As we begin the fourth and final part of this catechism, we should remind ourselves that Questions 1-2 are the introduction to everything. This catechism is aiming to teach us how we can find the comfort of our new identity in Christ. Now that we have seen the goodness of God’s design (Part 1), the severity of our sin (Part 2), and the wonder of our redemption (Part 3), we now move our focus to how God is leading us to restored life of purity in Him.

QUESTION 27

What does God call us to do when we fall to sexual sin?

When I commit any form of sexual sin–even the slightest desire or thought–contrary to any of God’s commandments–I should confess my sins to him, eagerly turn away from all sexual sins, and seek to walk in the newness of life.

We would do well to begin by noting the wording of the question itself. In speaking of to sexual sin, Gordon rightly ties our individual and personal sins to Adam and Eve’s original sin. We refer to that first sin as the Fall because it is the collapse and breaking of the paradise that God originally created for us to dwell in and rule over. Disease, disaster, and death are now ordinary aspects of life because of that sorrowful day. Yet even though Adam and Eve’s sin bore particular consequence because they were the father and mother of us all, each sin that we commit is an echo and an imitation of that first sin. Thus, we should be reminded all over again that while Adam’s sin brought sin into the world, we have more than heaped our own personally justified condemnation upon our heads.

In the answer, Gordon gives actions in lines 4-6; however, they are necessarily prefaced by lines 1-3. First, we should note that sin is identified as being whatever is “contrary to any of God’s commandments.” This emphasizes that God alone has the right to define what constitutes sin. The legalist will condemn others for breaking their own traditions rather than the commandments of God, and the licentious will pass over what God has explicitly commanded. And the human heart has a tendency to swing on a pendulum between those two practices. We must constantly force ourselves to judge our sin, as best we can, according to God’s commandments.

Gordon also clarifies what is sin by adding “even the slightest desire or thought.” This is the place at which sin must be fought. Recall that in Part 2 we labored to show that sin goes far deeper than mere committed actions. As James 1:14 explicitly declares, “But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.” The language used by James invokes the traps that hunters lay for what they are hunting and calls our sinful desires the hunter, while we are the hunted. Thus, fighting against only our sinful actions is like bird trying to break free from a snare. It is far easier and far wiser to seek to avoid the snare altogether, rather than break free from its grip. This principle ought to especially shape how we counsel others in their struggles against sin.

As for the actual actions that ought to follow a fall into sin, the first step must be confession of our sin to God. Psalm 32:5 ought to be the daily prayer of every Christian: “I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,’ and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.” Indeed, we can do nothing else, for “if we say we have not sinned, we make [God] a liar, and his word is not in us” (1 John 1:10). Just as calling upon the name of the Lord is the beginning of our new birth, the continual confession of our sin to God is evidence of our new life in Him.

But it is not enough mere to acknowledge our sin, we must also “eagerly turn away from all sexual sin.” This purposed turning away from sin is called repentance. There is a large segment of Christianity that loves to boldly proclaim Jesus’ words to the woman caught in adultery after all her accusers have left: “Neither do I condemn you” (John 8:11). Yet they frequently pass over the rest of the verse: “go, and from now on sin no more.” It is gloriously good news that Christ will forgive all sins, but He does so in order for us to turn from our sins and to walk in the Father’s will.

That necessarily brings us to the third step: walking in the newness of life. True repentance is the turning from our sinful desires and back to God’s will, which is the new life that we have in Christ.

QUESTION 28

Is God angry with his children who still struggle in their striving to put away sexual immorality?

God is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindess. When we come to God with a broken and contrite heart, confessing and turning from our sins, God promises to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. He has declared, “a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench.”

Gordon begins this answer with one of the greatest revelations of God’s character in all of Scripture. He cites Psalm 103. Although verse 8 provides the actual statement, the entire psalm is a prayerful meditation upon those glorious attributes of God that were first revealed to Moses in Exodus 34:6. Jonah was clearly one of the Old Testament’s greatest theologians because he saw clearly (though he disliked it) that this description is who Yahweh is. So many people in the Old Testament missed what Jonah saw clearly. Because in Chapter 4 of Jonah.

We can and should do a study each of these attributes, but we do not have the time to do so in depth now. God is merciful, or the Hebrew could be compassionate. God has compassion. He is gracious. He is slow to anger, or we could say that He is long-suffering.

