In our first accountability meetings, we had group members count days of sexual sobriety much like AA and other groups in the AA tradition. A person would keep count of the number of days since he sinned sexually, then if he sinned again, the count would restart.

We did this because it was the norm. Then we ran into a problem: we realized there was no Biblical precedent for doing so!

The Bible speaks of the Israelites establishing memorials, commanded by God, to remind themselves and following generations of gracious acts that He had bestowed upon them. These can be physical (like the 12 stones taken in crossing the Jordan; Joshua 4) or ritual (like the Passover commemoration). But there is no Biblical precedent for an individual to count the number of days since he has sinned.

Instead, we were reprimanded by Scripture for this practice being more of the law than of grace. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9). "Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?" (Galatians 3:2-3). Our group members remain accountable to one another in all aspects of our sexuality each meeting. We do not use grace as license to sin. And we do not encourage one another to count days, because we stand on the grace of Jesus Christ, not the handling of our flesh, for our righteousness.