have a Savior.

2 Corinthians chapter 12 is the last passage I want us to look at. This is, again, the same writer in the same era, only a few months later, and it's written to the same people in the same church. Same subject. Paul is thinking about returning to them for a visit and he says at the end of the 12th chapter he's afraid. In fact, the last two verses begin reading that way: "I am afraid, I am afraid." It's the last verse that is of major interest to me, but I'll read the last two. "I am afraid that perhaps when I come, I may find you to be not what I wish and may be found by you to be not what you want." This is what I'm really afraid of: that perhaps there may be strife, jealousy, angry tempers, disputes, slanders, gossip, arrogance, disturbances. I'm afraid of finding the same old schism and I want you to get it cleaned up.

Now, I want to be a man of the Word. I want the Bible to guide us. I don't want to give you just good psychological techniques or nice, helpful, practical ways to solve the problem. I want you to see from scripture what God has said about the problem. There's nothing like God's Word to open wounds and to bring healing. These three words are used by the apostle and they are distinct words. Three sinful, disgraceful practices.

The first one, translated "impurity": akatharsia. We get the word "cathartic" from it. It's the general term for uncleanness. It would include covetousness, greed, wrong motive, even idolatry and sex sins. Akatharsia. "I'm afraid that when I come, I will find some of you still engaged in an unrepentant lifestyle of akatharsia." There's a second that concerns him. "I'm afraid I'll find porneia still there. I wrote of it earlier, we read of it in 1 Corinthians 6. I'm afraid when I come, I will still see that there are sexual acts going on that are impure. Sex outside of monogamous relationships. And I will be humiliated, I will be ashamed."

Third, "I may find sensuality." Now, this is the tough one. Aselgeia. And there's no translatable English word for it, so we must amplify. It means a wanton defiance of public decency. One scholar writes, "Here is an untranslatable word. It does not solely mean sexual uncleanness. It is sheer wanton insolence." As Basil defined it, "It is that attitude of the soul which has never borne the pain of discipline. It is the wanton insolence that knows no restraint." We're describing an addiction. I've added that. "That knows no restraint, that has no sense of the decencies of things, that will dare anything that wanton caprice demands, which is careless of public opinion and its own good name, so long as it gets what it wants." Josephus ascribed this aselgeia, by the way, to Jezebel. It was her lifestyle. It is an addiction to sexual indecency. Do you see the downward trend? Akatharsia, porneia, aselgeia. A wanton defiance and no longer even a feeling of a blush or shame.

The lingering warning in this passage: to be free from the bondage of sexual misconduct, repent. To be free from the bondage of sexual misconduct, repent. Now, I'm talking about more than confession. Repentance is more than confession. To confess is to admit, to agree with God that it is wrong. Repentance is a deliberate turning away from it, changing one's mind, removing all traces, relinquishing all connections so that the bond is no longer broken. And Christ reigns supreme as He longs to and as He demands to.

I suggest even the burning of literature, not just the discarding of it, but the burning of it. The removal of friendships that hurt your relationship and attract the sensual part of your life. Getting rid of those friendships. Those aren't friendships; those are destructive relationships. If you're living with one outside of wedlock—move out. It's sin. It is wrong. And it will bear terrible consequences. Perhaps the worst of all is addiction for you and your partner. There is a cycle of sensuality that doesn't get better, it gets worse. And by and by, it will destroy your life. God is the avenger.

Are you willing to confront or have it confronted in your life so that close associates alongside you have the freedom to look you in the eye and ask you: Is this going on? Is this weakening your walk with God? Are you living a lie? Are you practicing indecent things in private? Paul says, "I care so much about this that I'm afraid when I come, God will humiliate me." Maybe I can help with sort of an ABCD plan. These are pieces of counsel I have given to others, and I think in some cases it may take time with a counselor, to be very honest about it. It may take someone who will help you walk through it and break the bond that you have established with a lifestyle that's hurting you.

A: Acknowledge. Acknowledge the impurity. The benefit of this is that it will heal the distance between you and your Lord. Acknowledge the bondage, acknowledge the involvement. Say it. Say it to somebody who can help you, not just to yourself. Say it to someone you respect. Acknowledge it. Second, I repeat what I said earlier: break all connections. The benefit is that it stops the cycle. Unless connections are broken, the cycle won't be stopped. The flesh dies hard. Get rid of the stacks of Playboy. Get away from the pornography. If you have long-standing connections at places where you travel, get rid of them. Get rid of the black book. Stop that nonsense. It's going to destroy you, if it hasn't already. Break all connections.

C: Communicate your need. The benefit is it will make you accountable. If you have never been before, I suggest you make every effort to get up close with a small group of people—same sex—where you can talk openly about the battle, the problem, the difficulties. Certainly in one of our adult fellowships or accountability groups, and there are many available in our church and in many churches. Fourth: determine to abstain. You may have a past that's littered with incredible things that you would find embarrassing to admit even to a close friend. Stop it today. The benefit is that it will free you to be all God meant you to be.