He is also loving. The ESV is better when it says steadfast love, abounding in steadfast love, because the Hebrew word chesed, which is God’s steadfast love, His covenantal love. That is God’s covenantal, determined love that is the love that he shows to Israel. Israel constantly wanders away from him. But God’s love is steadfast. God’s love is enduring for them. And of course, one of the places where we see that word used the most is Psalm 136, in which every verse says for his steadfast love endures forever.

So we start there. This is the God we serve. He is a God who is compassionate, you know he is. He is wrathful. He is just. He is righteous. But most fundamentally he is compassionate. He’s merciful, he’s gracious, he’s slow to anger, and he abounds in steadfast love.

The second paragraph actually answers the question. “When we come to God with a broken and contrite heart, confessing and turn away, turning away from our sins, God promises to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” And that is a wonderful promise that we can cling to. That is our great hope.

Notice, of course, the clause that prefaces God’s promise to forgive our sins reminds us that we must come to God in brokenness over our sin, confessing and turning away from it. David is perhaps the greatest Old Testament example of this. He committed adultery with Bathsheba and then had her husband killed. And then confesses his sin to God, cries out with a broken and a contrite heart, and God forgives him.

Now there were still consequences, as we find in the back half of 2 Samuel. So, God’s forgiveness doesn’t mean that there’s not still earthly consequences for sins. The rest of David’s reign is marked by strife. But even though God did not withhold the earthly consequences for his sin, the LORD did take away David’s iniquity. And the same is true for us. We may still have to face the consequences of our sins, but if we confess our sin with a contrite heart and turn in repentance, God is faithful to forgive us. That is the importance of forgiveness being a doctrine that we believe, not a work that we must attain.

In the third paragraph, he gives us this wonderful verse from Isaiah 42:3, “He has declared, ‘A bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench.’” Gordon might as well have referenced Richard Sibbes’ A Bruised Reed in the footnotes. Sibbes was a Puritan, and his most famous work over this verse. It focuses on exactly this, what do I do when I’m broken over my sin and can’t see the light of day. Sibbes is known as the “sweet dropper” of the Puritans.  Many think that the Puritans were only fire and brimstone, but Sibbes proves that stereotype quite wrong.

QUESTION 29

What about believers who fight against same-sex attraction but continue to experience shame and guilt for their desires?

God, in the gospel of his son, has announced that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Any unholy desire, even if unchosen, such as same-sex attraction, is covered by the blood of Christ. Believers who continue to struggle against same-sex attraction, should trust in God’s forgiving mercies, and with earnest purpose, by the strength of the Holy Spirit, strive to live in the newness of life. Further, the body of Christ should not avoid or shun those who struggle against any sexual sin. Instead, believers, with a spirit of compassion, should “bear each other’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

This question is likely the reason that many people will grab this booklet in the first place, looking for an answer to questions such as this one. We should begin by noticing that Gordon is not here speaking about those who attempt to reconcile same-sex attraction with Christianity. In other words, he is not talking about the so-called ‘gay Christian.’ But instead, he is targeting those who actively fight against their desires. Sadly, given the great number of young people who are now identifying as some form of LGBT, this is something that we will all very likely need to walk through at some point.

The first paragraph begins with the great promise of Romans 8:1: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” The person who’s wrestling with same-sex attraction does not need to be condemned for their sin so long as they are in Christ.

Yet also notice that Gordon does not back away from same-sex desires still being sinful. He calls them “unholy desires” and gives the qualifier “even if unchosen.” Even if those desires are unchosen, they are still unholy, but the good news that the blood of Christ is sufficient for them as well as any other sin.

In the second paragraph, he says, “believers who continue to and notice this language again struggle against the same sex attraction, should trust in God’s forgiving mercies and with earnest purpose by the strength of the Holy Spirit, strive to live in the newness of life” So these are describing the fight against our sinful desires. And that is exactly what the person who wrestles with same-sex attraction, what they should do. They should fight against it. And that striving, as he notes in the second to the last line, should come by the strength of the Holy Spirit.

The third paragraph emphasizes the need for the church to support such believers that are actively walking away from how the culture would have them to go. It says further the body of Christ should not avoid or shun those who struggle against any sexual sin. We should not avoid entirely the person who’s repenting of sin. Instead, believers with a spirit of compassion should bear each other’s burdens and so fulfilled the law of Christ. That ought to be that that should be how we interact.

