1 Corinthians 6: God and Sex

¹⁸ Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. ¹⁹ Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; ²⁰ you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

Sometimes people ask me, “Why do people make sex such a big sin in churches? How is it different than any other problem?” The answer can be found in the above verses from 1 Corinthian 6. Paul taught his readers to “flee” from sexual immorality or to run from it. Other sins are external, whether theft or jealousy or anger. Sexual sins harm our own bodies as well as the bodies of those involved.

Paul’s basis for purity in this area is that our very bodies are “temples” of the Holy Spirit. God lives in us. Why would we dishonor God in this way?

Of course, this is easier to read and say than to follow. We live in a culture that sensationalizes sexual activity in nearly every conceivable way. To live God’s way on this issues requires a careful guarding of the influences we allow into our lives, making his way a higher priority than the voices of others.

God created sex and, along with the rest of creation, labeled it as good. Yet when utilized outside of God’s created design, sexual expressions can cause more harm than nearly any other ill. Let those of us who claim to follow Christ take this to heart. Are we honoring God’s view today?

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Dillon Burroughs is the author and coauthor of numerous books and is handwriting a copy of all 31,173 verses of the Bible at HolyWritProject.com. Find out more about Dillon at Facebook.com/readdB or readdB.com.