Hi changfeng,
Living a holy life may not be one of the most popular topics nowadays, but i did notice another thread in the bdf on holiness recently. Its opposite is so prevalent, that when we turn on the tv, for example, just a few mins viewing will already bombard us with surrounding culture's sensuality. It is said the contemporary evangelical church is broadly Corinthian to the core, and has lost its grip on holiness. Which leads to slow disciplining of members, dismissed as irrelevant by others, that even many young and older "believers," sadly, reject. There is now desensitization, a relaxation from the rigors of training some may have had as a youth, and the rationalization that comes when our minds and bodies are controlled by lust.
We hear, how can something that feels so good be wrong or bad; I am acting in love, so what is wrong with that; my marriage was not really God's will; Others with their narrow judgmental attitudes are worse sinners than me... so why should they interfere?? As we degenerate, we may pull others around us, loved ones, co-workers, strangers.
1 Thess. 4.3-8 is most explicit passage on purity, wc is based on Lev. 19.2:
3 For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:
4 That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour;
5 Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God: [ 5 not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God; NIV]
6 That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified.
7 For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.
8 He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit.
Living in a corinthian culture, we need to live above what we see about us, that the church will not become powerless in reaching even our children, who already question a lot and are confused with what they see and hear everyday.
Thank you for the thread, chang.