• "The answer is to just say no."
• "It's up to God to get rid of my feelings and break my habits."
• "I just need to try harder to be holy."
• "God can't do anything about my problem-it's up to me."
• "I need to deny my sexual feelings and pretend they're not there."
• "Satan has nothing to do with my problem, so I don't have to deal with him to resolve it."
• "Satan's lures are too powerful to resist."
• "I'm to weak (my flesh is too strong). I can't fight the constant pressure from the world. God understands that."
• "No one else is like me or experiencing what I am experiencing."
• "The solution is more education and ridding ourselves of sexual superstition."
• "I know when to stop. I can stop anytime."
• "I don't need anyone else to help me to overcome my problems."
• "The devil made me do it."
• "God made me this way. Why fight it?"
• "My needs are stronger than other people's."
• "I'm a victim of my environment."
• "God can never forgive me."
• "God will immediately remove all illicit sexual desires from my life if I ask Him to."

What is the truth about finding solutions to regaining and retaining sexual purity? The apostle Paul pointed us in the right direction when he wrote, "For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit" (1 Thess. 4:7,8). These verses give us two parts of the answer. In essence he tells us:

• Remember your purpose.
• Remember who lives in you.

1. Remember your purpose. "God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness" (v.7). When God sent His Son to die on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin and to free us from its power, He never intended for us to continue to sin (Read Romans 6:1-14 and 1 John 1,2). It would be unthinkable to tear down a condemned house, lay a solid foundation, and then build a house that looks good on one side but resembles a shack on the other. So too, it is illogical for a follower of Christ to use his life for both pure and impure purposes. We have been set free from slavery to sin (Rom. 6:19-23). Why would we voluntarily choose to live in bondage to self-destructive behavior? The writer of Hebrews 12:1,2 reminded us of the goal we must keep in mind and how that goal should affect our behavior. He said, "...let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." From these verses we can come up with four helpful reminders.

• Sin weighs down, so throw it off.
• Sin ensnares, so watch out for its traps.
• Jesus is your example, so follow Him.
• Endurance results in reward, so keep on!

  God has transformed every believer into a new creature in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17). Because of what Jesus did for us, we have been declared right with God, free from any impurity that could keep us from heaven (vv.17-21). We are now called to be God's representatives in this world and to bring others to faith in Christ. How can we do that if we allow sexual impurity to contradict our message? Jesus refers to us as salt and light in the world (Matt. 5:13-16). Salt that becomes contaminated is worthless; a lamp that is hidden under a bowl cannot give light. We are to be different, separate from the world, not part of it (1 John 2:15-17). Although we must live among nonbelievers, we must not adopt the world's view of life and sexuality. "We must be firmly and thoroughly convinced of the sinfulness of sin if we are to avoid the seductions of our culture."-R.C. Sproul Above all else, the purpose of our salvation is for us to know God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said in a prayer, "And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent" (John 17:3). And the apostle Paul could say of the accomplishments of his life, "I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord" (Phil. 3:8 NIV). The consuming passion of Paul's life was to know Christ better and to be more and more like Him: "I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection" (v.10 NIV). If we have that kind of desire to know him, it will crowd out other illicit desires. A recognition of God's goal for our lives should help us to view temptations and sexual purity in the right light. And once we do, we will recognize that we need a lot of help to reach the goal of Christlikeness. In the next section we will discover where we can find that help to resist the lure of sexual sin.