63 On Chastity and Sexual Purity

 

Copyright © 2026 Michael A. Brown

This script has been prepared in bullet-point form rather than as prose.  The various sections are self-explanatory and should be easily understood.

The early Church grew and established itself in a cultural context which was much more deeply permeated by sexual immorality of various forms than the Church today, even in the West.  In addition to the NT writings, those of the Early Fathers make this abundantly clear.  These early Church leaders stood on the principles of chastity as the expected standard for the Christian life, and they discipled new believers into this.  They baptised believers not on profession of faith, but on clearly demonstrated evidence of repentance from the sins of their previous life.

1.     The context of wider Greek-Roman society

Tatian: Epistle to the Greeks

‘What wonderful or extraordinary thing is performed among you?  They utter ribaldry in affected tones, and go through indecent movements; your daughters and your sons behold them giving lessons in adultery on the stage…. every base action perpetrated by night is proclaimed aloud…’ (ch.22 on the Greek stage)

‘…paederasty is condemned by the Barbarians, but by the Romans, who endeavour to collect herds of boys like grazing horses, it is honoured with certain privileges…’ (ch. 28 on Roman pederasty).

Irenaeus

‘Thus, then, the mystic priests belonging to this sect both lead profligate lives and practise magical arts…’ (i.23.4 context of Simon Magus’ followers).

Athanasius

‘…corruption ran riot among them… they had gone on gradually from bad to worse, not stopping at any one kind of evil, but continually, as with insatiable appetite, devising new kinds of sins.  Adulteries and thefts were everywhere, murder and raping filled the earth, law was disregarded in corruption and injustice, all kinds of iniquities were perpetrated by all, both singly and in common… each strove to outdo the other in wickedness…’ (On the Incarnation, ch.5)

2.     Bible verses

·        ‘No man is pure from filthiness; no, not though he be but one day old.’ (Job 14:4 LXX) – ‘Who can bring what is pure from the impure? No one!’ (NIV)

·        Rom. 1:24-28 – given over to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies – given over to shameful lusts – abandoning natural relations with the opposite sex for same-sex relations – given over to a depraved mind to do what ought not to be done

·        1 Co. 6:9-10 the wicked do not inherit the kingdom of God

o   NIV ‘sexually immoral’ – AV fornicators – Gr. pornos – engaging in sexual relationships before and outside heterosexual marriage – can also be rendered as libertines, whoremongers, related also to those who traffic humans for sexual purposes – gives rise to the English ‘porn’ family of words

o   ‘idolaters’

o   ‘adulterers’ – Gr. moichos

o   NIV ‘male prostitutes’ – AV effeminate – Gr. malakos, soft clothing, suggests catamites, and so also cross-dressers? – EMTV homosexuals – MKJV abusers – MLV2021 pedofiles – ISV/LITV male prostitutes

o   NIV ‘homosexual offenders’ – AV abusers of themselves with mankind – Gr. arsenokoites – sodomites – ESV/MKJV men who practice homosexuality – EMTV/YLT sodomites – Geneva buggerers – cf. Lev. 18:22, 20:13 – Paul seems to have joined the two Greek words arsenos and koites together to make a new word

·        NT epistles – 2 Peter, Jude – letters to seven churches (Pergamum, Thyatira) – Roman society was permeated with immorality, so churches had to deal with it when it manifested or infiltrated into their midst, whether through lack of repentance, being influenced by the world, by false teaching, or by wilful infiltration

·        in the UK, sexual immorality (esp. fornication, adultery and sexual abuse) has become increasingly common and widespread, esp. since the 1960s – those who control society and the media are often those who experienced the 1960s as teens or young adults – ‘celebrities’ who model repeated marriage failure and serial relationships – weakening church life and moral standards – etc. sexual immorality and abuse can happen in ANY community of people – e.g. families, schools, sports clubs, political parties, House of Commons, religious communities, abuse networks etc. – the potential for it is in fallen human nature – so church life is not immune

3.     Principles of Christian living: what is chastity and what does it imply?

·        Christians have all had a background in the world before conversion to Christ, and many have been affected by its context

·        sexual immorality destroys people, trust, integrity, relationships, marriages and church communities

·        sexual purity and chastity were the expected standard for all Christians – during the apostolic age and onwards through subsequent generations – many references to it in the writings of the Early Fathers

·        e.g. 1 Co. 6:11 that is what some of you were, but now you have been washed etc.

