As of mid-2024, 42% of American women and 80% of American men had viewed pornography within the previous year.[i] As of 2021, at least 73% of Americans believed that sexual relations between an unmarried man and woman are morally acceptable.[ii]

But let’s be honest: we don’t need statistics to know that our culture has an increasingly promiscuous view of sexuality. We just need to tune into the latest TV show, open any social media app, or look at the habits of most non-Christians in America to know that sexual immorality has become in the norm in American culture.

In 1 Corinthians 6, the Word of God lays out our responsibility as believers in Jesus Christ regarding sexual immorality. The command is simple: we are to flee immorality, and instead to live according to God’s design. Realizing that we are members of Christ’s body, we must seek sexual purity. 

In order to understand this concept, we must first accept two truths.

Truth #1: You must accept God’s authority over your life (1 Cor. 6:12-14).

1 Corinthians 6:13, “Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.”

The Corinthians had a truly permissive mindset about sexuality. Most likely, they believed that the body is meant for sexual activity. Therefore, sleep with who you want, do as you please; what’s the point of having a body if not to have sexual pleasure?

But the apostle Paul tells the Corinthian believers that our bodies are not made for this kind of immorality, but rather they are created to honor the Lord. They were therefore to use their bodies in a way that would align with God’s created design and purpose.

1 Corinthians 6:14, “And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power.”

Not only has God made us, but He also has power over life and death. Paul highlights the believer’s future resurrection to point out that God has supreme authority over our lives, even over our physical bodies.

Therefore, we must listen to what God has to say about our bodies. He has authority and power over your life, even over any and all physical activity.

Truth #2: You must accept your connection to Christ (1 Cor. 6:15-17).

1 Corinthians 6:15, “Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.”

For a believer to engage in any form of sexual immorality is to act as if he or she would rather be unified to a prostitute than to Christ Himself. As believers, we make up the body of Christ (see 1 Cor. 12). Nothing can change our standing before God (v. 17, Rom. 8:1). But if we understand our connection to Christ, we will realize that there is no room for us to take part in sexual immorality.

What you do in your body matters because you are part of the body of Christ. While the “body of Christ” is primarily a spiritual concept, you are one whole person, both body and soul. You cannot disconnect the things you do in your physical body from your spiritual state.

If you have trusted in alone to be your Savior, you have been brought into the family of God and been added to the body of Christ. Therefore, live as a member of Christ’s body by refusing to use your own physical body against God’s design in sexual immorality.

Conclusion: You must pursue purity in your body for God’s glory (1 Cor. 6:18-20).

1 Corinthians 6:18, “Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.”

There is something unique about sexual sin. It is not necessarily “worse” than other sins, but it’s relation to our bodies is unique. In sexual sin, we violate our own bodies. We reject the purpose for which they were designed and therefore disgrace what God called good.

But the issue is even deeper than that.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

As a Christian, your body is the Temple of God. That means it is the dwelling place of God on earth.

God desires to dwell with His people. In the Old Testament, that meant dwelling in the Tabernacle and later in the Temple (c.f., Ex. 25:8, 1 Kgs. 8:10-13). Today, it means He dwells within each believer individually.

Follow the logic:

1. Sexual sin is committed against your own body.
2. Your body is the Temple of the Holy Ghost.
3. Therefore, to sin sexually is to violate the Temple of God.

You have been bought by Christ’s blood; you have been indwelt by God’s Spirit. Therefore, you must flee sexual immorality and run instead to God’s good design.

If you struggle in this area, I exhort you: seek help. The body of Christ is given so that we may build each other up (Eph. 4:11-16) and help one another say no to sin (Heb. 3:13). Find a mature believer or spiritual leader who will be able to come alongside you and strengthen your walk with God.

Let us remember who we are: members of Christ’s body. And let us therefore pursue purity that God may be glorified in us, both body and soul.

Questions for Discussion:

1. Read 1 Corinthians 6:12-14. Why does Paul refuse to live by the mantra, “all things are lawful for me”? What are some ways that we might be tempted to think this mantra is good?
   
   
2. Read 1 Corinthians 6:15-17. What spiritual effect does sexual immorality have on you? Why should you, as a believer, refuse immorality?
   
   
3. Read 1 Corinthians 6:18-20. What is the simple command in v. 18? What are the reasons given in the following verses?
   
   
4. List and discuss a few practical ways that you can pursue purity today.