Henry - So we're back. And well, you know, we talked a lot about know the Old Testament, the New Testament, and it was a trodge to get through all of the is that a word trodge?  

Pam - trudge trudge, looks more trodge. So you kind of mix the two words trod into trudge,  which are similar words.  

Henry - When we fall into sin, as humans, there was a brokenness that went deep within our  brains, our sexual appetites, and we in in some ways, you can even see the chemical release, and you see children who are just kind of children, then they go through adolescence. And  well, they'll go off and say, like, what happened to that person, all of a sudden, that chemical  thing now it's awfully beautiful to who they're trying to figure things out, and they get married,  there's grandchildren, and you know, they're all part of that. But there is clearly the role of  Jesus Christ to right the ship, and the role of ministers to proclaim the good news that Jesus  will take you where you're at. And there's a sanctification process, even in those areas of your life. So let's get into being renewed.  

Pam - All right, when a person becomes a believer, he or she is now born again into a  redemptive relationship with Jesus Christ, the past sins and sinful struggles are covered, they  have a way to stand in confidence with God and become renewed in the image of their  Creator Colossians 3:10, and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge  in the image of its Creator.  

Henry - The first thing is interesting about when you become a believer, you actually become  aware that you need a savior, you are maybe became aware as they were, but then when you are saved, there's a new gratitude. And it does affect everything that you do. And you know, in your new spiritual DNA of renewal, that the image of a creator is now starting to work itself out 

in you. But you also become aware of notice that there is a lot of stuff in your life, that might  still be filled with bitterness that still might be hurt, that might be injured. But you have a  different attitude about all of that instead of like getting so bitter about it, that you can't forgive  your neighbor, all of a sudden, you can begin forgiving the the you know, all of these things  start changing. And it applies to the area of sexuality as well,  

Pam - right? Yeah. I Corinthians 6:18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man  commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. I  Corinthians 10:14. Therefore, my dear friends flee from idolatry. I Timothy 5:6, but the widow  who lives for pleasure is dead, even while she is still living.  

Henry - So when you become a new creation, there is an internal change that occurs to you.  And it really comes down to who is your God, that you see when the Apostle Paul especially  talks about sexual morality that you flee from, but connected very much to an idol? Like  because the power of pleasure is so powerful, that you can worship that and take your eyes  off of Christ Jesus. So, you know, when, you know as people are growing through the renewal process, it really becomes very spiritual. Here's where ministers come in. It is a spiritual  transformation that occurs.  

Pam - Be honest about sexual struggle, I John 1:8 if we claim to be without sin, and we  deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. And then verse 9 says, If we confess our sins,  He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 

Henry - What's fascinating about that is again in spiritual, one of the core things ministers do  is we lead prayer, we help people we are one of the prayers that we teach and model and  believe, is prayers of confession. In fact, for centuries, the Catholic Church has actually a  confessional booth. So the power of transparency is brings healing power. The therapist and  you know, the social sciences, in the sense they created a confessional booth, a confidential  confessional booth with a therapist. In through that confessional booth. People find just by  talking about it, they become healed. But what therapists don't have and sex therapists don't  have is the God that you can actually be transparent about your struggles. Share them with  the Lord. And James says to go to the confess your sins to one another, that you will be  healed. You know, since the church Christianity, ministers, we have a healing, healing lifestyle of confession and prayer. We don't have to pretend that we're what we're not. We are being  transformed, and ministry in the area, we're a new creation that is coming to each of us. In  Christ.  

Pam - Though embark on a path of sanctification, wherever you've been start on the  sanctification path as you go forward in Christ. So as Colossians 3:5-8 says, Put to death  there for whatever belongs to your earthly nature, sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil  desires, and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming, you used  to walk in these ways in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourself of all such  things, as  

