Corinth in Ancient Greece was infamous for sexual immorality. So the early church needed to be warned to turn away from this seductive, socially acceptable sin. Western culture today has descended into a similar climate of immorality. So God’s directive for morality and dignity is still applicable.
“Run away from sexual immorality [in any form, whether thought or behavior, whether visual or written]. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the one who is sexually immoral sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is within you, whom you have [received as a gift] from God, and that you are not your own [property]? You were bought with a price [you were actually purchased with the precious blood of Jesus and made His own]. So then, honor and glorify God with your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 Amplified Bible
Dr. Charles Stanley observed that Proverbs warns us to stay away from the immoral person: “Remove your way far from her, and do not go near the door of her house” (Prov. 5:8). “God’s Word tells us to ‘flee sexual immorality’ (1 Cor. 6:18), not to test our spiritual maturity by seeing how close we can get to it without falling into it. If you know something tempts you, stay away from it.”
Dr. Tony Evans counsels, “Sexual sin is unique because by joining to someone other than one’s spouse, a person enters into an illegitimate one-flesh union (see 1 Cor. 6:16) and sins against his own body. This, in fact, is why people experience emotional, psychological, and spiritual scars as a result of sexual sin.”
Living according to God’s design delivers us from sin’s harmful consequences psychological and physically. Dr. Warren Wiersbe summarizes the implications of this passage in 1 Corinthians: “As you review this section, you will see that sexual sins affect the entire personality. They affect the emotions, leading to slavery (v. 12b). It is frightening to see how sensuality can get a hold on a person and defile his entire life, enslaving him to habits that destroy. It also affects a person physically (v. 18). The fornicator and adulterer, as well as the homosexual, may forget their sins, but their sins will not forget them.”
If you are believer in Christ, your body is a Temple of the Holy Spirit. Let’s heed the timeless admonition: “honor and glorify God with your body.”
-JBW
Deliver Us from Evil 