Again, the Christian who is making war against their same-sex attraction is going against everything that culture is spitting out at the moment. Everything around them portrays sexuality as the defining characteristic of a person, that who (or even what) you are attracted to is the most important aspect of your character. So for a person to fight against that cultural pull, he or she certainly needs a loving and engaged church community to support and encourage them.

QUESTION 30

Q30. Since we have been delivered from all sexual sin, why should we pursue a life of sexual purity?

Five reasons: First, because our sinful desires do not define us or constitute our identity as those purchased by the blood of Christ. Second, because sexual purity is the will of God for our sanctification, as we are being renewed by the power of the Holy Spirit into the image of God’s Son. Third, by pursuing a life of sexual purity, we show that we are thankful to God for his salvation. Fourth, we also stand as witnesses, that those living in sexual immorality might see in us the holy purity that God loves. Fifth, as we battle against our sinful nature, the Holy Spirit strengthens our Christian walk and we give glory to God.

This question is well-phrased. We have been delivered from all of our sexual sin, yet we still must pursue a life of sexual purity. We have been delivered from all of our sin, but the war still rages on against our sin. Like Question 11, this is a great one to have in your mental pocket, especially in any sort of counseling situation.

First, we are not defined by our sinful desires, nor do they constitute our identity. Sinful desires do not define a Christian. We see this principle in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 where Paul gives a large list of sins, many of them sexual, and then in verse 11 says, “And such were some of you.” That is in the past tense. Those sins no longer constitute the Christian’s identity. Those sins may have been who you were, but that’s not who you are any longer.

This is why there is no such thing as a gay Christian. You cannot reconcile those two things together. The Christian is saved and marked by Christ, not by their sin. They may wrestle mightily against their sin, but that sin is not their identity any longer. Our identity is Christ.

Second, our sexual purity is the will of God. Gordon is lifting this directly from the Scriptures. 1 Thessalonians 4:3 says, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality.” As those who have been rescued and saved by God, our desire ought to be to obey Him. He has rescued us, redeemed us, and adopted us into His household; therefore, we should seek to imitate Him as dearly loved children, walking ever in His love. Indeed, the Christian who has no desire to obey God’s will isn’t a Christian. If you do not have the renewed spirit within you that is longing to do what God says, then that is a problem. Yet for the Christian, God’s will ought to be a powerful motivation for pursuing purity.

Third, in pursing purity we show our thankfulness to God. Obeying God’s will is an act of thankfulness for the redemption that we have in Him. Of course, we previously saw the consequences of ingratitude to God in Romans 1. Refusing to give thanks is not a little sin; rather, it is one of the root sins that leads to all kinds of other sins, as the Israelites who died the wilderness learned.

Fourth, our sexual purity is also a witness to the world around us. Gordon is using the word witness properly here. We often confuse witnessing and evangelizing. However, evangelism is the actual sharing of the gospel, which requires words, either spoken or written. Witnessing is the life and conduct of a believer ought to properly adorn the declaration of the gospel.

Every healthy and biblical Christian marriage is a powerful witness to the world around us. The culture, after all, has no clue how marriage is supposed to work. We ought to stand as witnesses through our lives that are contrary to the pattern of the world.

And this is especially true for those who are called to celibacy, whether permanently or for a season of life. Since sex is the primary focus of our culture, to be celibate is to effectively be subhuman. Thus, celibate Christians have a wonderful opportunity to witness to the world around them regarding the true joy and happiness that is found solely in Christ.

Fifth and finally, it is the Spirit who strengthens our fight against sin, and so God gets the glory for the victory. This is a word of comfort and of hope to us. We can take confidence that it is not our strength with which we war against our sin, but instead it is God through the Holy Spirit who gives to us the strength to live the Christian life and to fight against our sinful nature. And because the Spirit is the one who supplies the strength, He is the one who gets the glory.

That, of course, the beauty of our sanctification, as we also view it in Philippians 2:12-13. We strive to work our own salvation with fear and trembling, but we do so knowing that God is working in us. We strive with everything in us, but at the end of the day, we look back upon our success and know that it was the Spirit who gave us the strength to win that battle in the first place. Therefore, God gets the glory over every defeated sin.

Again, these are great things to keep in the pocket of our minds. Not just as in our war against sexual sin in our fight for sexual purity, but in our fight against sin in general. And especially in counseling somebody who might be wrestling with same-sex attraction or might be wrestling with other forms of sexual sin. Take them to these reasons for warring against sin and fighting for purity.