And in case you need a reminder that God is indeed the avenger, I close with a true story. I'll call the people in question Chester and Clara. Fictitious names, but the story is true. They were a couple whose 25-year marriage was a good one—not the most idyllic, but good. They now had three grown children who loved them dearly. They were also blessed with sufficient financial security to allow them room to dream about a retirement home. So they began looking for one. A widower, we'll call Ben—another fictitious name—was selling his place. They liked it a lot and they returned home to talk and to make their plans. Months passed between Chester and Clara. Last fall, she told him she wanted a divorce. He went numb. After all these years, why? How could she deceive him? How could she have been nursing such a scheme while they were looking at a retirement home? Had she been unfaithful? She said she hadn't been, not for that long. Actually, this was a recent decision now that she had found another man. Who? Clara admitted it was Ben, the owner of the house—the house they were looking at—whom she inadvertently ran into several weeks after they had discussed the sale. Remember what I said to you about getting alone with people of the opposite sex in private places? It works against you. They had begun seeing each other privately. Since they were now "in love," there was no turning back, not even the kids who hated the idea could dissuade their mother.

On the day she was to leave, Chester walked through the kitchen toward the garage, realizing she would be gone when he returned. He hesitated. "Well, hon, I guess this is the last time," and his voice dissolved as he broke into sobs. She felt uneasy and hurriedly got her things together, drove north to meet Ben. Less than two weeks after she moved in with him, her new lover, Ben, was seized with a heart attack. Lingered a few hours. Tuesday morning, Ben died. I have said for years that if God moved that swiftly in every case, most folks I know would think again before they started an affair. If God moved now like He did in the days of Ananias and Sapphira, I wonder if you'd have to build a morgue in the basement of every church.

He is the avenger. Friends, He's serious! And I must be serious. And I say this only because of the grace of God. The only reason I can speak with passion before you is because I am clean sexually, and I have been all my life. I say that again only to add credence to the fact that it can be done. Let's do it! And God will honor it. And if you haven't a past like that—I'm not talking about thoughts of lust, everyone is guilty of that—but if you haven't a past that's clear of acts of lust, today's the day to deal with it. Now. Now.

Let's bow together. Please close your eyes. Please sit quietly for just a few moments. I will not play on your emotions, but I must give you a time to decide, to act. Don't let a number of days pass where you just sort of casually think back over what you've heard. Deal with this today. It may be that you're not even a Christian and suddenly it dawns on you that that's the reason you haven't power to say no, to push the off button, to walk away from the sensual lures that will continue to be there all your life.

Jesus said, "I will give you power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you." You will not be addicted victims. You will be witnesses. You will be objects I will use for my honor. So if it's the need for turning your life over to Christ, you may make the decision right where you're sitting. Jesus Christ, come into my life. And maybe you have a homework, some homework to do around the house, or in your briefcase, or in the secret file at your office. Or you may need to break ties that only you know about. Because I warn you, God is the avenger. And He deals severely with His children who deliberately and wantonly compromise with sexual impurity. Today's the day.

Our Father, I pray that You will take this brief Word from Your Book and cause it to bear rich fruit in all our lives. And rather than leading to further hypocrisy and continued playfulness with the subject that is like a raging fire, may we treat it with serious attention. And may we see it as an urgent matter to be dealt with now. May Your name be glorified and may Your Spirit be in control as these decisions are made from Your people and from those who seek to know Your Son, Jesus Christ. In His strong name we pray. Amen.

Bill Meyer: You're listening to the Bible teaching of Chuck Swindoll and a special four-part series on the sanctity of life. Chuck titled today's message "A Plea for Morality." Insight for Living is featuring this powerful series right now because January is known in many parts of the world as the Sanctity of Life Month. In addition to Chuck's four messages, we're pleased to offer a Bible companion that our creative team has put together.

Some decisions are made in moments of panic, when fear drowns out everything else and there's no one to turn to for counsel or compassion. In those desperate moments, choices are made that can leave scars that no one else can see. Secrets buried deep in the heart. Memories that resurface in quiet moments. If you or someone you love is carrying that kind of weight, we wrote the Sanctity of Life Bible Companion for you. Written in Chuck's characteristically gentle and compassionate style, this resource doesn't offer judgment, only hope. God specializes in forgiving what we can't forgive in ourselves, and He alone can heal hearts that we thought were broken beyond repair. In Christ, we find liberation from both guilt and shame. You can request your copy of the Sanctity of Life Bible Companion by supporting Insight for Living with a donation. Just call us at 800-772-8888 or go to insight.org/donate.

In closing, we want to let you know that Insight for Living is looking to strengthen its position in 2026 by inviting new monthly companions to join us. In this role, your monthly contributions empower Insight for Living to be heard in multiple languages, and not only on radio and the internet. The fact is, anyone with a cell phone can hear the practical Bible teaching of Chuck Swindoll. And it's all made possible through monthly companions and anyone who gives a donation. To become a monthly companion today, call 800-772-8888 or sign up online at insight.org/monthlycompanion.

I'm Bill Meyer. Join us when Chuck Swindoll continues to provide the biblical case for the sanctity of life, Thursday on Insight for Living.

The preceding message, "A Plea for Morality," was copyrighted in 1990, 2000, 2011, 2014, and 2024, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2024 by Charles R. Swindoll, Incorporated. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.