Welcome to Authorized Sword Ministries. This is Breaking the Chains, Series Two, Sexual Purity and Freedom. Lesson Four: Restoration, a Clean Heart and a New Start.

We're so glad you're here.

Before We Begin

A gentle note first. This course is Bible teaching and spiritual encouragement. It does not replace professional counseling or medical care. We encourage you to use those good resources right alongside your faith. And if you are in crisis or thinking about harming yourself, please call or text 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, any time, day or night, in the United States. In an emergency, call 911.

Where We Left Off

In this series we've looked hard at pornography, at fornication and adultery, and at a culture that celebrates sexual sin. Some of those lessons may have been hard to hear. Maybe they brought up things you've tried to bury.

If you've been sitting there thinking, "That's me. I've already fallen. It's too late for me," then this lesson is for you. God does not only warn. God restores.

Our Key Verse

Today's key verse is Psalm 51:10.

"Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." — Psalm 51:10 (KJV)

David wrote Psalm 51 after his sin with Bathsheba, after Nathan said, "Thou art the man." This is the prayer of a man who had fallen as far as a man can fall. And notice what he asks for. Not just a cleaned-up record. A clean heart. That's something only God can create.

Stop Hiding

The first step home is to stop hiding. Adam and Eve hid in the garden. David tried to cover up his sin. It never works.

"He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy." — Proverbs 28:13 (KJV)

Two things: confess and forsake. Confession means you agree with God about your sin. You stop calling it a "struggle" or a "mistake," and call it what God calls it. Forsaking means you turn away from it. That's repentance.

David described what hiding did to him:

"When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long." — Psalm 32:3 (KJV)

And what happened when he stopped hiding:

"I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah." — Psalm 32:5 (KJV)

Washed Clean

Sexual sin leaves people feeling dirty in a way other sins sometimes don't. The devil loves to whisper, "You're damaged goods. You'll never be clean." But listen to God:

"Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." — Isaiah 1:18 (KJV)

"As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us." — Psalm 103:12 (KJV)

Remember the list in 1 Corinthians 6. Fornicators and adulterers are on it. Then Paul says to the church:

"And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." — 1 Corinthians 6:11 (KJV)

"Such were some of you." Real people, in a real church, who had been bound by sexual sin, were washed. Not by their own good works, but by the blood of Jesus Christ.

Neither Do I Condemn Thee

In John chapter eight, the religious leaders dragged a woman before Jesus who had been caught in adultery. They wanted to stone her. Jesus said whoever was without sin should cast the first stone, and one by one they all left. Then:

"When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more." — John 8:10-11 (KJV)

Look at both halves. "Neither do I condemn thee." That's grace. "Go, and sin no more." That's a new life. Jesus doesn't leave us in our shame, and He doesn't leave us in our sin.

A New Creature

If you have trusted Christ, you are not who you used to be.

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." — 2 Corinthians 5:17 (KJV)

Your past is real, but it is not your identity. In Christ, you are a new creature.

And God can even restore lost time:

"And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten," — Joel 2:25 (KJV)

Restoring a Marriage

If unfaithfulness has hurt your marriage, hear this: many marriages have come back from the edge by the grace of God. It takes time. Trust that was broken is rebuilt slowly, by honesty and by faithfulness day after day.

To the one who sinned: be fully honest, cut off every contact, and be patient. Don't demand quick trust. Earn it.

To the one who was hurt: your pain is real, and God sees it. Forgiveness is a choice you make before God, even while healing takes time.

"And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." — Ephesians 4:32 (KJV)

We strongly encourage couples walking through this to sit down with a pastor and a Christian counselor. You don't have to do this alone.

Restoring a Brother or Sister

Church family, this is our job too.

"Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted." — Galatians 6:1 (KJV)

Restore them in meekness. Don't gossip. Don't shun. Don't act like you're above it. And remember, restoration still includes real repentance and real accountability. Grace is not a free pass to keep sinning. It is the power to walk free.

"Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." — James 5:16 (KJV)

Staying Pure From Here On

Restoration isn't the finish line. It's the starting line. So keep the habits from this series: a covenant with your eyes, filters and accountability on your devices, hedges around your marriage, a guarded heart, and daily time in the Word.

"Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy," — Jude 1:24 (KJV)

He is able to keep you from falling. Lean on Him.

Questions for Study

1. What two things does Proverbs 28:13 say we must do to find mercy?
2. Read Psalm 32:3-5. What did hiding sin do to David? What changed when he confessed?
3. In John 8:10-11, what are the two things Jesus told the woman? Why are both important?
4. What does 2 Corinthians 5:17 say about who you are in Christ?
5. According to Galatians 6:1, how should the church treat someone who has fallen?
6. Which habit from this series do you most need to keep working on?

Simple Steps for This Week

First, pray Psalm 51 out loud, as your own prayer.

Second, if there's sin you've been hiding, confess it to God today, and tell one trusted, mature believer of the same sex.

Third, if your marriage is hurting, call your pastor this week and ask for help.

Fourth, memorize Psalm 51:10.

And fifth, read Psalm 51 and John chapter eight.

Closing This Series

That brings us to the end of Series Two, Sexual Purity and Freedom. We have talked about hard things, because these chains are real and they are everywhere. But the God who breaks chains is greater.

Whom the Son sets free is free indeed.

A Prayer

Let's pray together.

Heavenly Father,

Create in us clean hearts, O God, and renew a right spirit within us.

For everyone who has been hiding, give them courage to come into the light. Wash them, Lord. Remove their sin as far as the east is from the west.

Heal broken marriages. Rebuild trust. Comfort those who have been hurt.

Make Your church a place of truth and of restoration.

And keep us from falling, until we stand before You with exceeding joy.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Thank you for spending this time with us. God bless you as you walk in freedom.

This is Authorized Sword Ministries. God bless you.

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Sources

This lesson uses Scripture only. No outside statistics are quoted.