When the children of Israel crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land, the Lord did not hand them a peace treaty with the inhabitants. He handed them an eviction notice. Drive them out. Destroy their images. Demolish their high places.

Then Yahweh spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you cross over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then you shall dispossess all the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their carved stones and destroy all their molten images and demolish all their high places.’” Numbers 33:50–52 (LSB)

Why their pictures? In our modern society some of it might be called art. Not to God. These were images of heathen idols. Vile, sexual pictures wrapped around the worship of false gods. God said destroy them all.

Do not think of this as something far removed from us. We are God's people today. The same God of the Old Testament still demands holiness in His people.

Therefore, having girded your minds for action, being sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, not being conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your conduct; because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:13–16 (LSB)

We are not so far removed from those Israelites. We live in a land full of filthiness and wickedness just like they did, and we can be polluted with the filth of the world if we are not careful.

When sexual sin is preached from American pulpits, the target is almost always sodomy or adultery. Sins far enough from the average church member that he can shake his head and feel righteous. Pornography rarely gets named. It needs to be named.

The Pulpit Has Been Quiet Too Long

On March 8, 2023, Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida held a news conference he called Exposing the Book Ban Hoax. He played a video showing the pornographic material discovered in books sitting on the shelves of Florida elementary school libraries. The images were so graphic that several news outlets cut the feed mid-broadcast. If it is not appropriate for television, how is it appropriate for children. If it was in Florida schools, what makes us think it is not in Georgia schools, or Kentucky schools, or Ohio schools.

It is a good thing that a governor will expose such sin. Where are the preachers? As I sat watching that news conference, I had to face the fact that across all my years in the pulpit I had not preached on this sin. That is to my shame.

The passage in Numbers 33 was not the only place God said to destroy the images. Look at Exodus 23:24, Exodus 34:12–17, Deuteronomy 7:2–5, Deuteronomy 7:25–26 where God says do not bring these things into your house, Deuteronomy 12:30–31 where God warns against being snared to follow the inhabitants, and Deuteronomy 20:16–18. Over and over. God meant it.

I Can Look As Long As I Don't Touch

I have heard folks try to justify pornography on the ground that it does no harm. It is not physical. I can look as long as I don't touch, says the sinner.

Oh really?

“You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife or his male slave or his female slave or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” Exodus 20:17 (LSB)

Pornography is a violation of the tenth commandment. It is covetousness aimed at another man's wife or daughter.

Some will object. That commandment was under the old covenant. We are New Testament Christians. The Ten Commandments do not apply to us anymore. Oh really? What did Jesus say when He stepped onto the scene? In the same Sermon on the Mount that everyone quotes, He said this.

“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:17–20 (LSB)

If you hear a slick-tongued preacher tell you the Ten Commandments no longer apply, run from him. Jesus said the opposite. A few verses later in that same sermon, He goes further still.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. But if your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.” Matthew 5:27–30 (LSB)

Far from doing away with the law, Jesus puts us on a higher standard. Lust is a violation of the tenth commandment and the seventh. The look itself is the adultery.

What Pornography Is

From a Bible point of view, the word pornography is not found in our English translations, but the principle is everywhere, and the word itself is a compound of two Greek words that show up often in the New Testament.

Porneia means any kind of fornication, sexual immorality, or impurity. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6:18, “Flee sexual immorality.” That word flee sits over porneia. Graphé means writing, a document. In the Bible it usually refers to the Scriptures, but it was used in plenty of ordinary contexts too. Put the two together and pornography originally meant sexually impure or immoral writing intended to arouse the reader.

I love books, and I love the history of books. In 1440 the Gutenberg press made the printing of books much easier. Not all books are good. By 1524, less than a hundred years later, a book of erotic engravings had been produced. Sin always finds the new medium.

It is not just pictures on the printed page. It is words too. From the dirty magazines that are so attractive to men to the romance novels that women will sometimes spend hours reading. Anything of that nature is sin and needs to be thrown out.

And it is not limited to the printed page. With television and internet, our homes and streets and schools have become open sewers.

If you have more televisions and internet devices in your house than you have toilets, chances are you have more filth coming in than going out.

The first sin in the garden had to do with the eyes first.

