When Christianity burst onto the scene, the early Romans were amazed and astounded in two particulars: that Christians were radically generous, giving away large portions of income, and that Christians were radically pure, believing in no sex outside of marriage. This unique understanding transformed the Roman world.
At that time, there were two major philosophies about sex. The first was the platonic view: that the soul is good, the body is bad, and sex is kind of dirty. The second was the mystery religions’ view: that sex is an appetite that is unhealthy to repress. The prudes and the pagans. And in 1 Corinthians, Paul vividly and incisively shows that Christians are neither. Instead, Christians have the most glorious and lofty possible understanding of sex that there is.
Let’s look at what this passage shows us about 1) how God says sex is supposed to function in a life, and 2) in looking at how to order our lives in accord to that, we see two things: 3) the only real cure for loneliness is the thing that sex points to, and 4) when you misuse sex, it works backwards.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on December 10, 1989. Series: Ten Commandments 1989. Scripture: 1 Corinthians 6:15-7:5.
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