Flee Immorality: The Call to Purity

At the end of 1 Corinthians 6, Paul warns Christians about the dangers of sexual sin. The foundation of his argument is that as believers in Christ, we have been unified with Christ in both spirit and body. To be joined together in sexual union with someone other than your spouse is to defile the union with Christ, as you are "joined with a harlot." Sexual sin is more than just a physical sin; it has a spiritual aspect in that it destroys the picture that the physical union in marriage is supposed to be of the union of Christ and His church (Eph 5:27-32). And then Paul says that sexual sin is unique both in its character and consequences, because it is a sin "against your own body." Ultimately, he reminds us, our bodies are not ours in the first place. They belong to God, since He bought us, and they are the "temple of God's Spirit" who dwells within us. Defiling the temple of our body through fornication is akin to the desolation of abomination that the antichrist will bring into the Temple during the last days. The solution to avoid sexual sin is simply to "Flee fornication." Run away as fast and as far as possible.