Then the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, so she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Genesis 3:6 (LSB)

John warns the same way. Do not love the world or the things in the world. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the boastful pride of life. None of that is from the Father. James says every man is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust, and lust when it has conceived brings forth sin, and sin when it is finished brings forth death. The eye is the doorway. The heart is the cradle. Death is the end.

Marriage and the Sin Against the Body

Marriage comes to us from a pre-fallen world. God is well pleased with it. When He was finished with everything He made, He called it very good. That included Adam and Eve and their marriage.

Men can try to redefine it. They can try to pervert it. They can pass laws and march in the streets and rebel against it. God's definition does not move.

Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled, for the sexually immoral and adulterers God will judge. Hebrews 13:4 (LSB)

The marriage relationship is something God is well pleased with. Anything that contradicts it or goes against it, God will judge.

Sometimes men say, I am not hurting anyone but myself. The Word of God says otherwise.

You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with a weaker vessel, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered. 1 Peter 3:7 (LSB)

Your prayers will be hindered. Is that not a harm to yourself and to your whole family. The line that connects the husband to his God is the same line he frays when he treats his wife the way the world treats women.

Flee sexual immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral man sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. 1 Corinthians 6:18–20 (LSB)

It is a sin against the body. In marriage, you have become one flesh. So this is a sin against your husband or your wife. If you are not married, it is a sin against your future spouse. Read on into 1 Corinthians 7:4–5 and you will find Paul giving the married the very advice that guards them against this trap.

There Is Hope

If you or someone you know is in the grip of this sin, do not take comfort in thinking that everyone does it. Run to the finished work of Jesus Christ. Whether you are saved or lost, you need to be there. The way out begins at the cross.

No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man, but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. 1 Corinthians 10:13 (LSB)

God has made a way of escape out of every temptation. Not a way around it. A way through it.

Therefore, consider the members of your earthly body as dead to sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry. On account of these things, the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. Colossians 3:5–7 (LSB)

The old King James reads mortify at the front of verse 5, and the older word is worth keeping. It means to put to death. Do not ignore your sin. Be in the daily business of killing it. As you do, you have to replace the lies and the sin with the truth of His Word.

I will set no vile thing before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; It shall not cling to me. Psalms 101:3 (LSB)

The psalmist said he would set no vile thing before his eyes. Jesus said in Matthew 5, if your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out. I do not believe that is meant literally. But if it means a flip phone instead of a smart phone, so be it. If it means cutting off the internet or cancelling cable, then that is what you have to do. Better to lose the device than to lose your soul.

Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. 2 Timothy 2:22 (LSB)

Paul told Timothy to flee. Run away. Do not negotiate. But fleeing alone is not enough. The dog that only runs from its vomit ends up circling back to it. That is why Paul does not stop at flee. He says pursue. Righteousness, faith, love, peace. Get into the Word of God. Seek out godly counsel. Surround yourself with brothers and sisters who are running the same direction you are. Empty the space the sin used to fill, or the sin will fill it again.

Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You. Psalms 119:11 (LSB)

Pornography is a terrible sin. There is hope to be found in Jesus Christ and in His Word. The same Christ who told a woman caught in adultery to go and sin no more is the Christ who stands ready to forgive the man or woman reading this article. The blood is sufficient. The Spirit is sufficient. The Word is sufficient. Bring the sin into the light. Confess it to God. If it is appropriate, confess it to a trusted brother or sister or to your pastor. Cut off the access. Pursue holiness with the same urgency you once pursued the sin.

If you are outside of Christ, this is a sin you will never master apart from Him. You can manage it. You can hide it. You cannot kill it. You need a new heart, and only the Lord Jesus Christ gives one. Come to Him today.

If you are in Christ, you have everything you need in Him to walk free. The same God who cleared a land of its filth long ago will clear your life if you will let Him.

This article is based on a sermon originally preached for Sovereign Grace Baptist Church. You can listen to the full message on SermonAudio:

▶ Listen: "The Sin of Pornography" — Pastor David Green

If you do not have a church home, we would love to have you visit us at Sovereign Grace Baptist Church in Brunswick, Georgia. You can find our service times and location at sgbcbrunswick.com/services, or contact us with any questions.