The Spirit of Sexual Immorality 1 of 2

Is there a difference between a Christian, a disciple, and a believer?

The word 'Christian': christianos Χριστιανός means follower of Christ.
A disciple, ' μαθητεύω mathēteuō', is one who 'follows the instructions'.
..................One who is 'trained, disciplined' [jnx] .
Follower ' mimhth/v ' means 'an imitator' as one who 'acts on example.
A believer ' πιστός - pistos' is one who is 'confirmed faithful'.


............................................. BELIEVE(R) / FAITH
............... Aa ........................................... m .............................................. )
....KINGDOM HEIR ..............WATER of the WORD......................TEACHABLE
.....................................................................................ready to accept control or instruction

And you may be thinking, 'what does this have to do with sexual immorality, marriage, or divorce? Much. The single life as well as marriage is to be a holy life. The single life relies on God knowing our hearts desire and living in faith that it will come about by his hand - not our lust. Marriage is entered into with 'faith and belief'. Faith and belief, acting in love [post 21 6-23], particularly [1Corinthians 13] NOT keeping a 'record of wrongs'. Love suffers long and is kind, does NOT seek its own, bears all things, BELIEVES all things. Love is 'Jesus thoughts, words and actions forming the relationship. Love [ bh) ] begins with ALEF, being teachable and ready to accept control or instruction from Christ, from His Word. I am speaking with empathy - from personal experience and I am speaking particularly to those who proclaim longevity 'as a Christian'. Longevity should be a mark of maturity, but necessarily so. Because 'love' is not always extended between two who are one, there is the provision of 'forgiveness' / cĕliychah. Forgiveness releases each person from the 'wrong' but the wrong itself is still subject to judgment:

FORGIVENESS

.........h........................x.....................y.....................l...................s
....EXT ARM...............CHUPPA............HAND...............HEART.......WEDDING RING
........................................................................DISCIPLESHIP
..THOUGHTS.........HEARTBEAT.... THRUST HAND........HEART.............RELY ON
....WORDS...............of LIFE.........in FRIENDSHIP...... of LOVE
...ACTIONS

FORGIVENESS is to 'trust and rely on a heart of love, a heart that keeps no records of wrong, suffers long and is kind, does NOT seek its own, bears all things, BELIEVES all things'. Forgiveness is being able to extend one's hand in the friendship of Jesus Christ, as the heartbeart of a life of one who is in love with God, in every thought, word, and action. This is a COMMAND to the Christian, not a suggestion.

GOD'S Word NEVER fails. Love (lust), as an emotion can fail, but God's love NEVER fails. Emotions are unstable, changing from one day to the next. God's Word never changes. To love as Christ - NEVER fails. If you are living in a relationship not in agreement with the Word you will never experience the power of the cross, the power of love. If you are being drawn away from your 'marriage', which was entered into by LOVE, by vow, by blood-covenant, the MOST POWERFUL COVENANT in heaven and earth - you are falling short of the experience of the cross, the greatest experience you will ever know. The power of love and the power of forgiveness.

What EXACTLY does the Word of God have to say?

1 John 2:16
For all that is in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes,
and the pride of life--is not of the Father but is of the world.

James 1
13 Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God";
....for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. when he is
14 But each one is tempted
....when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed .
15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin;
....and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down
....from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
18 Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth,
....that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.

Israel’s greatest struggle was with 'lust of the flesh' - sexual immorality - spiritually and physically - in Hebrew - [hnz zanah], fornication, harlotry. By definition 'highly fed, but wanton [rebellious, lacking discipline]'. Lacking discipleship.

............... SEXUAL IMMORALITY / FORNICATION
............... Ah ........................................... n .............................................. Z
........EXT ARM...................FISH as PROLIFIC....................SWORD
....THOUGHTS, WORDS ............RULE & REIGN........................WORD of GOD
.............ACTIONS

Balak [devastor] wanted to hire Baalam [not of the people] to curse Israel, using sexual immorality as the bait. This is yet the greatest struggle, not only in the world, but within the Church - -for those who desire to be 'committed Christians'. Just as it is in the world, in the animal kingdom, the predator goes for the young and the weak. Satan, the devastator, pursues all, but especially the the spiritually young / immature Christian as well as the weak Christian. The Christian's armor - the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the belt of truth, the sword of the spirit, and feet shod with the gospel - are the weapons of this warfare. It is a life or death battle. For singles:

Book of Lust, Chapter 1:
Drawn Away by my Own Desire

We've already said our own vows to each other, but we plan to get married
Yes we're living together but we are not doing anything wrong
The legal stuff is just formality, its not what really matters
Anything that makes me feel this good has to be good
We need to see if this works first before we commit
Our relationship is our own business
This is God's answer to MY prayer
We make our own decisions
We're not hurting anybody
We love each other
Nobody is perfect!
God understands
I'm just human
I want this
For ME

1Thesaalonians 5:22

Abstain from all appearance of evil.

God's Word is supernatural, in 'demonstration of power' in the spirit of holiness. In the natural, 'in the flesh' actions also speak louder than words. They become the 'demonstration of desire / the demonstration of lust'. If it has the 'appearance of evil', a believing Christian will walk away from it, the love of Christ greater than the love of self. [Galatians 2:20] If, in fact, Christ does live in me, then I must yield to Him, that ‘HE lives’ and not ‘I’. This is the 'crux' of the issue' - the ‘crucial life’ of the cross - painful in that it truly does ‘crucify our flesh’, our desire for self gratification, self-vindication, self justification, and its like. The spirit of sexual immorality especially attacks a marriage:

Book of Lust, Chapter 2:
Drawn Away by my Own Desire

I was married young, and I didn't really know what I was doing.
This marriage is draining the life out of me - give, give, give.
This marriage was really a mistake from the beginning
My coworker understands me better than my spouse
My spouse spends too much time with the children
I need somebody that likes the same things I like.
My spouse spends too much time on their job
My spouse isn't taking care of MY needs
My spouse never considers my feelings
This other person really cares for me.
My spouse doesn't understand me
I really deserve better than this
She doesn't love me anymore
He doesn't love me anymore
It's just this one time,
no one will know.
What about me
Me?

Deuteronomy 22:15 relates that the mother and father of the bride kept 'the evidence' of the marriage consummation (the show of blood) should any accusation be made against the 'bride's virginity'. This evidence was also evidence of 'blood covenant'. Once a marriage is entered, it is sealed by 'blood covenant' to the death.


To be continued in The Spirit of Sexual Immorality 2 - also
looking at Scriptural reference to marriage, adultery and divorce:

Shalom!