Faith means believing God. If He said it, that settles it. Wisdom begins with the fear of God. The fear of God begins with believing God. And bad things happen when we don’t. One of the things we, both inside the church and outside don’t believe God about is sexual ethics. The fool is enticed by the immoral woman. The result isn’t damaging one’s reputation. It isn’t an STD. The result is death and destruction:
Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways,
Do not stray into her paths;
For she has cast down many wounded,
And all who were slain by her were strong men.
Her house is the way to hell,
Descending to the chambers of death. (Proverbs 7: 26, 27).
I fear when we hear these words we think them mere metaphor. We think Solomon gave us a vivid word picture to tell us adultery is not a good thing. Instead, Solomon, under the inspiration of God the Holy Spirit tells us that this pathway leads to death and to hell. In short, we think God’s kidding, that He doesn’t really mean what He says. And that may just be the most dangerous thing of all.
The church is little different from the world. I’ve had young couples, professing believers, ask me to do their pre-marital counseling. I’m happy to do it. It became apparent that this couple was living together. That didn’t shock me, sadly. What shocked me is that they asked if that was wrong. I doubt their consciences had been silent. I fear the pulpits they sat under had been.
How does that happen? Because we are so prone to separating our faith from His Word. We see this also in Proverbs 7. When the immoral woman approaches the foolish young man, she explains that she has everything already set up. Her husband would be gone for days. The sheets were washed and perfumed. Oh, and this, she said, “I have peace offerings with me. Today I have paid my vows” (verse 14). What? She is saying, in essence, “I have performed my duty before God. He and I are square. So now is a great time for some adultery.”
She thought her performance of religious ceremony freed her up to offend the living God. Her mindset was that the two had little to do with each other. Just like in our day. And just as Solomon warned, destruction comes in the wake. Real, powerful, painful destruction. Her steps lead to death.
Sometimes that death happens at the abortion mills. One out of every six people procuring an abortion is a self-professed evangelical. Not religious. Not Protestant. Evangelical. Sex trafficking, child sexual abuse, all these things begin when we stop believing God. Silence on what God has said is reckless endangerment, a failure to shepherd. We’ve succumbed to the ways of the world, and the result is rot, horror and death.
May God grant us the grace to believe His law.