LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2023, Page 211

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THEOLOGICAL DOCUMENTS­­—COMMISSION ON THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS

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a call for repentance — ongoing, constant repentance. Our lives as sexual beings makes that abundantly clear. Gay
or straight, bisexual or transgender, all human beings live with a universally corrupted sexual desire whatever their
“sexual identity” may be. So the call does not end, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (MATT. 3:2).

inherit the imperishable” (1 COR. 15:50). But our mortal, perishable bodies “will be changed” (1 COR. 15:53) and “clothed
with immortality.” For these reasons the believer lives within both a now and a not yet: “So then, I myself serve the
law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin” (ROM. 7:25).

God calls us to repent, to turn and be saved (ISAIAH 45:22), because our redemption has come (LUKE 21:28). God’s
redemption for His fallen world comes by a bodily sacrifice: “not with gold or silver, but with His holy precious blood
and with His innocent suffering and death.” To hear this call to repentance rightly is to know that it is constant, that
“we daily sin much” — all of us, and in all manner of ways. But, with repentant faith in the Father of all mercy and
grace who so freely bestows forgiveness, His children also become recipients of the Spirit’s gifts — most especially
patience and longsuffering and a forgiving spirit in our relationships with one another.

What the apostle says is echoed in the lives of all the baptized, caught in the midst of this “now but not yet” reality
— trusting Christ and His life and righteousness even while thoughts, words, and deeds betray that faith. Despite
our confession that “the good I want to do I do not do” and the wretchedness of guilt for all we have done and said
and thought that is wrong (ROM. 7:14–25) — despite all of that we nevertheless live in a sure hope of freedom from the
enslaving power of sin and death because, by faith, we have received the promises of forgiveness, life, and salvation —
of redemption in its fullness (ROM. 8:23–24).
Thus, as Kleinig suggests,

5. Tension for the redeemed

Scripture paints two pictures of bodily life on earth. On the one hand, it shows us how God regards the human
body, the body that he creates in his image, redeems by the incarnation of his Son, and sanctifies for life with him
through the Holy Spirit. On the other hand, it also shows us how completely it has been corrupted by rebellion
against God, how badly it has been misused to damage other people and the world around it, and how tragically
it is doomed to die.132

That there is redemption in Christ — by His death and resurrection — is the foundation for living in the way that is
right. It is the basis for every Christian hope. Even for the redeemed, however, there is no complete relief from the
scourge of sin. Rather, believers live in a unique tension — sinner and saint, life in constant repentance.
It is easy to divorce bodily life from life in the Spirit. The NT often uses the term “flesh” and refers to living “in
the flesh” to refer to a sinful life. Speaking to believers, Paul contrasts life in the flesh from life in the Spirit: “Those
who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God
dwells in you” (ROM. 8:8–9a).130 There is an aspect of human rebellion that is manifestly physical.
The infirmities of the fallen flesh, however, reveal a weakness that is more than skin deep — running to the heart
and center of our whole being as living souls. Genesis 3 connects physical death to the spiritual rebellion of our first
parents, that is, to their disobedience, not to the mere physical act of eating fruit. So our Lord is hardly pointing to
the muscle in our chest when He says, “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality,
theft, false witness, slander” (MATT. 15:19).
For us to speak of sexuality in rebellion against God, then, is not to place the seat of human sin in one’s sex.
Rather, the physical acts of adultery and other forms of sexual immorality are inextricably bound up with an internal,
psychological, or, ultimately, spiritual weakness — one that marks our soul, our deepest inner life. Malachi therefore
rightly addresses something more than physical behavior as he condemns marital unfaithfulness: “Did he not make
them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard
yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth” (MAL. 2:15). Faithfulness in bodily
conduct flows out of one’s spiritual life.
St. Paul reminds believers that bodily life is the realm in which the Holy Spirit works. “Do you not know that your
body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought
with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 COR. 6:19–20). John Kleinig explains: “So, paradoxically, my spiritual life, the
life that is created and sustained by the Holy Spirit, is always lived in the body.”131
Life in the Spirit cannot be divorced from bodily life, but it must be distinguished. We are spiritually alive
(ROM. 6:11), but our life here and now is lived in a fallen “body of death” (ROM. 7:24). We may speak of a redemption that
is already accomplished in our justification by grace through faith: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law”
(GAL. 3:13, note the past tense). Yet, at the same time, Paul speaks of us eagerly awaiting the completion of the Holy
Spirit’s redeeming work of full bodily redemption. Only the return of Christ and the completion of His new creation
— His new heaven and earth — will complete our redemption.
The “redemption of our bodies” (ROM. 8:23) is not yet, but it is certain, for Christ has taken our body of death for His
own — reconciling us “in his body of flesh by his death” (COL. 1:22) and in exchange bestowing on our mortal bodies
His resurrection (1 COR. 15). Our present “flesh and blood” cannot receive this new bodily life for “the perishable cannot
130

Note also Paul’s ongoing contrast between life in the Spirit and life in the flesh in Rom. 7 and 8 as well as in Gal. 5:13–26.

