Paul's Epistles - 1 Corinthians Part 11 – Sexual Immorality

Paul's Epistles - 1 Corinthians

Part 11 – Sexual Immorality

Pastor Bruce A. Shields

House of Faith Church | www.PS127.org | www.TruthDigest.org

INTRODUCTION

This letter to the Corinthian church began by addressing some sexual immorality among the believers, and actually being allowed in the church.

A son sleeping with his step mother, and prostitution, and who knows what else. Paul said they were allowing things even the pagans wouldn't stand for.

They said to Paul they had the right to do anything, and all things were permissible.

They excused living in sin.

They believed themselves more spiritual than Paul, going beyond what was written, and filling with pride as they became over spiritualized.

They even tried to tell Paul that it didn't matter what they did in their bodies, because they were going to be destroyed by God in the end anyway.

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE I Corinthians 6:12-20

“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything. ¹³ You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. ¹⁴ By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. ¹⁵ Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! ¹⁶ Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” ¹⁷ But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.

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.

                   I.            I HAVE A RIGHT TO DO ANYTHING

a.      "All things are permissible to me"

                                                                         i.      Taken out of context, sounds as if we can do whatever we want without consequence.

                                                                      ii.      This is because Christianity is not a religion with "rules"

                                                                   iii.      And God's grace forgives sin; however, grace does not give us a license to sin, rather, liberty to live a Holy Life apart from the bondage of sin.

                                                                     iv.      This is what Paul means in 1 Corinthians 10:23 "All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify."

                                                                        v.      Illustration: I CAN jump off a cliff. But is that good for me?

b.     Corinthians say, "Food is for the stomach and the stomach for food."

                                                                         i.      Apparently the church is trying to convince Paul, as well as themselves, that the body was made for sin, and sin for the body.

                                                                      ii.      By saying food for the stomach and stomach for the food, then saying they will both be destroyed by God, they are deceived into thinking the body is the same.

c.      However, our bodies are members of Christ!

                                                                         i.      He (Christ) is the vine and we are the branch

                                                                      ii.      We, followers of Christ, are the Body of Christ

               II.            OUR BODIES BELONG TO THE LORD

a.      The Corinthian church's thinking is flawed.

                                                                         i.      Although food is for the stomach and the stomach for food, we are not to make food our God and over indulge.

1.      There are many scriptures warning about gluttony.

                                                                      ii.      However, stomachs and food have nothing to do with the spiritual.

                                                                   iii.      The body was NOT made for sin, it was made in the image of God, and we were made to be one with God.

b.     Our physical bodies were made, not for sin, but to be the Temple of the Holy Spirit

                                                                         i.      I Corinthians 3:16 "Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?"

                                                                      ii.      This is what our bodies were made for.

c.      We belong to Him, Body, Soul and Spirit

                                                                         i.      When we become saved, the Holy Spirit views the triune being of man as one.

                                                                      ii.      We were created in the image of God, who is Father, son and Holy Spirit...but is still only 1 God.

                                                                   iii.      Man is the same; we are body, soul and spirit...but still only 1 person.

                                                                     iv.      What we do in the body, affects our spirit and our soul.

Illustration: If I eat, my body uses food for good. If I over eat, it negatively affects my body, and if done long enough, can kill my body.

If I read God's Word, it is food for my Spirit and is good. If I commit sin, I am separated from God's Spirit, and if done long enough, my heart may become calloused; I may deceive myself, and wander from the Truth.

If I follow after Christ and the Word, my soul is forgiven, and I will be one with my body and the Holy Spirit, a light in this world, and a member, or part of the Body of Christ.

            III.            SEXUAL SIN TAKES PLACE WITHIN THE BODY

a.      However, some sin is not merely outward, but affects your soul. Sexual immorality is one of them.

                                                                         i.      Why? Because like food is for our bodies, sexuality was made for us to become one with our spouses.

                                                                      ii.      Paul says, "Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never!"

b.     Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.”

                                                                         i.      This means that no type of sexual intercourse between the sexes is free from sin, except under the sanction of marriage.

c.      But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.

                                                                         i.      This is the closest union one can have.

                                                                      ii.      Our union with Christ, although it is spiritual, is symbolized by the union of husband and wife in marriage in the physical sense.

                                                                   iii.      So what are we to do?

CONCLUSION

FLEE FROM SEXUAL IMMORALITY

This is not a suggestion, but a command.

The original word used here is fornication, meaning ANY type of immorality, not just sexual.

All sins other than fornication (immorality), like gluttony, drunkenness, drug addiction, etc., while affecting the body in a negative way, take place outside the body. However, with fornication (immorality), the source of this uncleanness is in the heart.

He who commits fornication, sins against his own body.

This is a type of spiritual union of man with devils.

This is why God referred to Israel's worshipping of idols as Spiritual Adultery or fornication.

Jeremiah 3:1-9; Ezekiel 23:1-45; Hosea 4

God divorced Israel for their fornication...immorality.

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.

What we do in our flesh matters, for we are the Temple of the Holy Spirit, and immorality comes from a deeply rooted problem in our hearts.

When we submit, for Christ to be our Lord, our Master, we must fully belong to Him, our body, soul and spirit.

Jesus said, John 14:23 "Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them."

I Corinthians 13 tells us that LOVE is an action, Jesus tells us to LOVE Him, we must have an action of obedience.

Luke 10:27 "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind';

In other words, we must have the action of obedience to God with our ALL our heart (how we behave), ALL our soul (who "we" are), ALL our strength (diligently, and continuously seeking Him), and our entire mind (how we think, the renewing of our minds, to have a mind like Christ)!

We must bring our entire being into submission to the Lord. Submit unto Him in all of these, and He will truly be your Lord.

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