30 Sep Real Men: Sex and a Man’s Heart, Soul, Mind, and Strength (Romans 1:18-32)
Heart, Soul, Mind, Strength
“And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your [1] heart and with all your [2] soul and with all your [3] mind and with all your [4] strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
- Romans 1 – we worship Creator or created which ends in sexual sin
- Heart: Sex is emotional
Mark 7:20-23 “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
- Non-XN – new heart
- XN – cleansed heart w/new desires & new control
- Builds or breaks a marriage relationship
2. Soul: Sex is spiritual
1 Cor. 6:17–20 Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
- 1 person = body & soul
- The demonic wants to have sex become your religion
- The Spirit wants God to be your first relationship & lovingly enjoy your marriage
3. Mind: Sex is mental
Romans 12:1–2 present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
- William M. Struthers, a Christian biopsychologist, book Wired for Intimacy
- Neural pathways formed & deepened in the mind by images & pleasure
- Mirror neurons cause you to vicariously participate by observation, affecting the same part of the brain as heroin & cocaine = addiction pathway
- Chemical high, “biochemical love potion” = binding 2/3 men return same prostitute
- Job 31:1
4. Strength: Sex is physical
Matthew 19:4-6 “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”
Dr. Stephen Arterburn’s New Life Ministries says,
Sexual pleasure is one of the most intense human experiences. Physically speaking, when a man or woman reaches sexual excitement, nerve endings release a chemical into the brain called “opioid.” “Opioid” means opium-like and is a good description of the power of this chemical. Apart from a heroin-induced experience, nothing is more physically pleasurable than sex. This is a wonderful thing in a committed marriage relationship, because it helps to bond two people together and bring joy to living together and building a relationship.
Group Questions
- What are you thankful for lately?
- What is God teaching you lately?
- How can we be praying for you?
