A Chaste and Decent Life

“Sex” is everywhere.

I’m not talking about the intimate act God reserves for marriage, but the word “sex.” When I was a child, the word was taboo; kids secretly whispered “it” to the sounds of snorts and giggles.

Chastity, however, is missing. Even as the church, we changed our language. The old explanation to the Sixth Commandement said that we are to lead “chaste and decent lives.” We lost an important word, “chaste,” and its variant, “chastity.” Now we recite that we are to lead “sexually pure and decent” lives.

This issue of The Lutheran Witness is not an “old timer’s” attempt to go back to the old language. It’s not about using an old, better word. “Sexually pure” is a fine phrase, but for many people, it limits the discussion to the marital act. Chastity takes place throughout the entire life of the believer. It encompasses not simply the acts occurring in the bedroom, but the life we live together and before the world, in the clothes we wear, the jokes we tell, even the movies we watch.

We discuss these topics in this issue and more. It’s a heavy issue with a load of law. And so, I encourage you: Repent and return to the Lord your God.

Nothing can separate you from the love of God in Christ. If you have fallen into sin, whether the sin of homosexuality, pornography, promiscuous living or the host of sins we discuss in this issue, know that God sent His Son to suffer and die for you. Repent of your sin and trust in the work of Christ who forgives you.

See table of contents for the January issue

In Christ’s forgiveness,

Roy S. Askins

Managing Editor, The Lutheran Witness