Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. (14) And God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power. (15) Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not! (16) Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For “the two” He says, “shall become one flesh.” (17) But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. (18) Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. (19) Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? (20) For you were bought at a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

The first letter to the Corinthians was written by the apostle Paul. Our verses today address thsexual sin of fornication and Paul writes that believers must recognize sexual purity as a salvation issue. Fornication refers to any type of sexual activities outside of marriage. Paul makes the point by comparing the eating of meats offered to idols which is an indifferent thing and is guided by religious liberty – but fornication is not an indifferent matter. . Fornication is an unlawful matter and it affects the man/woman as he/she is not designed for this indulgence. Implicit in our verses is the truth that the gospel ultimately transforms a person’s life and he/she cannot, according to scripture, continue in the kind of life led in sin. The fundamental fact of salvation in Christ means we are delivered from living as sinners. It does not mean we may not fall into sin but we, in faith, are delivered from bondage to sin.

The body is not meant for sexual immorality and here this specifically refers to fornication. He who commits fortification sins against his/her own body. Those who belong to Christ and have the Spirit living in them cannot be content if they are yielding to sexual sin. It is never profitable and hurts the sinner – it damages our relationship with Christ and also hurts the person you sin with. It enslaves those who yield to it. Paul points out the spiritual nature of sexual union – God designed sexual relations to be restricted within the boundaries of marriage. Sexual sin corrupts and shatters spiritual relationships both human and divine. We are advised to flee – a very powerful command – all sin begins in thought level and we need to defeat it on that level.

C.s. Lewis writes in the Screwtape letters that “Everytime a man and woman enter into a sexual relationship a spiritual bond is established between them which must be eternally enjoyed or eternally endured.” Sexual sin is always a violation of God’s purpose for our bodies: the body is a permanent organism, designed to be the dwelling place for the Spirit of God. The sin in question is absolutely incompatible and destructive with our relationship between our bodies and Christ.