christian ethics: an antidote to the poison of promiscuity

COURSE TITTLE: CHRISTIAN ETHICS

TERM PAPER TITLE: CHRISTIAN ETHICS IS AN ANTIDOTE TO POISON OF PROMISCUITY. DISCUSS.

INTRODUCTION
Christian ethics is an antidote to poison of promiscuity. To discuss this topic we need to define the key words.
Christian ethics is a branch of Christian theology that defines concepts of right (virtuous) and wrong (sinful) behavior from a Christian perspective. Various sources inform Christian ethics but "comprehensive Christian ethical writings use four distinguishable sources:
1. the Bible and the Christian tradition,
2. philosophical principles and methods,
3. science and other sources of knowledge about the world, and
4. Human experience broadly conceived. Science defines ethics as “a set of moral principles, the study of morality.” Thus, ethics is the study of good and evil, right and wrong. Therefore, Christian ethics would be the principles derived from the Christian faith by which we act. While God’s Word may not cover every situation we face throughout our lives, its principles give us the standards by which we must conduct ourselves in those situations where there are no explicit instructions.
Christian ethics finds its source in diverse means, but it primarily emerges from the biblical narrative. Biblical Christian ethics is inseparable from theology because it is grounded in the character of God. The task of Christian ethics, then, is to determine what conforms to God’s character and what does not.
An antidote is defined as a remedy to counteract the effects of poison or something that prevents or counteracts injurious or unwanted effects; Example: an antidote to crime.
Thus, antidote is a welcome relief or remedy, that is, something that will take away or reduce the bad effects of something unpleasant or undesirable.
Promiscuity - The dictionary definition of promiscuity is the casual or thoughtless joining of individuals without regard to reason. In sexual terms, a man or woman who is promiscuous is someone who is non-discriminating in his or her sexual partners; that is, someone who engages in a great deal of sex with many different partners. In colloquial terms, it is someone who, by their actions, is sexually “easy” to a wide variety of people.
Promiscuity, in human sexual behaviour, is the practice of having casual sex frequently with different partners or of being indiscriminate in the choice of sexual partners, as in prostitution. The term can carry a moral judgement and is viewed in the context of a mainstream social ideal for sexual activity to occur within exclusive committed relationships. A common example of behavior viewed as promiscuous within the mainstream social ideals of many cultures is a one-night stand. A one-night stand is a single sexual encounter with no implication of further relations between sexual participants. This is regardless of whether a one-night stand was originally intended by either participant to be a one-night stand, or whether further relations between the participants subsequently arise. The term has been defined by critics as "sexual activity without emotional commitment or future involvement".
In the Bible the word adultery refers to sexual relations by a married person with someone other than a spouse. The word fornication refers to other sexual relations between unmarried people and to sexual relations in the heathen temples in which the sex act was made a form of religion. In this paper write up the word promiscuity refers to adultery and fornication as well as homosexual activity.
Christian ethics ideology as a remedy to counteract the effects of promiscuity
Christian ethics in general has tended to stress the need for grace, mercy, and forgiveness because of human weakness. With divine assistance, the Christian is called to become increasingly virtuous in both thought and deed. Conversely, the Christian is also called to abstain from vice.
Christian ethics is well summarized by Colossians 3:1-6: “1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.” NIV
Christian ethics, in one sense, is simply an expansion of a moral order that is generally revealed to everyone. Despite some disagreement regarding the morality of specific actions, Calvin D. Linton comments on the consistency of the moral code within all people everywhere: “. . . [T]here is a basic pattern of similarity among [ethical codes]. Such things as murder, lying, adultery, cowardice are, for example, almost always condemned. The universality of the ethical sense itself (the ‘oughtness’ of conduct), and the similarities within the codes of diverse cultures indicate a common moral heritage for all mankind which materialism or naturalism cannot explain.”
We may define this common moral heritage as anything from an attitude to a conscience, but however we define it, we are aware that some moral absolutes do exist outside ourselves. According to this universal moral code, whenever we pass judgment we are relying upon a yardstick that measures actions against an absolute set of standards. Without a standard, justice could not exist; without an ethical absolute, morality could not exist.
While more than just a list of “do’s” and “don’ts,” the Bible does give us detailed instructions on how we should live. The Bible is all we need to know about how to live the Christian life. However, the Bible does not explicitly cover every situation we will face in our lives. How then is it sufficient for the all the ethical dilemmas we face? That is where Christian ethics comes in.