131

Kleinig, Wonderfully Made, 10. He adds: “Since the spiritual life is produced by the Holy Spirit for people with bodies, Christian spirituality is embodied piety.”

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of joy (GEN. 3:16), to covetousness instead of thanksgiving (DEUT. 5:21), to violence instead of tenderness (PROV. 13:2). While
God intends desire for good, it too often culminates not only in sexual immorality, but in idolatry itself (COL. 3:5).

We have looked at the deep rebellion that is at work in human sexuality as it is subjected to the fall into sin. What
might a positive statement of the Christian sexual life look like?

C. A CHASTE AND DECENT LIFE
Only by the work of the Holy Spirit can there be sanctification. So also, only by the Spirit can there be the sanctity
called for in the Sixth Commandment, that “we lead a sexually pure [chaste] and decent life in what we say and do.”133
Chastity, by definition, refers to the virtue of sexual purity, and it is to be practiced by all Christians, whether married
or single. Chastity precludes any sexual activity outside of the parameters ordained by God. For the married, chastity
restricts all such sexual activity to that between husband and wife; for the unmarried, chastity means to refrain from
any sexual activity whatsoever until they are married and thus can be active in a manner pleasing to God.134
1. Desire and the Christian
Sexual desire is an aspect of God’s good creation. Adam’s exclamation: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my
flesh” (GEN. 2:23) is a word of joyful thanksgiving for this good gift. The desire of woman for man and man for woman
remains a gift, even in a fallen world, as expressed in Scripture: “Oh, that you would kiss me with the kisses of your
mouth! For your love is better than wine” (SONG OF SONGS 1:2 RSV; CF. 7:10). Before the fall — before humanity’s inward
turn toward the self (incurvatus in se) — desire was response to a gift given. So Adam’s exclamation, “This at last!”
(GEN. 2:23) drips with a joyful desire to have and to hold the Creator’s gift of Eve. Such desire for one who is present
(and a present from God!) emerges also for the redeemed in delighted desire for a spouse God has given (PROV. 5:18).
For, even as the fall continues its heavy hand on Christians, the sanctifying Spirit is nevertheless leading them out of
their inward turn.
Yet, where sin reigns unopposed, desire is horribly twisted. Sin makes desire a bitter ally, for now it is no longer
delight in a gift given, but a demand for what is not present. Desire for what we do not have leads to tension instead
132

Kleinig, Wonderfully Made, 16.

133

LSCwE, 14 and 93.

Historically speaking, celibacy refers to the state of singleness, applying both to those who have never been married and to those who have been married but
subsequently divorced or widowed. Celibacy may be by choice or circumstance; it may be temporary or permanent. Continence, on the other hand, refers to absolute
restraint from any sexual activity. Those who are married may practice continence by refraining from sexual activity, either by agreement or due to some other unavoidable necessity, such as health concerns or distance due to travel. Those who are single practice continence so long as they are single; that is the shape of their chastity.
The celibate must practice continence in order to be chaste. The married may practice continence, yet what makes them chaste is limiting all sexual activity to marital
relations alone. On these terms and their historical use, see the relevant entries in Carl F.H. Henry, ed., Baker’s Dictionary of Christian Ethics (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker,
1973).
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Thus, our Lord’s obedience means that all the commandments have been perfectly fulfilled for us. This includes
the command: “You shall not commit adultery.” We see in Jesus a perfect chastity. He is a man, tempted as we are in
every way (HEB. 4:15) — and so to all “the works of the flesh” including “sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry,
sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things
like these” (GAL. 5:19–21). Yet, His is “a chaste and decent life in word and deed.”

The desires of fallen humanity flow out of the human heart and wreak havoc in human behavior (MATT. 15:18–20A).
Murder comes from hatred’s desire for revenge. Adultery comes from dissatisfied desire with one’s spouse or jealous
desire for another’s spouse. Every kind of fornication flows out of desires for some forbidden behavior or someone
God has withheld from us. Theft flows from desire for the things that are not one’s own. Desire crouches at the
neighbor’s door (GEN. 4:7), primed to do harm, not good.

Note well that Christ’s chastity does not lie in His not marrying, but in His sexually pure life. He surprises His
disciples with His willingness to interact with women about every aspect of their lives. As He encounters a woman
at Jacob’s well in Samaria, her entire life is open to the Messiah (see JOHN 4:1–42). Another woman trusts that she
can come to Jesus with the most intimate of problems and is healed (MATT. 9:20–22). His relationships with women
can therefore be deeply intimate, but they are always honorable. Even when intensely personal, they are without
even a shadow of anything amorous or concupiscent. So His followers include many women believers, a fact that
shows His attentiveness to their needs, His openness to them as disciples, and their eager willingness to support
His work (MARK 15:14; LUKE 8:2; 23:27). Despite the Gnostic and Hollywood fantasies about Jesus’s relationship with
Mary Magdalene,137 the Gospels reveal Him not as Mary’s husband, but as her healer from the demonic and her
gentle Lord, evident in His tender compassion toward her on Easter morning (LUKE 8:2; JOHN 20:11–17). The devotion of
the women followers is so evident that they are mentioned a number of times especially after Jesus’ condemnation,
crucifixion, death and resurrection (e.g., LUKE 23: 49, 55; 24:10, 22, 24).

