Defining Sexual Immorality

1 Thessalonians 4: 3-7 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified.
What is more destructive than sexual immorality? We have seen time and time again how a man or woman basically destroys everything that has any real significance in his or her life by participating in this horrific sin.
The Bible is very clear that Christians are to abstain from every type of sexual immorality. There is no excuse because of how clear the Bible is on this issue. Sexual involvement outside the bond of marriage is unholy, and dishonors God. It ruins the chances of having a good relationship with your spouse or any future spouse ( if you are not currently married), with your family,  as well as destroying one's own body. The Bible teaches in Romans 6:23  For the wages of sin is death,. This death certainly means death in your relationship with the Lord, in your relationship with the people close to you as well as it can mean physical death.
 So what does sexual immorality mean in Biblical terms? When all is said and done it is God who sets the standard for holy living so it is important to remember that what we find in the Bible is God's standard and we need to abide by the words of the Bible.
The word sexual immorality or fornication ( as is used in the King James Bible) comes from the Greek word pornia which is translated pornography in the English language. It is a broad term which includes all forms of sexual immorality.

Sexual immorality includes:

Lust and pornography -  Matthew 5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

Adultery - is extramarital sex and also lust. It is included in the ten commandments and in the Old Testament law required the death penalty . It destroys the soul of the one participating in it - Proverbs 6:32 says But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul.

Incest - is sex with a close relative who is not your spouse. Also required the death penalty in
Leviticus 18: 6-7 None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness: I am the Lord.
The nakedness of thy father, or the nakedness of thy mother, shalt thou not uncover: she is thy mother; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.
Deuteronomy 27:22  Cursed be he that lieth with his sister, the daughter of his father, or the daughter of his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen.

Homosexuality - is sex with a person of one's own gender - male with male, female with female. It is strongly condemned in both the Old and New Testament . Romans 1:26 -27  For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.  Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.
Leviticus 18:22 You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination
Homosexuality also required the death penalty in Leviticus 20:13  If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

Beastiality - is sex with an animal  - also punishable by the death penalty in the Old Testament 
Exodus 22:19 Whoever lies with an animal shall surely be put to death
Deuteronomy 27: 21  Cursed be he that lieth with any manner of beast. And all the people shall say, Amen.


The only sex blessed by God and that brings honor to His Name is that of a husband and wife who are married to each other - commited till death do part.

The Ten Commandments - Ours Today!

The Ten Commandments that God gave to Moses are the basic instructions for living found in the Bible. We are not saved by keeping them. We are saved through faith in Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross where He died in our place. But the Ten Commandments are still very important because they clearly and simply show us what God expects from a person who says that he belongs to the LORD.  I would like to go through the commands and see what we can learn for our everyday lives.  The Lord Jesus says in Mark 12: 29-31 :  And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
³⁰ And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
³¹ And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

So Jesus says we are to love God with our heart, soul, mind, and strength and we are to love our neighbor as ourselves.  As we look at the Ten Commandments we will see these exact two points over and over again within every one of  the Commandments:
So what are the Ten Commandments and where are they found in the Bible. They are written for us in Exodus 20.

Commandment 1
There is only One God - There is no other
Exodus 20: 2-3  I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me

Commandment 2
Worship only God - God requires our complete devotion and loyalty that is 100%.  We cannot be divided in our loyalty. We cannot love both God and the world at the same time.
Exodus 20: 4-6   Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;    And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. 
   
Commandment 3
Keep God's Name holy and with honor. If we are claiming the Name of Christ and say that we are Christians and we still live in sinful lifestyles, we are not giving the Name of the LORD the honor that He deserves nor are we keeping it holy. Also we are not to use the Name of the LORD as a swear word to just to express surprise or horror. We are to honor the Name of the LORD keeping it only for Him.
Exodus 20: 7 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain

Commandment 4
Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy. Since the Lord Jesus Christ rose on the first day of the week, that is on Sunday, we now have Sunday as our Sabbath Day. It is a day to rest, and to focus on our Lord with more intensity, to be with our family, and to refrain from doing unnecessary work. We are not to work nor are we to have others working in our businesses on a Sunday.  Things that are needed like preparing food or providing medical help or other physical supports for people must obviously continue to be done even in our Sabbath.
Exodus 20: Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Commandment 5
Honor your parents - your Father and Mother  Children show honor and respect to parents by obeying them, doing what the parent asks, and not talking back or lying etc. As adults we still need to honor and respect our parents which then looks more like a solid friendship with our parents and we take care of them as they become elderly.
Exodus 20: 12  Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

Commandment 6
Never kill another person. This includes things such as abortion and euthanasia or mercy killing. God is the giver of all life and only He is the One allowed to end a life. God does not allow murder.
Exodus 20:13  Thou shalt not kill.

