Manhood and Purity
“Be a model of the believers, in word, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity” (1 Tim. 4:12 JND).
“Keep thyself pure” (1 Tim. 5:22).
“Beloved, now are we the sons of God.... And every man that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself, even as He is pure” (1 John 3:23).
“Beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance” (2 Peter 1:56).
The Battlefield
The moral environment of the world in which we live is one calculated by its prince to quickly defile and corrupt both men and women. Sexual intimacy outside the marriage bond is not only encouraged, but delighted in and considered a completely normal life-style. Conversely, sexual purity before marriage is now regarded as odd, restrictive and passé.
An earlier article in this series mentioned the responsibility husbands have to hold their marriage union in all fidelity and purity. This must be done in a scene where the enemy has set many traps and pitfalls to tempt husbands to be unfaithful. But Satan does not only assail husbands, he seeks to incite sexual lust in all men making the world a lethal battlefield sown with countless “land mines” calculated to detonate explosions of passion and sin.
The Lord’s counsel for passing through this battlefield is simple: “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise” (Eph. 5:15).
The Joy of Intimacy
God has blessed the marriage union He instituted in Genesis 2 with the delights of physical intimacy. (See Proverbs 5:18-19, Hebrews 13:4 and the whole of the Song of Songs.) But this physical intimacy and joy is for the marriage union only. Men are responsible before God to take the lead, always acting in purity towards women in thought, word and deed.
The Importance of Self-Control
In 1 Corinthians 7 the beloved Apostle warns, in the most unambiguous words, the danger of a touch lighting the fires of passion: “It is good for a man not to touch a woman” (vs. 1). It is not that a man cannot, for instance, shake hands with a woman. But it is the God-given responsibility of the man to make no kind of physical contact with a woman that will ignite the fires of passion which lead into moral sin.
When Peter speaks of virtue (2 Peter 1:5), he is referring to moral courage. Men need moral courage to walk in sexual purity and self-control. Men need moral courage to stand against the flood of immorality. Men need moral courage to guard against the strange woman (Prov. 5:3,20), and men need moral courage to preserve their marriages and families. The Bible contains many warnings and examples for keeping our manhood in moral purity and dignity.
Moral Victory
Joseph presents a strikingly beautiful example of one who acted with great moral courage, in the fear of God (Gen. 39), and that to his own hurt. His actions present a wonderful example of how men can overcome the temptation to fall into immorality.
There are seven principles found in the account of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife (Gen. 39:7-12) which clearly define the appropriate actions of a man of God when confronted with sexual temptation.
(1) Joseph rejected her advances. (“His master’s wife... said, Lie with me. But he refused”; vss.78.)
(2) He rebuked her enticement (vss. 89).
(3) Joseph called her proposition what it really was (“great wickedness, and sin against God”; vs. 9).
(4) He refused to listen to her immoral suggestions and (5) stopped all contact with her (vs. 10).
(6) He continued to mind his own business, faithfully carrying out his responsibilities (vs. 11).
(7) When she caught his coat, Joseph didn’t stay and argue. He fled from her trap (vs. 12).
It may seem as though he was the loser for not giving in to his master’s wife. But the prison into which Joseph was thrown was part of the divine plan to honor him who had been morally faithful to God in his life. Men! Let us seek grace to act in this wicked, immoral world as Joseph did in his day.
Moral Failure
It is painful, though necessary and instructive, to turn from the victory of Joseph and consider the failure of David. His sin of adultery contains lessons that all men must soberly and prayerfully consider.
David was, as we sometimes say, “a man’s man.” It would be difficult to find a more manly, brave and faithful warrior of God described in the Bible. We would have thought that one who had the courage to run towards a giant in battle (1 Sam. 17:48) would surely have the courage to run away from the tempting sight of a beautiful woman. Yet, what Satan could not accomplish with Goliath (dishonoring God and enfeebling His people) he accomplished through David’s sin with Bath-sheba.
In 2 Samuel 11:15 (the divine record of David’s adultery), we find seven things in which David failed in maintaining sexual purity. Let us receive the warning, that they not lead us into the same sin.
(1) David stayed in the wrong place (“tarried still at Jerusalem”; vs. 1).
(2) He relaxed rather than fought the Lord’s battles (“arose from off his bed”; vs. 2).
(3) He watched an inappropriate exhibition (“saw a woman washing herself”; vs. 2).
(4) He was captivated by the appearance of her physical beauty (“very beautiful to look upon”; vs. 2).
(5) David’s heart lusted after what his eyes had looked at (“inquired after the woman”; vs. 3).
(6) He failed to heed a clear warning (“is not this... the wife of Uriah”; vs. 3).
(7) The king defiled one who belonged to another man to satisfy his own aroused passions (“took her... and he lay with her”; vs. 4).
Though fully repentant (see Psalm 51), David and his family paid a solemn price for his failure to act as a man of God in the matter of Bath-sheba. May we who are men take these things to heart and seek grace to always walk in purity and in the fear of God.
“I will behave myself wisely.... I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes” (Psa. 101:23).
Ed.