For example, the Bible does not say anything explicitly about the use of illegal drugs, yet based on the principles we learn through Scripture, we can know that it is wrong. For one thing, the Bible tells us that the body is a temple of the Holy Spirit and that we should honor God with it.
"Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s." (1 Corinthians 6:18-20). When we use our body for sex sin, we dishonor our body and defile God's temple. We're also defiling the people that we are sinning with. Our lack of respect for the body (and for God) damages our relationship with God. Knowing what sexual sin do to our bodies—the harm they cause to various organs—we know that by doing them we would be destroying the temple of the Holy Spirit. That is certainly not honoring to God. The Bible also tells us that we are to follow the authorities that God Himself has put into place (Romans 13:1). Practicing sin forms a stronghold for evil in our lives. When we repeatedly sin, we give evil an increasingly protected place in our lives. The more we give in to our sinful lusts, the more they have control over us. Paul described this as slavery to sin in Romans 6:16. Sexual strongholds are particularly powerful, since they involve our body, soul and spirit. Thankfully, Jesus provided the means for us to break out of any stronghold and live for God in righteousness.
By using the principles we find in Scripture, Christians can determine the ethical course for any given situation. In some cases it will be simple, like the rules for Christian living we find in Colossians, chapter 3. In other cases, however, we need to do a little digging. The best way to do that is to pray over God’s Word. The Holy Spirit indwells every believer, and part of His role is teaching us how to live: “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you” (John 14:26). “As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him” (1 John 2:27). So, when we pray over Scripture, the Spirit will guide us and teach us. He will show us the principles we need to stand on for any given situation.
While God’s Word does not cover every situation we will face in our lives, it is all-sufficient for living a Christian life. For most things, we can simply see what the Bible says and follow the proper course based on that. In ethical questions where Scripture does not give explicit instructions, we need to look for principles that can be applied to the situation. We must pray over His Word, and open ourselves to His Spirit. The Spirit will teach us and guide us through the Bible to find the principles on which we need to stand so we may live as a Christian should.
However, it is important to remember that the concept of promiscuity is a relative one. The question of how much sex with how many different partners one has to have in order to be considered promiscuous is, in reality, a judgment call, and will depend on a person’s religious, moral, or ethical values. However, generally speaking, promiscuity does imply that one’s attitude toward sex is casual; one seeks a quantity of different sexual partners rather than the intimacy and quality implicit in one or a few sexual relationships.
In some cultural settings, promiscuity is admired. In ancient Rome, where orgies were commonplace, the desire to have sex with many different partners was more than accepted: it was celebrated. Even today, in our society, there are individuals who regard sexual conquest as an achievement; they will brag about the “scores” they have made. However, most Nigerians today regard promiscuous behavior as both destructive and dangerous.
The drive to seek sexual opportunities outside a marriage can be particularly destructive, making trust impossible between a husband and wife. Promiscuous exploits have broken up many families, hurting children in the process as well. Habitual promiscuity can have negative consequences even if one is single. The relentless pursuit of new and different sexual partners may make the forming of a single, solid, reliable relationship very difficult. Promiscuity almost always brings with it problems of jealousy and mistrust. For most relationships to be stable, monogamy is preferred.
Today there is also a very real health risk associated with promiscuous behavior. The more sexual partners one has, the greater the chance of contracting aids or other [Sexually Transmitted Diseases] (STDs). This holds true for everyone—boys, girls, men, women, heterosexuals and homosexuals of all ages. With AIDS and other STDs at epidemic levels today, indiscriminate sex partnering is highly risky behavior.
Christian ethics is theological ethics limited by Christianity. As thus stated, it might appear to be narrower than either philosophical or theological ethics, but in reality it is far otherwise. Philosophical ethics is Christian so far as it is true and just, and, from the very nature of Christianity, as containing a complete account of human duty, it must even be broader and deeper than all human philosophies which relate to it. As to the relation of Christian ethics to any other supposed theological ethics, or to all other theologies in their moral aspects taken together, its position must be that of judge among them all; it must measure them all, eliminating whatever is false, restoring what is lacking, or rather supplanting them one and all as the only standard of moral truth and duty.
