“So keep my charge never to practice any of these abominable customs that were practiced before you, and never to make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 18:30 ESV).
Leviticus 18:1-30 essentially expands on the 7th commandment, which is “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” (Ex. 20:14). Much of the book of Leviticus is just that, an expansion on the Ten Commandments, so that Israel could see the specific application of each commandment.
In answer to the question, why Israel should obey these sexual purity laws, the answer was simple: “I am the LORD your God.” I think the answer is still that simple for us today. God is our Creator. He made us, therefore He has the authority to tell us the right use of that powerful, yet potentially destructive drive called sex.
Some would try to say that these sexual purity laws are no longer in effect, that they are passé. Yet, the moral laws of the Old Testament are still to be obeyed by those who would call themselves Christ followers. For although Christ has fulfilled the law on our behalf, so that we are set free from its condemnation, we are still guided by its instruction. For as new creations in Christ, we now have the moral law of God written on our hearts, so that we want to obey God in all things.
In Christ, we are forgiven of all sin, including sexual sin, but that doesn’t mean that we are free to continue in it. God’s Word, both in the Old and New Testaments, prohibits incest, fornication (pre-marital sex), adultery, homosexual practices, sodomy, bestiality, prostitution and other such sexual sins. God calls such sexual sin a defilement of the body and an abomination to the Lord.
God made us in His image, male and female He made us. And God created sex, so that the two shall become one and so that they might multiply and fill the earth. God has a perfect purpose for our sexuality and when we follow His Word, we are blessed. Our sexual purity matters to God. He is the Lord.
PRAYER: Dear Father, thank You that we are forgiven of our sin, including our sexual sins. We repent of such sexual sin and we ask You to cleanse us, so that we might be set free from the guilt and shame that accompany such sins. Help us to live knowing that our true identity comes not from our sin, nor fleshly desire, but from our having received Christ as Lord and Savior. That is our true identity. In Jesus’ name, we pray, amen.