What is Fornication?

2. What is Fornication? 1 Thessalonians 4:3

3. Matthew 19:9 (KJV) And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery

4. Matthew 19:9 (KJV) And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery

5. Definition (Webster) 1: Human sexual intercourse other than between a man and his wife : sexual intercourse between a spouse and an unmarried person : sexual intercourse between unmarried people--used in some translations…of the Bible…for unchastity…or immorality…to cover all sexual intercourse except between husband and wife or concubine. 2: Sexual intercourse on the part of an unmarried person accomplished with consent and not deemed adultery

6. Definition (Thayer) PORNEIA {29 times as fornication(s), n f}. Illicit sexual intercourse: from 1 Cor. 6:12, we learn how leniently converts among the heathen regarded this vice and how lightly they indulged in it. Metaphorically, the worship of idols; of the defilement of idolatry, as incurred by eating the sacrifices offered to idols

7. Definition (Moulton & Milligan) PORNEIA ...originally meant “prostitution,” “fornication,” but came to be applied to unlawful sexual intercourse generally. It was a wider term than MOICHEIA (adultery), embracing the idea of “barter,” “traffic” in sexual vice...

8. Usage In Translations • KJV, ASV ----- fornication • NKJV, ESV ----- sexual immorality • NASB ----- immorality • NLT ----- unfaithful • SEB ----- sexual sin

9. Usage In New Testament • It is a sin (1 Cor. 6:9-11, 18; 2 Cor. 12:21; Gal. 5:19-21) • Transgression of law (1 Jn. 3:4) • New Testament reveals as: • Homosexuality(Jude 7)

10. Jude 7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire

11. Usage In New Testament • It is a sin (1 Cor. 6:9-11, 18; 2 Cor. 12:21; Gal. 5:19-21) • Transgression of law (1 Jn. 3:4) • New Testament reveals as: • Homosexuality(Jude 7) • Adultery (Matt. 19:9)

12. Matthew 19:9 And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery

13. Usage In New Testament • It is a sin (1 Cor. 6:9-11, 18; 2 Cor. 12:21; Gal. 5:19-21) • Transgression of law (1 Jn. 3:4) • New Testament reveals as: • Homosexuality(Jude 7) • Adultery(Matt. 19:9) • Pre-marital sex (1 Cor. 7:1-2)

14. 1 Corinthians 7:1-2 Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. Never- theless, to avoidfornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband

15. Usage In New Testament • It is a sin (1 Cor. 6:9-11, 18; 2 Cor. 12:21; Gal. 5:19-21) • Transgression of law (1 Jn. 3:4) • New Testament reveals as: • Homosexuality(Jude 7) • Adultery(Matt. 19:9) • Pre-marital sex (1 Cor. 7:1-2) • Incest(1 Cor. 5:1)

16. 1 Corinthians 5:1 It is reported commonly that there isfornicationamong you, and such fornicationas is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife 

17. New Testament Times • There was a loose moral atmosphere particularly among the Gentiles • Remember Thayer’s remark, “…how leniently converts among the heathen regarded this vice and how lightly they indulged in it” • Notice Acts 15:28-29

18. Quotes From Early Sources • Demosthenes (385?-322 B. C.) described fornication as being commonplace with: “We keep mistresses for sure, concubines for the day-to-day needs of the body, but we need wives in order to produce children legitimately and to have a trustworthy guardian of our homes”

19. Quotes From Early Sources • In a work on Lucian (120-180 A. D.), J. J. Chapman described the time as “an age when shame seems to have vanished from the earth” • This kind of sexual immorality soon invaded Rome and then the entire Empire • Does it sound familiar?

20. The Situation Today • Widespread fornication • The very things which the New Testament says are fornication (Homosexuality, Adultery, Pre-marital sex, Incest) are all being encouraged with the idea that we accept this ungodly behavior as normal

21. The Situation Today • Add to that the view that it is perversion to insist that sexual activity be limited to a husband and a wife as the Bible teaches! • When righteousness is called a perversion, it is later than we think • “Woe to them who call evil good, and good evil” (Isa. 5:20)

22. The Situation Today • The move toward rampant fornication knows no stopping point. The ultimate aim is for all to be engaging in it from kindergarten to the grave • “Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body” (1 Cor. 6:13)

23. Matthew 19:9 (KJV) And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery

24. Possibilities(cause) • Homosexuality • Adultery • Pre-marital sex • Incest

25. Possibilities(cause) • Homosexuality • Adultery • Incest

26. Do Not Be Deceived Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is outside the body, but he who committeth fornication sinneth against his own body (1 Cor. 6:18)