Besides, Christian ethics, considered as a science, and hence as a field for speculation, covers the whole ground. Philosophy and theology, in their ethical relations, are entirely within its scope. It must judge them both wherever it touches them. It has made ethics, and indeed all speculation, a different thing from what it was before it entered into human thought, and it aims to master all human thinking within its sphere. It is, to be sure, amenable to philosophical thought, and cannot repel the tests of right reason; it readily enters into the struggle with every adverse intellectual tendency, carrying with it a divine confidence that alone contains the infallible and indestructible norm of humanity regarded as moral.
Christian ethics, indeed, considered as speculative, is not infallible. God has given the ethical norm, but man is obliged to speculate for himself evidently the complete form of Christian ethics, considered as philosophical, has not yet been reached. Its condition is yet militant, both in relation to false systems and to its own development. The genuine Christian ethics, in the scientific sense, lies scattered in various human treatises, in part is yet to be born, and remains to be evolved in the coming ages, and to be wrought into a system of beneficence and beauty which shall settle down on the whole human race, at once an atmosphere of divine and filial love, and an antidote to discord, injustice, and all impurity.
The history of ethics
(a.) The sources of knowledge here are Christ, his person and teaching; also the writings of flee apostles, as shown in the New Testament. In the Old Testament the whole contents are authoritative, except as modified or repealed by the New Testament. By the side of these objective sources we have a subjective source in the New Covenant; it is the influence of the Holy Spirit in the faithful. To this Barnabas, Justin, and Clement of Alexandria bear witness. This life of the Spirit in the Church was by-and-by supplanted by the supposed efficacy of ordination, by which the Spirit was bound to the priesthood exclusively. There came now an outward law of the Church to modify the New Testament, and it controlled the ethical consciousness of Christendom until the Reformation.
(b.) Abundance of ethical material is found in the apostolically fathers, who base ethics on individual personality, on marriage, the family, etc. The most effective of the earlier writers was Tertullian (220). His ethical writings were very numerous, such as concerning spectacles, concerning the veiling of virgins, monogamy, penitence, patience, etc. His idea of Christianity was that it was a vast and defiant war power, separated from all the heathen customs of the Old World, and resolved to bring upon that world the judgment of Heaven. Cyprian, with his high claims for the episcopate, exercised great influence on the ethical sphere of the Church. He concentrated the truth of the Church in the episcopacy, in which he saw the vehicle of the Holy Ghost, and the instrument by which unity and the Holy Spirit should be assured to the Church forever. He carried this idea of the dignity of the episcopate, and the sanctity and sanctifying power of orders, to a ridiculous extent. His doctrine of the efficacy of orders and the dignity of bishops was set over against certain sects — Novatians, Montanists, Donatists — who held that the holiness and unity of the Church demanded that none but holy persons should be members. Augustine fall heir to this controversy. As the Church grew into an earthly kingdom, her ethics took more and more the direction of a so-called higher virtue, whose chief forms were celibacy, poverty, conventual life, and self-imposed torture. Asceticism not only formed a part of the Church life, it became also the center from which the Christian life was forced to receive rule and law. It determined what was sin, and what was right and good: it dictated to councils; and, getting control of the state, it dispensed at will its spiritual and temporal awards; penitential books in great numbers were compiled, and, bad as the system was, in itself, it became a powerful instrument in bringing to order the various heathen peoples. The relation of asceticism to mysticism shows that all these terrible struggles had their root in the consciousness of the infinite demerit of sin, and found their happy solution in Luther's doctrine of faith.
The Reformation not only conquered the prevailing errors leading men back to the Holy Scriptures, but it established positively the real principle of Christian ethics. It did this through justifying faith which, working by love, creates the possibility of Christian ethics. Love, springing from faith, is the fulfilling of the law. It is ethics in the soul, ready to take shape in noble action. This, working in time community inwardly, proceeds to mold all relations, private and public-marriage, family, church, state, science, art, and culture. The great reformers did not write complete ethical treatises, though they discussed many ethical subjects, such as prayer, oaths, marriage, etc.; but they especially discussed ethics in their explanations of the Decalogue in the Catechism. Indeed, the original form of Christian ethics is the Catechism.