·        e.g. 1 Co. 6:19-20 honour God with your body, because your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit

·        see also Ps. 24:3-4; Rom. 6:19; 2 Co. 7:1; Eph. 5:3,5; Col. 3:5; 1 Thess. 4:7; 1 Tim. 5:2; Titus 2:14; Heb. 13:4; 1 John 3:3; Rev. 21:27

·        definition: the practice of abstaining from sexual activity outside heterosexual marriage – involving purity of conduct and intention, and self-control – but not judgemental religiosity

·        chastity is NOT the same as celibacy – don’t confuse it with the RC ‘vow of chastity’, which includes a commitment to celibacy (lifelong abstinence from sexual relationships) – celibacy is a form of chastity, but chastity is a term of much wider application

·        chastity implies:

o   thorough repentance from sexual immorality and licentious behaviour after coming to faith

o   we adopt the expected Christian moral standard for daily life, leading to safety, maintaining wholeness, trust in relationships, etc.

o   no fornication – so draw the boundaries in the right place in relationships – no physical expression – remain a virgin until married heterosexually, or in a state of secondary virginity after conversion (i.e. a commitment to purity until re-marriage)

o   no flirting with the opposite sex – keep your relationships holy and clean

o   modesty in dress – look good, but avoid suggestiveness or sensuality, but also avoiding ‘old fuddy-duddy’ religiosity

o   learn the wisdom of boundaries in behaviour with the opposite sex – avoid environments and people which may weaken your resolve and easily tempt you – the partying combination of music, lights, alcohol/drugs, sensual dress and close physical proximity is deadly, so should be avoided – similarly, avoid situations where you can be easily compromised – don’t meet with a member of the opposite sex alone and for a prolonged period, unnecessarily (remember Joseph)

o   learn to live faithfully as a Christian with your heterosexual marriage partner

o   honour the (heterosexual) marriages of other people – don’t get entangled in adultery

o   live a life of integrity (with accountability if necessary) – no contradiction between private and public lives – no engagement with pornography or media in which sex, innuendo or sensuality are clear or suggested

o   learn to control your inner thought life and to deal with the inner effects of overt visible temptation

o   live in the light of what God says will happen to the sexually immoral at the final judgement

o   welcome all to church who wish to hear the word of God, but keep all forms of licentious behaviour out of the life of the church

4.     Life in the early church

a.     Live like a Christian

Ignatius

To the Ephesians

‘The tree is made manifest by its fruit, so those that profess themselves to be Christians shall be recognised by their conduct.  For there is not now a demand for mere profession, but that a man be found continuing in the power of faith to the end.’ (ch.14) 

To the Magnesians

‘It is fitting, then, not only to be called Christians, but to be so in reality…’ (ch.4)

‘Therefore, having become His disciples, let us learn to live according to Christianity.  For whosoever is called by any other name besides this, is not of God.  Lay aside, therefore, the evil, the old, the sour leaven, and be changed into the new leaven, which is Jesus Christ.  Be salted in Him, lest anyone among you should be corrupted, since by your savour you shall be convicted…’ (ch.10)

b.     Practice the scriptural principles of chastity

Ignatius

To the Philadelphians

‘…keep your bodies as the temples of God; love unity; avoid divisions; be the followers of Jesus Christ….’ (ch.7)

Polycarp: To the Philippians

‘In like manner, let the young men also be blameless in all things, being especially careful to preserve purity, and reining themselves in, as with a bridle, from every kind of evil.  For it is well that they should emerge and be cut off from the lusts that are in the world, since ‘every lust wars against the spirit;’ (1 Peter 2:11) and ‘neither fornicators, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, shall inherit the kingdom of God,’ (1 Cor. 6:9-10) nor those who do things inconsistent and unbecoming.  Wherefore, it is needful to abstain from all these things, being subject to the elders and deacons, as unto God and Christ.  Virgins [i.e. young women] also must walk in a blameless and pure conscience.’ (ch.5)

Irenaeus

‘…and they do please God, ordering their conversation in all righteousness, chastity, and wisdom.’ (iii.4.2)

2 Clement

‘Wherefore, brethren, let us confess Him by our works, by loving one another, by not committing adultery, or speaking evil of one another, or cherishing envy; but by being continent, compassionate and good.’ (ch.4)

Justin Martyr: First Apology

‘And thus do we also, since our persuasion by the Word, stand aloof from them (i.e., the demons), and follow the only unbegotten God through His Son – we who formerly delighted in fornication, but now embrace chastity alone; we who formerly used magical arts, dedicate ourselves to the good and unbegotten God; we who valued above all things the acquisition of wealth and possessions, now bring what we have into a common stock, and give to everyone in need; we who hated and destroyed one another, and on account of their different manners would not use the same hearth as men of a different tribe, now, since the coming of Christ, live familiarly with them, and pray for our enemies, and endeavour to persuade those who hate us unjustly to live conformably to the good precepts of Christ.’ (ch.14)

Athanasius: On the Incarnation

‘Anyone who likes may see the proof of glory in the virgins of Christ, and in the young men who practice chastity as part of their religion…’ (section 48).

