PRAYER : Purify the eyes of my heart and help me to keep the focus of my mind on the Lord Jesus. Lord, develop in me thoughts, words, deeds and motives that are pure in Your sight and that will honour Your Holy name, in Jesus name I pray, Amen.
QUESTION: How is fornication a sin against one's own body?
The difference between fornication and other sins is that fornication often has internal health consequences as well as spiritually damning ones. In Paul's day, especially in Corinth, state sanctioned prostitution often associated with idol worship was rampant and unbelievably casual even by today's standards. Sexually transmitted disease was widespread, as is today.
Seven reasons why believers should shun, or flee from, immorality:
The immoral will be excluded from the Kingdom of God: "Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the immoral... nor adulterers will inherit the kingdom of God" (1Co 6:9,10; cp Gal 5:19-21).
You were separated from immorality at baptism: "You have been washed... separated... and justified" (1Co 6:11).
Your body belongs to the Lord: Therefore you are not free to do as you wish with your body: "The body is not for fornication, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body" (1Co 6:13).
The body will be the subject of a future resurrection: "God who raised Christ by His power will raise your body by the same power" (1Co 6:14).
Your body is a member of Christ: "Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?" (1Co 6:15). Immoral unions violate the oneness with Christ. The believer is one spirit with his Savior. The "one spirit" is a oneness in thinking and attitude (John 17). You cannot be of "one spirit" with the Savior and of "one flesh" by union with an immoral person (1Co 6:16).
Fornication is a sin against one's own body (1Co 6:18).
You are not your own: "You have been purchased with a price; therefore glorify God in your body" (1Co 6:20).
REFLECTION: Sexually transmitted disease has become an epidemic in America. One in four Americans between the ages of 15 and 55 will contract an STD at some point in life. The problem now accounts for more than $2 billion annually in health-care costs. The new STDs produce chronic pain, sterility, abnormal pregnancies, brain-damaged children, cancer, and with AIDS, almost certain death. Newsweek observed, "With effective vaccines a long way off, the best protection against STD, it seems, just might be a return to that old-fashioned safeguard: monogamy."
POWER 5 : Daily Wisdom and Prayer - 5 powerful minutes to kickstart your day.