Sexual immorality is described as a sin against one’s own body in 1 Corinthians 6:18 for several important reasons:
1. It Violates God’s Intended Purpose for Sex
God created sex to be enjoyed and experienced within the boundaries of marriage between a man and a woman (Genesis 2:24). Sex outside of marriage goes against God’s intended design. When we engage in sexual activities outside of marriage, such as premarital sex, adultery, pornography, etc, we are sinning against the very purpose for which God created sex.
The act of sexual immorality unites two people physically and emotionally who are not joined in marriage. This perverts and distorts the meaning of sex as God intended it. Sex outside of marriage objectifies others for selfish pleasure and gratification. It devalues the sacred gift of sex that God meant for marital intimacy and procreation.
2. It Damages Our Relationship with God
As Christians, our bodies belong to God and are a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). When we join ourselves sexually with someone we are not married to, we defile the temple of the Holy Spirit. This damages our fellowship and closeness with God. Sin erects a barrier in our relationship with the Lord, and ongoing unrepentant sexual sin creates an increasingly wide chasm between us and God.
Sexual immorality is a form of idolatry, placing our own lusts above our love for God. It indicates that we care more about gratifying our fleshly desires than honoring the Lord. This is incredibly grievous to our Creator who desires for us to be set apart and holy, belonging solely to Him.
3. It Opens the Door to Spiritual Attacks
Demonic spirits operating in the realm of sexual immorality can gain a foothold when we engage in impure sexual acts outside of God’s design (1 Corinthians 6:16). This gives the enemy an avenue of access to influence and attack our lives. Sexual sin provides legal rights for demonic spirits to harass and torment in ways that other sins may not.
Continual sexual immorality can open us up to bondage, addiction, and strongholds that become very difficult to break free from. It gives the devil more power to deceive, ensnare, confuse, and damage areas of our life. The spiritual protection and favor of God lift when we harden our hearts in unrepentant sexual sin.
4. It Has Lasting Damaging Effects on Our Bodies and Souls
Sexual immorality often carries painful emotional, psychological and physical consequences. Premarital and extramarital affairs can leave deep scars of heartbreak, betrayal, regret and shame. Pornography use can become a consuming addiction that alters brain chemistry and damages real relationships. Sexually transmitted diseases that result from immoral behavior can leave lasting effects.
When we sin sexually, we suffer harm to our bodies and souls in ways that leave wounds not easily healed. God warns strongly against sexual sin because the implications of it run so deep and can be so long-lasting. He wants to protect us from the pain and destruction caused when we depart from His good plan for sexuality.
5. It Profanes the Sacred Mystery of Marriage
Within marriage, the sexual union between a husband and wife is a mysterious and beautiful reflection of Christ’s relationship with the church (Ephesians 5:31-32). The covenant of marriage is sacred before God. When we engage sexually outside of marriage we profane and cheapen the profound mystery of marital intimacy God intends.
Sexual immorality undermines the exclusivity and permanence of marriage as God designed it. Adultery is devastating because it breaks a solemn vow to faithfully uphold the marriage covenant. Premarital sex also tears apart the seamless tapestry of marriage knit together by God for our good and His glory.
6. It Is Enslaving and Addictive
Sexual immorality leads to slavery and addiction. As we engage in impurity, we become trapped in a cycle that feels increasingly impossible to break free from. Sin is deceptive in that what first appears pleasurable and harmless grows into a raging beast dominating our thoughts and behavior (James 1:14-15). Habitual sexual sin rewires our brains to the point of losing self-control.
God warns us to avoid sexual immorality because He knows its enslaving power. Once tastebuds become acclimated to junk food, wholesome food loses its appeal. Similarly, the more we glut our cravings by feasting on lust, the less we desire purity. Sexual sin tightens its grip on us when left unrestrained and unchecked.
7. It Devalues Human Dignity
Every person is made in the image of God and possesses inherent worth and dignity. When we use others for our own sexual gratification outside of marriage, we reduce them to objects existing merely for our selfish pleasure. We deny their full personhood as beings created with sacred value by God. This crushes and defaces their identity as precious image-bearers of God.
Sexual immorality markets and profits from dehumanizing people as products to fulfill disordered desires. Pornography, prostitution, human trafficking and other forms of sexual immorality degrade and debase humans into commodities to use and discard. God’s heart breaks over such wicked oppression and exploitation.
8. It Hardens Our Hearts and Sears Our Consciences
Persistent sexual immorality burns out our capacity for holy affections toward God. We become numb to the warnings of conscience and Holy Spirit prompting as we continue gratifying illicit desires. Our hearts harden under the blinding intoxication of lust where we lose sight of eternal truths once held dear.
What we tolerate becomes what we embrace. When we excuse sexual immorality, its grip tightens. As sexual sin becomes more acceptable, righteous living appears more abnormal. Slowly, we resemble the surrounding culture rather than our Holy God. Entrenched patterns of secret sin corrode moral fiber.
9. It Grieves the Holy Spirit
Grieving the Holy Spirit with unrepentant sexual sin ultimately quenches His work and presence in our lives. The Spirit is given to indwell and empower believers for holy living (Ephesians 1:13-14). When we stubbornly rebel in sexual immorality, we squash the Spirit’s activity and plead for His absence.
Continued sexual sin in the life of a believer necessitates God’s severe discipline to awaken slumbering hearts. The Holy Spirit is jealous for our undivided devotion and longs to stir up revival, renewal and righteousness in His people. But habitual sin offends and outrages Him into silence.
10. It Disqualifies Us from Future Reward
While our salvation is never in jeopardy over sin, our eternal rewards are directly tied to how we live after conversion. Willful, unconfessed patterns of serious sin can disqualify, or cause loss of reward in heaven (1 Corinthians 3:10-15; 2 John 1:8). This should instill holy fear and prompt immediate repentance.
All that awaits in paradise makes any temporal pleasure of sin seem depraved and foolish when weighed in comparison. Why trade an unfading inheritance for a fleeting moment of forbidden gratification? God lovingly warns us because He wants to lavish eternal blessings not forfeited by compromise.
In summary, sexual immorality constitutes a grave sin against our own bodies because it violates God’s sacred design for sex, damages intimacy with God, opens demonic footholds, brings lasting scars, cheapens marriage, leads to addiction and bondage, debases human dignity, hardens hearts, grieves the Spirit, and risks forfeiting eternal reward. God powerfully opposes sexual sin because He understands how it threatens human flourishing and thriving in every dimension.