Let’s Talk About It, from Paul Tripp Ministries

Sex — you don’t have to look very far or listen very close to notice that it’s being shown and discussed all over the place. If you pay any attention to your own desires and instincts, you’ll quickly be reminded that you too are a sexual being.

With all of this swirling around us and inside us, the church of Jesus Christ has been strangely silent. We seem to approach sex with a timidity that does not make personal, cultural, or biblical sense.

Pastors are often all too hesitant to teach and preach about the topic of sex. How many Christian parents provide a long-term, safe, gracious, and nonjudgmental place for their children to learn about what it means to be God-honoring sexual beings?

Meanwhile, the world around us seems to never stop talking about it.

Because sex is the creation of God’s hand and exists under the control of his sovereignty, we should approach it with reverence and awe, not with embarrassment.

And because God has also chosen for us to live in a world where the lies, deceptions, distortions, and temptations of sex are many, we should approach it with urgency, not with timidity.

The fact that you live in a sexually addicted world – and that you are not immune to those desires – is not a divine mistake. Your exposure to the variegated difficulties of life in this sexually broken world, with all of its delusions and temptations, is not in the way of God’s plan; it is his plan. He — right here, right now — has you exactly where he wants you to be.

We can’t allow ourselves to live as modern evangelical monastics, attempting to hide from the sexual brokenness of the world, as if separation from the world is the key to true righteousness.

Nor can we be lulled or intimidated into silence in a crucial area of the human existence where the Creator has powerfully and clearly spoken.

And we must not forget the lie-exposing, freedom-granting truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are not powerless, nor are we alone in our struggle.

It’s vital that we remember that the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ addresses not just our need for past forgiveness or for future hope, but also everything we face right here, right now. This gospel is what provides the only reliable diagnostic when it comes to sex, and because it does, the gospel also graces us with the only truly effective cure.

The gospel has the power to make us sex-wise, to keep us sex-protected and sex-bold, no longer willing to be sidelined by timidity and fear. The gospel graces us with everything we need to celebrate and participate in human sexuality in a way that honors God and fully enjoys the good things he’s given us to enjoy.

If sex comes from the Lord, belongs to the Lord, is written about in the Word of the Lord, and exists for the glory of the Lord, then we better start talking about it!

God bless

Paul David Tripp


Reflection Questions

  1. What area(s) of sexuality have you been afraid to talk about? (Your own personal struggles, with your children, helping others with their struggles, etc)
  2. How can the gospel give you confidence to address sexuality?
  3. What steps can you take this week to address those areas sexuality with a gospel boldness and gospel wisdom?

 

New Hope Presbyterian Church Bridgeton  •  Let’s Talk About It

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