FIRST STEPS TO

SEXUAL PURITY
Dr. Roger Fankhauser

Based on the book Stormproof Men: Sexual Purity for

Christian Men in a Sex-Saturated World.
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 A STORMPROOF HOME
To make it easy to understand and remember, I illustrated the conceptsin my book
usingthe structure of a home. I will do the same here.

Picture healthy sexual expression? purity? asthe home itself. The foundation of this home is
God's person, power, and provisions, and the frame that is built on the foundation are five
key principles.
PURITY
HOME

FRAME
FIVE KEY PRINCIPLES

FOUNDATION
GOD'S PERSON, POWER AND PROVISIONS

Too often, we try to build this home without an adequate foundation or the right frame.
And so, when storms hit (temptations), the structure crumbles. Jesus talked about this kind
of poorly-built house ? a house built on sand (the wrong foundation)? which crumbled:

Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not

act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his
house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came,
and the winds blew and slammed against that house;
and it fell? and great wasitsfall.? (Matt. 7:26-27)

When we build this home of our healthy sexuality, however, on the right foundation and
with the right frame, we can stand up to the storms that hit. We can be "stormproof men."

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What does it mean to be ?stormproof? and sexually pure?Here?s a short definition:

Sexual purity is glorifying God by applying biblical principles

regarding my sexual practices.

Being sexually pure goes beyond ?not doing?certain activities. One experiences purity to the
degree that he makes godly choices:

- by avoiding all inappropriate sexual activity

- by enjoying appropriate expressions of masculinity
- by enjoying appropriate relations with the opposite sex
- that glorify God
- that respect me
- that honor others
- that he acts on with his heart, mind, eyes, and actions

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 A STORMPROOF FOUNDATION
The right foundation makes all the difference. Storms? sexual temptations? are inevitable.
These storms can destroy our sexual purity. If we want to stand pure in the face of these
storms, we must begin with a strong foundation.

The foundation upon which we build our purity? God?s person,

power, and provisions? is unconditional and unchanging.

Do you know God?s unchanging person, power, and provision for your struggle?This is your
unshakeable foundation.
Most of our struggles go back to our foundation ? whether we have the right knowledge of
God?scharacter. An incorrect view of God? the wrong foundation? leads to all kinds of
faulty thinking and dangerous practices.
On the other hand, an accurate view of God ? the right foundation ? leads to sound
thinking and practices.
Here is the simple math:

THE
OUR INTENSITY OF
THE POWER LITTLE OR NO

+ +
STRONG

+ =
THE STORMS THE WRONG
MALE SEX OF OUR CHANCE FOR
FLESH OF SEXUAL FOUNDATION
DRIVE LONG-TERM
TEMPTATIONS
PURITY

OUR
THE GREAT

+ + +
INTENSITY OF

=
STRONG THE POWER THE RIGHT CHANCE FOR
OF OUR THE STORMS
MALE SEX
DRIVE FLESH OF SEXUAL FOUNDATION LONG-TERM
TEMPTATIONS
PURITY

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Each of us needs an adequate and correct view of God to make consistently right choices,
whether for our purity or any other life decision. We need to start with the ?who?of God
before the ?what and how?of our actions. The strength of our foundation will depend on
how deeply and accurately we know God's unchangingperson, his limitless power which
enables us to conquer sexual sin, and his provision in the Bible, the Holy Spirit, His promises,
our church family, and our identity in Christ.

His person should motivate us towards purity; His power means we have the ability to
experience purity; and in His provisions, we have everything we need to experience purity.

Understanding the foundation helps us define a goal for purity that aligns with His
character, motivates us to live a life that reflects who we are as children of God, and helps
us understand the resources God has given us to experience purity.

His person should motivate us towards purity; His power

means we have the ability to experience purity; and in His
provisions, we have everything we need to experience
purity.

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 A STORMPROOF FRAME
Stormproof Men describes five fundamental principles which form the frame of the house
(our purity) that we build on the foundation of God's person, power and provisions:
1. Connect regularly with God
This addresses our day-to-day relationship with God. Connecting regularly with God in our
day-to-day, will give us access to God?s power, which helps us overcome sexual temptation.
We can connect with God by taking in the Word of God, communicating with God in
prayer, and obeying God by walking in the Spirit.
2. Involve others
This addresses the need to allow other people to help us in our walk. God did not design us
to live the Christian life in solitude. Purity, which is one dimension of our Christian life, is
no different.
3. Control your thoughts
This addresses how we can control what we are thinking. The key is not to stop a thought
pattern; rather, it is to change what we are thinking. We can turn our thoughts to Scriptures
or other positive memories (like a golf game or fishing trip). The key here is thinking about
God, His Word, or His good gifts instead of dwelling on unhealthy sexual thoughts.
4. Control your eyes
The harder we try to stop thinking about something, the more we think about it! However,
when we replace what we?re thinking about, the first thoughts fade away. The key to
controllingour thoughts is replacingour thoughts.
5. Flee!
Sometimes, no matter what we're doing to protect ourselves, we encounter situations from
which we must flee. This teaches us to flee any temptation that pops up.

"When I began thinking about the topic of sexual purity, I thought "fleeing immorality"
was the key biblical principle to apply. As crucial as this principle may be, I now believe
the Bible provides many principles that apply to our purity, and "fleeing" is the last step.
When a man discovers and practices the other principles of Scripture, he finds less need
to "flee" because he finds himself in harm's way less frequently. The goal of the book
Stormproof Men is to unpack these principles to help our Christian men to walk in purity."
- Dr. Roger Fankhauser, author of Stormproof Men

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