Sexual Purity Is a List of Do’s, Not Don’ts

If you are a Christian man who has been struggling to overcome pornography or masturbation for some time, you may feel that the only path to victory is a life of self-denial. You may feel that the weight of scripture on this topic is a long list of “Thou shalt nots.” But the opposite is the case, particularly in the New Testament. The path to sexual purity is a list of things you are to do. Victory over sexual sin comes through what you do, not simply what you don’t do. Here are the top-10 actions you are commanded to take to live a life of sexual purity.

1. Make a covenant with your eyes not to look upon attractive women (Job 31:1)
2. Gouge out your right eye if it causes you to commit adultery, and throw it away (Matthew 5:29)
3. Flee sexual immorality (1 Corinthians 6:18)
4. Put lust to death (Colossians 3:5-6)
5. Make no provision for the flesh, to fulfil its lusts (Romans 13:14)
6. Deny your lustful desires (Titus 2:11-12)
7. Put on Christ (Romans 13:14)
8. Use the way of escape from sexual temptation that God always supplies (1 Corinthians 10:13)
9. Take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5)
10. Walk in the Spirit so that you don’t fulfill the lust of the flesh (Galatians 5:16)

Gouge out. Throw away. Flee. Deny. Put on. Take captive. Walk. These are all positive actions that you are to perform today to avoid sexual sin and to walk a walk that pleases God. Yes, you are to not look at porn. That’s one don’t. And yes, you are to not masturbate. That’s two don’ts. But the key to obeying the “Thou shalt nots” of scripture is to perform the “Thou shalts.” Perform the positive actions that God commands, and you’ll have a positive day today, free of sexual sin.