What is sexual immorality?

The Meaning of Porneia in the New Testament

What is sexual immorality? We're going to answer that question. In the New Testament, the word most often translated into sexual immorality is porneia. This word also translates as whoredom, fornication, and idolatry.

It means a surrendering of sexual purity and is primarily describing a premarital sexual relationship. Sexual immorality is the selling off of sexual purity and involves any type of sexual expression outside the boundaries of a biblically defined marriage relationship.

Sexual Immorality, Idolatry, and the Body as God’s Temple

The connection between sexual immorality and idolatry is best understood in the context of flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.

The bodies of believers are the temple of the Holy Spirit. When we use our physical bodies for immoral purposes, we are imitating pagan worship by profaning God's holy temple with acts he calls detestable.

Biblical prohibitions against sexual immorality are often coupled with warnings against impurity. This word in the Greek is akatharsia, which means defiled, foul, or ceremonially unfit. It connotes actions that render a person unfit to enter God's presence.

Those who persist in unrepentant immorality and impurity cannot come into the presence of God. It is impossible to maintain a healthy intimacy with God when our bodies and our souls are given over to impurities of any kind.

God’s Design for Sexuality and Marriage

Sexuality is God's design. He alone can define the parameters for its use. The Bible is clear that sex was created to be enjoyed between one man and one woman who are in a covenant marriage until one of them dies.

Any expression of it outside those parameters constitutes an abuse of God's gift. The Bible calls this sin. Adultery, premarital sex, pornography, and homosexual relations are all outside of God's design, which makes them sin.

Common Objections to God’s Commands Against Sexual Immorality

Here are some common objections to God's commands against sexual immorality. Number one. It's not wrong if we love each other. The Bible makes no distinction between loving and unloving sexual relations.

The only biblical distinction is between married and unmarried people. Sex within marriage is blessed. Sex outside of marriage is fornication or sexual immorality. Number two. Times have changed and what was wrong in biblical times is no longer considered sin.

We have no problem understanding that greed, lust, stealing, these things are still sin. God's character does not change with a culture's opinion. Number three. We're married in God's eyes. This argument implies that God is cross-eyed.

The fallacy of this idea is that the God who created marriage in the first place would retract his own condemnation of what he's called sin. God declared marriage to be one man and one woman united for life and his eyes see immorality for what it is regardless of how cleverly we have redefined it.

Scripture’s Warnings About Sin, Prayer, and Holiness

Number four. I can still have a good relationship with God because he understands. Proverbs 28 9 says if one turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination. We fool ourselves when we think that we can stubbornly choose sin and God doesn't care.

The scripture challenges that idea. We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. Whoever says I know him but does not do what he commands is a liar and the truth is not in that person.

Hebrews 13 4 makes God's expectation for his children crystal clear. Let marriage be held in honor among all and let the marriage bed be undefiled for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.

Sexual immorality is wrong. The blood of Jesus can cleanse us from every type of impurity when we repent and receive his forgiveness but that cleansing means our old nature including sexual immorality is put to death.

Ephesians 5 3 says but among you there must be not even a hint of sexual immorality or any kind of impurity or of greed because these are improper for God's holy people. That answers the question what is sexual immorality?

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