Fornication This term is used the New Testament.  It is used every time in reference to a category of “sexual sins.”   All sexual activity with another person outside of marriage is defined by God as sin.  Caring about His people, God wants them to be pure and protected from all the diseases this world spreads among them when they choose to conduct themselves as the animals do.  God wants the male and female to bring to each other minds that are pure where they can learn and teach each other what needs to be done in private among themselves.  The marriage bed is to be undefiled (Heb. 13:4).  God, not the church, is to have authority in our sexual behavior and our thinking as well. Pornography in printed form or on the internet is sinful before God because it often arouses individuals to unrealistic expectations of themselves or their mates.  The Greek word PORNEIA is translated fornication.  It is from this Greek word we get the word pornography.  Pornography is a temptation which can lead to the desire to have sexual fulfillment outside of the marriage.  Jesus teaches that the married can commit mental adultery in their hearts if they choose to look on another to the point of lust with one they are not married to (Matt. 5:28).  God gives adults these appetites, and God provides for men and women the outlet for such reasonable desires.  “Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good.” (Gen. 1:31). Consider now some passages where fornication is spoken of as an illicit or unlawful sexual union before God.  In John 8:41 those who were hostile toward Jesus infer that Jesus’ unique birth may be an indication that He was born of fornication.  In Acts 15:20 and 29 the Gentiles have the Old Testament teaching that fornication is a sin carried over into the New Covenant.  Remember, sexual sins are a capital offense in the Old Covenant (Deut. 22:22-29).  These admonitions from our God are not to be taken lightly.   The word “fornication” includes the married sin of “adultery” in Matthew 5:32 and 19:9.  In Matthew 15:19 we observe that all sins begin in our hearts and involve our character and attitudes.  Both adultery and fornication begin within one’s heart.  In our American culture we are constantly being bombarded with suggestive and impure advertising techniques; and we have learned that between Hollywood and Madison Avenue, “Sex Sells” is the attitude of the media.  We don’t blush any more but laugh too often with the values of this world.  Jeremiah’s time was much like ours; and he says twice, “Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination?  No! They were not at all ashamed; Nor did they know how to BLUSH.” (Jer. 6:15; 8:12).  Incest was going on in the midst of the congregation at Corinth.  Here we have a son who has his father’s wife (1 Cor. 5:1).  This sexual sin is once again condemned, and all are taught clearly that this is not to be tolerated.   God’s people are not to use the gift of their bodies from God for sexual immorality but for the Lord.   Those who use their bodies for sexual immorality are assured by God that they will be destroyed (1 Cor. 6: 13).  This passage further challenges the Christian to run away from the idea of sexual immorality.  Don’t flirt with it.  Don’t think it won’t happen to you.  All who commit sexual immorality sin against their own body (1 Cor. 6:18).  You might not know it or understand it or believe it, but it is still true that the involvement in sexual immorality is a sin against yourself.  Paul mourns for many in the Corinthian congregation who have sinned in the past and have not repented of their uncleanness, fornication, and lewdness they have practiced (2 Cor. 12:21).  Pride often keeps us from facing issues in life.  Issues must be dealt with and not stonewalled so they can be put away.   Those guilty of fornication, the sexually promiscuous, head up the list of sins (Eph. 5:3).  We learn clearly that NO FORNICATOR has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God (Eph. 5:5).  Christians have the power and the authority in their own lives to put to death the sins of fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness (Col. 3:5).   Purity, Holiness, and Sanctification are to be evidences in those vessels which are special to God.   “…You know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus.  For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God;” (1 Thess. 4:2-5).  We need to encourage one another not in negative terms of “you can’t do this and you can’t do that.”  We need to encourage one another regarding the importance, value, and worth of Purity, Holiness, and Sanctification before our God and one another and especially for those of us who are married, our mate. We must make it clear to our single Christians that with God’s help they can and will maintain self-control over their bodies until marriage.  When feelings become too strong and they feel as if they are going to loose self-control, they are invited to make a commitment of marriage (1 Cor. 7:1-9).  This passage also reminds us that it is honorable for a person to live a single life.  Those who do so are not to be viewed as someone who is strange.  They may be the ones who can practice self-control over their bodies better than those who are married.