‘Again, who has ever so rid men of their natural passions that fornicators become chaste…’ (section 50).

‘Even in youth they are chaste, they endure in times of testing, and persevere in toils…’ (section 52).

c.      Learn to practise self-control

Didaché

‘My child, do not be lustful, for lust leads to fornication, nor foul-speaking, nor one who stares or has a wandering eye; for all these things cause adulteries.’ (ch.3)

Apostolic Constitutions

‘Look downward when you walk outside...’ (i.III.VIII)

Epistle of Barnabas

‘As far as possible, you shall be pure in your soul.’ (ch.19)

d.     Don’t play with sin

Apostolic Constitutions

‘Yet it is very necessary that those who are yet innocent should continue so, and not make an experiment what sin is, that they may not have occasion for trouble, sorrow and those lamentations which are in order to forgiveness.  For how do you know, o man, when you sin, whether you shall live any number of days in this present state, that you may have time to repent?  For the time of your departure out of this world is uncertain; and if you die in sin, there will remain no repentance for you.’ (ii.III.XIII)

e.     Live a chaste life, and be an example of what you teach

Polycarp: Epistle to the Philippians

‘I exhort you, therefore, that you abstain from covetousness, and that you be chaste and truthful. ‘Abstain from every form of evil.’ (1 Thess. 5:22).  For if a man cannot govern himself in such matters, how shall he enjoin them on others?’ (ch.11)

Justin Martyr: First Apology

 ‘…since not only our works, but also our thoughts, are open before God.  And many, both men and women, who have been Christ’s disciples from childhood, remain pure at the age of sixty or seventy years; and I boast that I could produce such from every race of men.  For what shall I say, too, of the countless multitude of those who have reformed intemperate habits, and learned these things?  For Christ called not the just nor the chaste to repentance, but the ungodly, the licentious and the unjust…’ (ch.15)

f.       Church life: the door is open to all, but scriptural standards for sexual morality should be adhered to in the church community

Tatian: Epistle to the Greeks

‘Thus we admit all who desire to hear, even old women and striplings; and, in short, persons of every age are treated by us with respect, but every kind of licentiousness is kept at a distance.’ (ch.32)

g.     Preparation for baptism

• A person’s character and course of life should be examined before baptising them.  Sinful lifestyles must be forsaken:

o   a couple having sexual relationships outside marriage (including therefore cohabitation which is a form of concubinage) are committing fornication; they should get married.

o   people should be given time to demonstrate that they have repented and forsaken their lifestyle, otherwise do not baptise them.

Apostolic Constitutions

‘…inquire about their character, and give them their testimony.  Let their manners and their life be inquired into, and whether they he slaves or freemen.  And if anyone be a slave, let him be asked who is his master. If he be slave to one of the faithful, let his master be asked if he can give him a good character.  If he cannot, let him be rejected, until he shows himself to be worthy to his master.  But if he does give him a good character, let him be admitted…  If, then, he have a wife, or a woman hath an husband, let them be taught to be content with each other; but if they be unmarried, let them learn not to commit fornication, but to enter into lawful marriage.  But if his master be one of the faithful, and knows that he is guilty of fornication, and yet does not give him a wife, or to the woman an husband, let him be separated;…  He that is guilty of sins not to be named, a sodomite, an effeminate person… let these be proved for some time, for this sort of wickedness is hard to be washed away; and if they leave off those practices, let them be received; but if they will not agree to that, let them be rejected…   If one of the faithful hath a concubine, if she be a bond-servant, let him leave off that way, and marry in a legal manner: if she be a free woman, let him marry her in a lawful manner; if he does not, let him be rejected.  Let him who is to be a catechumen be a catechumen for three years; but if anyone be diligent, and has a good-will to his business, let him be admitted: for it is not the length of time, but the course of life, that is judged.’ (viii.4.32 and see the other examples in this section).

Catechism

A three-year catechetical period before baptism, in which much emphasis was placed on standards of morality, led to people cleaning their lives out with thorough repentance before being baptized, leading to having to deal with such issues much less in daily church life.