To desire something is to will it. All of this, therefore, is simply to acknowledge the bondage of the human will.
Before redemption, all are spiritually dead (EPH. 2:1; COL. 2:13) and human will or desire is bound to seek only what God
forbids and has not given or intended.
God’s Word testifies that the natural, unregenerated human mind, heart, and will are not only completely turned
away from God in all divine matters, but are also perverted and turned toward every evil and against God.
Likewise, they are not only weak, impotent, incapable, and dead to the good, but through original sin they have
also been tragically perverted, poisoned through and through, and corrupted. The result is that by character and
by nature they are very angry with God, rebellious against him, hostile to him, and far too energetic, vigorous,
and active in everything that is displeasing and repugnant to God. Genesis 8[:21]: “The inclination of the human
heart is evil from youth.”135
Fallen humanity, so “very angry with God, rebellious against him, hostile to him, and far too energetic, vigorous,
and active in everything that is displeasing and repugnant to God,” requires redemption, regeneration, new birth, “a
new and right spirit.” “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we
were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved” (EPH. 2:4–5; CF. JOHN 3:3–8;
1 PETER 1:3, 23; TITUS 3:5).

All of this shows the powerful effect of the loving, chaste relationship Jesus had with women. In His chastity He
treats women not as sexual objects but as in every way “heirs with [men] of the grace of life” (1 PETER 3:7) and thus
bestows the highest dignity on women.
b. Chastity as embodied love

The new birth and new life given in Christ, the Christ-life, is a holy life (EPH. 1:4; 5:27; 2 TIM. 2:21). “As obedient children,
do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in
all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy’” (1 PETER 1:14–16).

As Christ’s own people and His disciples, we too are called to a holy chastity. Ours flows out of faith in the One who
has fulfilled the law on our behalf, so it is not a chastity of merit. It is a matter of glad obedience because of our
redemption, not an obligation for us to earn redemption. The law never ceases to condemn us, nevertheless, the
chaste life of the believer springs from the love for God who is love (1 JOHN 4:16).

In such a condition human desire is being restored. “The living spirit of a believer, which has been created and is
kept physically alive by God’s Spirit, has also been recreated and revived for eternal life with God by his Spirit.”136 The
Holy Spirit is at work bending the believer’s desire toward God and His gifts and purposes. His work is to make us the
“obedient children” Peter speaks of. Obedience begins within, as the Spirit turns us away from the passions that seek
to grasp and covet and selfishly claim for the self and turns us toward the holy desire to please God.

Where there is faith, there is love. Love is faith enacted (GAL. 5:6) by obedience to the commandments (1 JOHN 5:2).
Chastity is an embodied love, an example of love shaping actions and behavior. Faith knows God’s gift of bodily life,
His redemption of our bodies in Christ, and His sanctifying of our bodies by His Spirit. Our baptismal washing is
the sign of the Spirit’s presence and work — sanctifying the justified. “But you were washed, you were sanctified, you
were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 COR. 6:11).

To have godly desire restored is also to be “holy in all your conduct.” Holy obedience begins within, but it flows
outwardly in holy conduct.

The believer is not “washed ... sanctified ... justified” for no reason. And this Spirit-work does not involve only
our spirits as faith is given and nurtured. It is also a bodily work. The Spirit’s indwelling makes each believer’s body “a
temple of the Holy Spirit within you” (1 COR. 6:19). Paul thoroughly expounds this (1 COR. 6:12–20):

This is the life we see in Christ Jesus. He is holy: “in him there is no sin” (1 JOHN 3:5; CF. HEB. 4:15) even though, “For
our sake [God] made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
(2 COR. 5:21)
2. Chastity and Christlikeness
a. The chastity of Jesus

Christ has fulfilled the law in our stead. “For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the
one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous” (ROM. 5:18–19; CF. GAL. 3:13; 4:4–5). In Christ — in the life, death, and
resurrection of the Son of God — lies the salvation of the world. The law’s condemnation ends with His obediently
providing the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world (His vicarious satisfaction of the law’s righteous demand).

135

FC SD II, 17; KW 547.

136

Kleinig, Wonderfully Made, 14.

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“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be
enslaved by anything. “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both
one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And
God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of
Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Or do you not
know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become
one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Flee from sexual immorality. Every
other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or
do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are
not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
137
The Gnostic Gospel of Philip and the purported fragment called the Gospel of Jesus’ Wife suggest that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married. Dan Brown’s popular
novel and movie, The Da Vinci Code, makes the same claim. These and other Gnostic writings date long after the New Testament and while Brown’s Da Vinci Code
implies that there is good evidence for the contention, the claim is completely without merit. See also Susan Haskins, Mary Magdalen: Myth and Metaphor (NY:
Harcourt, 1993).

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