Commandment 7
Do not commit adultery - This is a big one in our day and age. Christians are not obeying Christ in this matter. Men and women while being married are getting involved with another person, affairs and sex outside of marriage. Pornography and lust are also included in this commandment. God will judge those who take part in sexual immorality.
Exodus 20: 14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Commandment 8
Do not steal - this speaks very clearly. We are not to take what belongs to another person. This even includes stuff that no one will ever notice such as pens or paper in the office.
Exodus 20: 15 Thou shalt not steal.

Commandment 9
Do not tell lies. Lies are used to cover up. The Lord says that everything will be revealed. There is nothing hidden that will stay hidden no matter how much lying is done to cover it up.
Exodus 20: 16  Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

Commandment 10
Do not want or desire anything belongs to another person. This includes many different things - job, possessions, house, car, money, fields, a woman, or a man,
God gives us all that we need and we are contented with His goodness to us.
Exodus 20 : 17  Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.

So we can clearly see that if we love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength and we love our neighbor as ourselves, we will have fulfilled all of the Ten Commandments of God.  If we are living with the love of Christ in our hearts we will not be lying to people or about others, we will not be living in immorality, or taking what belongs to others, we will not be killing other people. So we can see that God's way is truely the right and only way to live a good life.
God has given us these instructions in the Bible in order to help us to live a good life. God's Word helps us to have a more enjoyable and fullfilling life.

Why does the earth quake??

Under three things the earth quakes, And under four, it cannot bear up: That is what it says in Proverbs 3:20 in the NASB. This is rather interesting. That there are actually some things that make the earth so unstable that it quakes. What are these things?  In the KJV the passage states: Proverbs 30 : 21-23
 ²¹For three things the earth is disquieted, and for four which it cannot bear:
 ²²For a servant when he reigneth;  and a fool when he is filled with meat;
 ²³For an odious woman when she is married; and an handmaid that is heir to her mistress.

So the first thing that causes the earth to quake is when a servant reigns. What could this mean? I know that God does things decently and in order according to 1 Corinthians 14:40 - ⁴⁰Let all things be done decently and in order."  So what if an employee somehow tried take the business away from the owner, like maybe not follow company rules but kind of do things whatever way he wished.  That would not be good and a business could not function that way for very long.  But is that not pretty much what is happening in our world today? God created the world and it belongs to Him. Psalm 24:1 ¹The earth is the LORD's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
So LORD made the earth and everything in it. Then He should also have the authority to instruct those of us in the world how to live, to tell us what is truth, and how to live, which is exactly what He does throughout the Bible. The Bible is the business manual or handbook with instruction as to how things are to be done. So when we are his servants, called upon to take care of business till he comes in the second coming, We are to obey Him and being disobedient to the Master would definitely cause the earth to quake. Just as in any business, when the things are not done right the boss is not pleased, and disciplinary action has to be taken. So it is also with God. He sees our disobedience to His instructions in the Bible and so disciplinary action is happening all around us which are the judgements that we see such as the tornadoes, earthquakes, outbreaks of pandemics, etc.
Next let us consider " and a fool when he is filled with meat;"  I believe this is referring to the luxurious and excessive lifestyle that so many take as "must haves". Trying to keep up with the neighbors in possessions and therefore aquiring unbearable amounts of debt. Instead of living in contentment as we should , we are told that we deserve to be able to live out the so called "American dream". Money and posessions, fame and loose living will never satisfy. This is another thing that the causes displeasure to our LORD and causes the earth to quake.
Verse 23 ^23"For an odious woman when she is married, and an handmaid that is heir to her mistress." The words odious woman simply means a woman who is not loved by her husband. I believe this verse is referring to the problem of adultery and divorce in our culture. Consistantly on the news, we hear of high ranking officials, and evangelical leaders, and politicians involved in an affair and failing in their marriages. We also see this happening in our churches, neighborhoods and families. Pornography, lust and coveteousness is rampant. God's directions are for sex within the bonds of marriage. Any other sex is immorality. God clearly states in the Bible that marriage is to be between one man and one woman and that till death.   Ephesians 5:25 -
²⁵Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
Mark 10:6-9 states
 ⁶But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.
 ⁷For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife;
 ⁸And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh.
 ⁹What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
And one more verse 1 Corinthians 7:39 says ³⁹The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord.
There are many more passages that we could reference that say God made marriage to be between only one man and one woman till death.  God does allow divorce in the case of sexual immorality in order to protect the abused spouse but it never was His original plan.
The rampant immorality is abominable in the sight of God and He is prepared to deal with it.
We who are Christians are a sanctified people and not at all like the non Christian.  Our goal is to please our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in our words and our actions and bring glory to Him. This world is not our home.