Fleeing from temptation

Paul’s second strategy to maintain sexual purity is the biblical requirement of Christians to flee sexual temptations. We are to learn self-control over our appetites, but then we are to realize there are dangers out there. There are temptations that are calculated to lead me into sin, and I am going to avoid them. And when they are there, I am going to flee from them. I am going to be like Joseph in Potiphar’s house, and when his wife tries to seduce me, I am going to leave my coat in her hand, and I am going to run out of the house. That is the biblical method for sexual temptation: flee from sexual immorality. You will see that language all through the Bible. And here Paul tells Christians to not live in the passion of lust, which characterizes Gentiles who do not know God (1 Thessalonians 4:5).

And so here is the Christian response to all sexual temptation—including sexual activity outside of marriage, but also such lustful sins as pornography, which is so rampant today. Whereas the ungodly give themselves over to these passions, Christians are to resist them and flee impure desires. Now, in Paul’s letter to the Romans, he gives some very good advice on this. He calls believers again to shun sexual immorality and sensuality, and then he gives this application: Make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires (Romans 13:13–14). He says the strategy for sins that we know we are going to struggle with is to starve them. We do not make provision for the sins that we are seeking to avoid. We are to guard against and deprive ourselves of things that include likely temptations.

Now, that surely means that in a hyper-sexualized society like ours—just like Paul’s was—Christian men need to learn control over their eyes. Our boys should be trained to bounce their eyes. They may see them, but they are not to gaze upon them. They are not to look upon them. We are to enter into Job’s covenant: I have made a covenant with my eyes (Job 31:1) that I will not put my eyes upon a virgin. Christian men also should not be found in places where sexual temptation is likely to strike. And you need to know how and where that is for you. But there are contexts, there are settings, there are activities where there is going to be sexual temptation. Well, if that is going to happen for you, you should not enter into that situation or relationship.

Now, for Christian women, sexual purity calls for avoiding unsound relationships and situations that might lead them into sexual compromise. It also means modesty in dress and in their sexual presentation. If you are a Christian woman, you need to know that your brothers in Christ are visually stimulated, and you should love them by—and I know you want to be attractive; be attractive, you are attractive—but be modest. Do not be sensual in your presentation. You are tempting them. If you love your brothers, you will not do that.¹

Richard D. Phillips