Bible Verses about Prohibitions of Promiscuity from the New International Version (NIV)
1 Corinthians 6:18 - Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.
Galatians 5:19-21 - 19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
1 Corinthians 7:8-9 - 8 Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I am. 9 But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.
1 Corinthians 10:13 - 13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 : 9 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
2 Timothy 2:22- 22 Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
Matthew 5:28 - 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Romans 13:13 - 13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.
Ephesians 5:3 - 3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people.

Leviticus 20:13 – 13 If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 - 9 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
1 Corinthians 6:19 - 19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;
Romans 1:24-27 - 24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator — who is forever praised. Amen.
26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
Leviticus 18:22 - 22 "'Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable.
1 Corinthians 6:13 - 13 "Food for the stomach and the stomach for food"-but God will destroy them both. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.

Luke 17:1-2 - 1 Jesus said to his disciples: "Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. 2 It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.
1 Timothy 1:10 - 10 for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers - and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine.

Prohibitions of Promiscuity
Deut 5:18, You shall not commit adultery.
1 Thess 4:3-8. 3 It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, 5 not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; 6 and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. 7 For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. 8 Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.
Fornication is forbidden in 1 Cor 6:18 (above). Fornication is sex between two people who are not married. These verses point out that the Lord expects you to pick yourself up and run away from the opportunity for fornication.
Three types of adultery are mentioned in the Bible - physical adultery, mental adultery, and spiritual adultery.
Even mental adultery is prohibited.
Matt. 5:27,28 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery, but I say to you, that everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.
Man gets an image in his mind and his emotion takes over causing mental adultery. The remedy is to make sure these temptations do not take root, or if they do, to recognize the sin, confess it, and apply doctrine to the situation.
In actual physical adultery, the soul makes a decision and the body follows through. In mental adultery, only the volition or the soul is involved.
Incest is prohibited: Lev 18:6-17, 20:14; Deut 27:20,22; 1 Cor 5:1-7.
Homosexuality is prohibited:
Lev. 18:22 You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.
Lev. 20:13 If a man lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death. Their blood guiltiness is upon them.
Rom. 1:26, 27 For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.
Bestiality is forbidden: Lev 18:23, 20:15. Animal and man were both killed in punishment. Deut 27:21
Prostitution is forbidden: Lev 19:29; Deut 23:17.
Rape is forbidden and punishable by death: Deut 22:25-27.
Additional Relevant Scriptures
Prov. 5:1-6, Prov. 6:23-35, Job 24:14-16, 1 Thess. 4:3-8, Prov. 7:10-23, 1 Chron. 5:25,2, Eze. 23:35-37, Eze. 18:1-32, Prov. 6:23-35, 2 Pet. 2:9-1, 1 Cor. 6:13-20
Consequences of promiscuity
Promiscuity produces consequences that will affect us deeply. It is a sexual sin which all Christians have to be very careful about. It defiles your body and damages its ability to fulfill God's purposes. Sex sin is unique in that we commit it against our own bodies. Our bodies function as temples of God's Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:12-20). When we use our body for sex sin, we dishonor our body and defile God's temple. We're also defiling the people that we are sinning with. Our lack of respect for the body (and for God) damages our relationship with God.
Promiscuity grieves God's Spirit. Any sin we practice will grieve God's Spirit (Ephesians 4:31). It puts out the "fire" of the Holy Spirit in our life (1 Thessalonians 5:19). The more we quench God's Spirit, the less we will be inclined to live a changed life in righteousness.
Promiscuity can bring a curse on you, your partner and/or your children. Sex sin gives Satan a right to oppress us and our descendants through curses. The scriptural basis for generational curses is found in Exodus 34:6-7 and several other passages. Promiscuity, adultery, divorce, infertility, frigidity and other reproductive problems can sometimes be traced to curses arising from sexual sin (Numbers 5:11-31).
Promiscuity can give evil spirits footholds to influence your life. Romans 1:28-32 provides a vivid account of how sexual promiscuity and idolatry opened the door to many other forms of evil. The Bible offers plenty of additional examples of sex sin and the ensuing consequences. Perhaps the most famous is David's sin with Bathsheba. His adultery with Bathsheba and murder of her husband produced family strife, the death of his son and opportunities for enemies to blaspheme God (2 Samuel 11-12).

Promiscuity can bring spiritual confusion. Spiritual confusion begins when we start pursuing the pleasures of sin and disregard our conscience of right and wrong. The more we pursue sin, the more our conscience becomes dulled (1 Timothy 4:2, Titus 1:15). A dull conscience causes us to be susceptible to enemy's lies which will draw us progressively further from God (James 1:14). Eventually we may not even think our actions are sinful and our ability to repent can be hindered (Hebrews 6:1-8). Two examples of sex-related spiritual confusion are found in Romans and 1 Kings. The people in Romans 1:24-32 sinned through sexual immorality and idolatry and were filled with all kinds of evil. 1 Kings 11 illustrates how Solomon, the wisest person that ever lived, descended into spiritual confusion through sexual idolatry with his pagan wives.
Promiscuity can cause emotional confusion. Sex creates emotional bonds ("soul ties") with our sex partner. These bonds will vary in strength depending on the relationship. God intended this emotional bond for marriage partners. When we bond with people other than our spouse through sex, emotional confusion results. This confusion can manifest in many ways. Here are some examples:

