By Nathan Brito

Whether you?ve grown up as a Christian like me or have given your life recently, I?m sure you?ve come across the term sexual immorality. Even those who are not Christian understand that sexuality is sacred in the Christian tradition. We?ve been told on and on about how we should avoid adultery and fornication simply because it is sinful and God hates it. Though that is true, it?s understandable to want to know why sex outside of marriage is bad aside from, ?it?s a sin.? First off, this isn?t something that we have been struggling with recently. The church of Corinth was struggling with sexual immorality. In fact, they were even boasting about it. In 1 Corinthians, Paul addresses the church of Corinth and their practice of sexual immorality. It was so bad that there was a man who was sleeping with his step mother. Paul was absolutely distraught with their behavior and begins to correct it. He gives 3 reasons why we sexual immorality should be avoided in 1 Corinthians 6:12-20

1. ¹² You say, ?I am allowed to do anything??but not everything is good for you. And even though ?I am allowed to do anything,? I must not become a slave to anything. ¹³ You say, ?Food was made for the stomach, and the stomach for food.? (This is true, though someday God will do away with both of them.) But you can?t say that our bodies were made for sexual immorality. They were made for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies. ¹⁴ And God will raise us from the dead by his power, just as he raised our Lord from the dead.

Paul is basically telling us that we should love and take care of our bodies. In Paul?s day, many people would do whatever they wanted to their bodies because they believed that once they die, they will permanently get to dispose of their bodies and remain in spirit. However, for Christians, contrary to what many may believe, Heaven is not our end goal and we will not permanently leave our bodies after death. Revelation 20 tells us that during the 2^nd coming of Christ, our bodies will be resurrected in the same way that Christ?s body was without flaw. In order to understand this, we need to have an understanding of how the body is contaminated by sin and the limitations it poses. In Romans 6:26, Paul tells us that the penalty of sin is death. Many conclude that he was merely speaking about spiritual death. However, Paul is also speaking about physical death as well. In other words, sin will always conclude with death in every aspect (physical, spiritual and even corporate). Not only that, but Jesus tells us that anyone who sins is a slave to sin (temptation). (cf. John 8:34) Paul gives us a visual of a Christian constantly in battle with temptation and the want to do good in Romans 7. However, the good news is that Christ paid for your sins on the cross. His actions gave us salvation and eternal life. He resurrected 3 days later with the same body, only different. His body was the first to be glorified and on His second coming, all of the righteous will be resurrected in the same way with no sin, no limitations, they will be perfect. (cf. Revelation 20) With no contamination of sin, there is no death.

Our same bodies will be with us for eternity, only without sin and limitations. These bodies will be glorified. Going back to the topic of sexual immorality, this is what Paul meant when he talked about our bodies being with is forever. In other words, he is telling us to honor, respect and love our bodies because it?s the only one we?re going to have and it?s going to be with us for eternity, despite its glorification.

2. ¹⁵ Don?t you realize that your bodies are actually parts of Christ? Should a man take his body, which is part of Christ, and join it to a prostitute? Never! ¹⁶ And don?t you realize that if a man joins himself to a prostitute, he becomes one body with her? For the Scriptures say, ?The two are united into one.? ¹⁷ But the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.

The second reason that Paul gives is that when we are Christians our bodies are parts of Christ; we are joined with Christ in one Spirit. We have a special bond with Christ. When two people become intimate with each other, they become one body. (1 Cor. 6:16) This sets up Paul?s 1^st argument: If we are one with Christ spiritually, then what happens when we become one with someone who is not our spouse through intimacy? That?s right, we force Christ into this relationship. This is different than with someone who is married. This is because 2 people have made a covenant with each other that mirrors the relationship that Christ has with the church (read 1 Cor. 7). This is how it was intended

since the day God made Eve for Adam.

3. ¹⁸ Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. ¹⁹ Don?t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, ²⁰ for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.

Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Ok bear with me. I know we?ve all probably heard this a million times already. But this is the proper context for this verse. This is important because Paul tells us that our bodies do not belong to us; it was purchased by Christ at the cross. Before Christ died on the cross and resurrected, our bodies were slaves to sin, and what Jesus did on the cross freed us from that. Though our bodies belong to God, we still have free will to do disobey God and do what we want with our bodies and sin. This is where we must be cautious because Paul tells us to honor our bodies because of the sacrifice. It?s the dwelling place of the Spirit, an honor that was only bestowed upon the inner section of the tabernacle and then the Temple of God. Let?s honor our bodies.

Paul gives us 3 very solid theological reasons why we should avoid sexual immorality. But most of all, our bodies were made by God with the utmost love. Our bodies are special in the sense that they will be ours for eternity and they are the dwelling place of the Spirit. How can we not honor our bodies when we realize just how special they are to God? In the end, God doesn?t want to deprive us from intimacy and all that good stuff. He wants us to wait till we find that special someone so we can marry as they become one physically through intimacy and spiritually through Christ.