Henry - what I love about that is we have the ability to keep our sexual for fallen sexual  appetites from harming others and ourselves, right, and embark on a path of sanctification. So let's do a little theological, in some ways, this is a theological presentation. So let's review our  theology. We believe that when someone becomes born again, their sins are completely  covered. Okay. And your sins, and my sins and the people we administer to their sins are  completely covered by the blood of Jesus. So that covers even the sense of their sexual past. It even covers it gives them a cover, so as they are in the process of sanctification and  confess their sins. They know that with confidence, they can go to the Tree of Life and  partake of Jesus Christ. But then Paul, brings in the sanctification journey says, Okay, so  you've been sanctified. Now, at this point, you're living a life of grit, gratitude, you're asking the Holy Spirit now to help you in all of your life, to rid yourself of those sins, those things that hurt you that really take away from God's design of your sexual so it becomes a sanctification  journey. What happens so often in Christianity is there's confusion between the justification  journey of the you're saved, and the blood of Jesus completely cleanses you. And now you're  on the sanctification journey, that you rid yourself. You used to be dead like this, but now  you're alive. So now, stay away from idolatry move in a direction that pleases Lord, we see  the same thing in Ephesians 2:1-6.  

Pam - that is for you, you are dead in your transgressions and sins in which you used to live,  when you follow the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient, all of us also lived among them at one time,  gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature, and following its desires and thoughts. Like the  rest, we were by nature, objects of wrath, but because of his great love for us, God, who is  rich in mercy made us alive with Christ, even when we were dead in transgressions, it is by  grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ, and sealed us with him in the  heavenly realms in Christ Jesus. 

Henry - So we see it is by grace, you have been saved, and we see to rid yourself you once  were dead, now you're alive. So we see in the New Testament, the apostle Paul talks about it  like yes, the good I want to do this, I don't do yet. It's the you know, who will rescue me from  this body of death. Thanks be to God. So there's that sense where we're all in this together  the fall for all in this together as believers in what Jesus Christ done. And now we're all in this  together to create a sanctification journey. Now I go to marriage. Marriage is a beautiful place  for the same sanc tification journey to place in your life, the boundaries that keep you on that  path of ridding your life of those things that hold you down. You know, and again in ministry,  you know, one of the things that We have done in ministry is, will minister together and if you I will not meet with a woman alone in ministry. And you know and and I think as we open up  more opportunities for like couples, ministers and all those things, because we have been  saved by grace, we are ridding ourselves of the old we don't want the old so we want to put  more and more boundaries in our life that keep us out of those places to fall and hurt others.  

Pam - Chris talks about it too with throw off the sin which so easily entangles. You can run the race.  

Henry - Exactly. Oh man, we could thanks sanctfication boundaries in place,  

Pam - if married serve each other to meet each other's sexual appetites. This is an  adventuresome journey of physical, spiritual and emotional oneness. Sometimes it is more  about what you want or obey than how you might feel. And first, in I Corinthians 7:5 says, Do  not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may Devote  yourselves to prayer, then come together again, will that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self control?  

Henry - Now we're gonna get into the I Corinthians passages, the first five verses I  Corinthians 7 in detail, so we won't get too much into it now. But what I like is this concept like look theologically, now as believers, let's clothe ourself with boundaries, let's be in a marriage, that which is sex positive, it's what we want. And how we obey. Because that you know, to, to  just become oriented around feeling is something that could just kind of take that boundary  and in we have seen in ministry, I want to be I'm beating around the bush here, we have seen  in ministry, this is hurts, hurts, hurts so many marriages, where if you're married, and you feel  unloved, we were just in a, we're just conversing with someone who, um, she did not receive  sexual gratification from her husband for years. You know, and she has a lot of hurt. But we  also just the other person we're ministering to, he has not received sexual gratification for  years. And their marriage is ending in divorce. And, but again, there's that boundary, you  know, that boundary to say, two broken people on a roll of sanctification. And part of that is to  keep each other in a great place. And that's what we're going to talk about in a later  presentation. So finally, as ministers, there's a theological piece. And this particular  presentation was very theological. It's so as ministers, we often will read the instances of the  Bible, but we also come to a place and this is an important place to be to understand that the  gospel is not a works righteousness gospel, we our sins are forgiven and thanks be to God in  the area of our sexual brokenness. We are covered. Now, next is a sanctification journey. So  now it's like, how do we rid ourselves? And how do we encourage one another, to rid  ourselves of those things that hold us back? And not to confuse the two because someone  may be broken in some areas in it's going to be a long process of sanctification. I we've  observed people at times can be healed instantly of something. And then we've seen people 

that healing takes a while and that's okay. But know that as ministers, we don't know how God is going to heal, but we know he saves and he redeems.



Last modified: Thursday, September 29, 2022, 8:34 AM