Listen:  95 Question 2

Let’s begin by reading the words of James in James 1:14, “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.”  To give in to the temptation to have sex outside of marriage indicates that the desire was already in the heart.  Fornication is a very serious sin.  Ephesians 5:1-3 tells us, “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints.”  In order to overcome the temptation to sin, we must first realize the seriousness of sin, whatever it is.  The Lord hates sin and he wants us to hate it, as well.  Psalms 97:10 instructs us, “Ye that love the LORD, hate evil…”  Do you hate fornication, or are you merely resisting the temptation to commit fornication, while the desire is still in your heart?  Try to think about fornication the way the Lord thinks about it.  Seek to see sin in the same way that the Lord sees sin.

King David wrote in Psalms 119:104, “Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.”  He would go on to write in Psalms 119:133, “Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.”  David had come to realize the wickedness and strength of sin, and he hated it.  He realized that it was through God’s word, or His precepts, that he would get the proper understanding of the awfulness of sin.  His prayer was that the Lord would guide him so that sin would not rule him.  David’s son, Solomon, wrote in Proverbs 8:13, “The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.”  Solomon, too, learned to hate the things that the Lord hated.

If you are a believer on the Lord Jesus Christ, you have an enemy that is trying to destroy your testimony for the Lord.  1 Peter 5:8-9 says, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.”  James 4:7 tells us to, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”  Notice the very important order here: we must first submit ourselves to the Lord before we can effectively resist the devil.  Submit your life to the Lord.  Gain power by continuing in the Word of God daily.  Pray often, asking the Lord for guidance and strength.  1 Thessalonians 5:17 tells us to, “Pray without ceasing.”  Learn to hate the things that the Lord hates and love the things that he loves.  Do not let this sin rule your life.  Where sin rules, sin ruins.  (95.2)