Sexually transmitted diseases in the United States have skyrocketed over the last year, prompting many experts to warn that the situation has become “out of control.”
Among other troubling statistics, the CDC found that over the last year there was a 26% increase in newly reported syphilis infections, and 68% increase compared to 2017.
According to the New York Post, syphilis infections steadily dropped after 1940, reaching their lowest point in 1998, when less than 7,000 cases were reported. Since 2002, however, cases began to increase again in the United States “largely among gay and bisexual men,” with more than 171,074 cases reported in 2021 alone.
The CDC’s STD report for 2021 also showed “1.6 million cases of chlamydia” and “696,764 cases of gonorrhea; 25% increase since 2017.”
Additionally, cases of mothers with syphilis passing the disease on to their children, i.e. congenital syphilis, rose 900% in 2021 compared to annual numbers from the previous decade.
A Society Which Refuses To Be Ashamed
The solution to the reported 2.6 million cases of STDs in the United States in 2021, according to experts, is to “rebuild, innovate, and expand (STD) prevention in the U.S.”
As Christians, we know that the method the CDC is using to prevent STDs, such as antibiotics and various contraceptives, is ultimately ineffective. They are simply addressing the bad fruit while ignoring the wicked tree from which it was produced.
Simply put, if the underlying problem, sexual immorality, is ignored, there is no way of irradicating the resulting diseases it breeds.
Dr. Leandro Mena, Director of CDC’s STD division, took things a step further, suggesting that in order to fight STDs, people in our society need to become more comfortable discussing their sexual behavior and stop “stigmatizing” sexual diseases.
The problem, however, is not that “sexually liberated” people feel the need to hide in the shadows, the STD “epidemic” is the result of just the opposite. The problem is not too much shame, but instead a lack thereof.
According to the Bible, packaged with unrepentant and persistent promiscuity is a stubborn refusal to be ashamed (Jeremiah 3:3).
This refusal to see one’s actions as immoral is further exasperated by a society collective in their sins. There is a reason why, throughout world history, sin has flourished within city centers. When people are like-minded in their depravity, no one feels they are guilty or have a need to be ashamed.
An expert recommending that people abstain from sexual immorality to avoid these diseases may be the obvious answer, but it is considered “verboten” in a society that aggressively resists shame.
Lovers Of Pleasures More Than Lovers Of God
1 Corinthians 6:18 calls for us to “Flee fornication,” and here is why: “Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.”
Contrary to popular belief, the word fornication does not simply mean sex outside of marriage. It applies to all forms of sexual immorality, including adultery, homosexuality, and even beastiality. The word fornication in 1 Corinthians 6:18 comes from the Greek ‘porneia,’ where we get our English word for porn or pornography.
Coupled with the over-sexualization of our society, has been the rise of secularism. God’s design for sex, between one man and one woman in marriage (Genesis 1:27, 2:24, Hebrews 13:4), is flagrantly rebelled against. God’s standard of morality is no longer taught in our schools and (even more shamefully) is abandoned by many Churches that have caved to the culture.
In 2 Timothy 3, the apostle Paul warns that in the time prior to the return of Christ, people will be “lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God” and “led away with divers lusts.”
In Romans chapter one, we learn that God will only restrain the depravity in a society for so long before He gives them over to their desires.
Romans 1:24,28 KJV – “Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves… And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient.”
“Four of the most terrifying words in the Bible are ‘God gave them over,'” Jan Markell, Founder and President of Olive Tree Ministries, wrote last year. “That is what He does to mankind in the last days. He gives them over to a reprobate mind where to most people, up is down, black is white and evil is good. Such thinking abounds today.”
The Hope Of A Loving Savior
Many have severe misconceptions, stoked by our society, about the Bible, believing it to be a book of condemnation. In reality, Scripture reveals that God is “longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). The Bible is a mirror that shows our desperate need for a Savior.
Paul underscored this point to the Corinthian church, writing:
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 KJV – “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 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.”
Paul expounded on this in his letter to the church in Ephesus:
Ephesians 2:3-7 KJV – “Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.”
No sexual sin is beyond the reach of God’s forgiveness—If you would like to know more about salvation through Jesus Christ—Click here.
