Transcript
You know, it's intuitive for me to look at me belonging to me. And the fourth of these worship principles that speak into the world of sexuality really addresses that. We've looked at the principle of mastery: that sex is potentially very addictive and I must not be mastered by anything; and for that there is powerful, rescuing grace.
Reviewing the Four Worship Principles
The principle of eternity: that I cannot look at this moment as being all that there is, that there is more to come and that promise of future-grace guarantees present-grace. We've looked at the principle of unity: that I am inextricably united to Christ and so, I take Christ wherever my body goes, and in that there's confrontation and comfort.
But this fourth principle is the principle of ownership. I mean, it's just normal for us to think I belong to me. My body belongs to me. My mentality belongs to me. My personality belongs to me. My emotionality belongs to me. My mentality belongs to me and it's just not true because Paul says, "If you're God's child, don't you know that you've been bought with a price and you are not your own."
The purchasing, redeeming grace of Christ means this: between the "already" and the "not-yet", there's nothing that is me that belongs to me. It all now belongs to Christ and so, I must always reflect on that. I must always remember that I don't ever step out of my spirituality into some kind of secular "this-belongs-to-me" world, that everything about me now belongs to my Redeemer. He purchased me with a price. I don't belong to me. That means I have no right to use the members of my body, the senses of my body as if I can do anything I want with them because they belong to me. It's just not true.
If I Belong to Christ, Christ Will Care for Me
Now, again, there's huge and beautiful grace in this because if I belong to Christ, Christ will take care of what belongs to Him. Christ will be a good steward of what belongs to Him. Christ will give what is necessary to what belongs to Him. Christ will nurture and protect what belongs to Him.
And so, in my struggle, all of these four principles - mastery, eternity, unity, and ownership - confront my desire to make it all about me. But they don't just do that. They offer me the beautiful grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. The struggle of sexuality can be defeated. The temptation of sexuality can be resisted. The addiction of sexuality can be destroyed because of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is my master. He guarantees me a place when these struggles will be no more. He is with me every moment. He owns me and will be a good steward of what He owns. There's help for me in this terribly destructive, terribly seductive, terribly deceptive part of the human existence. I can live sexually pure.