Recurring dreams and/or thoughts about former lovers
Inability to achieve emotional intimacy with spouse
Regret or bitterness toward people who hurt us in past relationships
Comparing our spouse with former lovers in sexual performance
Distorted understanding of true love (corrupted by lust or other selfishness)
Increased promiscuity, in attempt to find true intimacy and love
The danger of emotional confusion is that it can hold us back from experiencing true intimacy with our spouse and God. Emotional confusion can also act like a curse, fueling sex addiction and other struggles we may be having.
Promiscuity causes lasting memories. Sex memories are created in our brains with the help of special hormones released during sexual arousal. The devil uses these memories to condemn us and keep us in bondage to lust. These memories can cause difficulties in our sexual relationship with our spouse. Here are some examples:

Our sexual experiences with our spouse are corrupted by thoughts of our former lovers or porn images we've viewed
We idolize past sexual partners...especially when we run into difficulties in our marriage
We feel less satisfied with our spouse's sexual performance
Our minds are conditioned to gratify our lusts through sex instead of showing true love and affection
We get angry and resentful when our spouse won't help us relive past sexual experiences or perform sex acts we've seen in porn
Thankfully, when we follow Jesus Christ, we receive power to overcome the memories, purify our minds and regain control of our thought-life.
Promiscuity can produce unloved or unwanted children. Promiscuity has helped devalue human life such that human babies are discarded as rubbish on an altar of convenience, pleasure and rebellion. Children born through promiscuity may grow up in homes where a loving father and/or mother are absent. Their brokenness will likely be echoed through the sexual choices they make down the road, impacting generations to come.
Promiscuity can expose us to sexually transmitted disease. Porn's sexual fantasies do not portray the reality that sexually transmitted diseases often accompany a life of promiscuity. There are many different kinds of sexually transmitted diseases, most of which bring unpleasant symptoms. The worst of these diseases, AIDS, can cause death. Romans 1:27 contains a possible reference to AIDS.
Promiscuity can destroy marriages and families. Adultery often destroys marriages and families. The husband and the wife will suffer emotional, spiritual and even physical damage when the bond of fidelity is broken. Major healing will be needed to repair the breach. Memories created during a marriage breakup can last the lifetime of the family and the effects can be felt up to four generations.
Promiscuity can lead to an unbridled pursuit of lust and perversion. Promiscuity usually feeds a growing fire of lust in our minds. If we continue to feed that fire, we can easily drift further and further into decadence. Paul described this state as indulgence in every kind of impurity, with continual lust for more (Ephesians 4:19, Romans 1:24-28).

Conclusion
As Christians who recognize the truth of God’s law, we must dedicate our lives to obeying it. This dedication is far too rare today. Bonhoeffer asks, “Who stands fast? Only the man whose final standard is not his reason, his principles, his conscience, his freedom, or his virtue, but who is ready to sacrifice all this when he is called to obedient and responsible action in faith and in exclusive allegiance to God—the responsible man, who tries to make his whole life an answer to the question and call of God. Where are these responsible people?”― Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Christian ethics preserve our moral guard that helps to enhance character development which secures enduring success that could stand the test of time. For instance when we fear the consequences of breaking the law, we guide our actions to conform to the ethics or the law that govern society. I once had someone said that anytime he feels like indulging in an immoral sexual act, he visualizes that the woman has been inflicted with HIV/AIDS. Thus, this acts as a deterrent to him not to engage in promiscuity. The fear of a having lung cancer has kept some people from smoking tobacco. The list could go on and on. From the foregoing Christian ethics is an antidote to the poison of promiscuity. It gives our lives some check and balance so that we will not engage in excesses that our lives may be preserved.

Reference
A couple of reasons for promiscuity, and a couple of examples Published on February 13, 2013 by Fredric Neuman, M.D. in Fighting Fear
McClintock and Strong Encyclopedia 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006 http://www.realtime.net/~wdoud/topics/promiscu.html http://www.allaboutworldview.org/christian-ethics.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Promiscuity Holy Bible - King James Version (KJV)
Holy Bible - New International Version (NIV)