By: Godwin Eyiangho
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INTRODUCTION
Every sin is an evil and an abomination before God. Here, evil refers to the disastrous damage caused by fornication.
Generally, fornication is the sex between two persons who are not married to each other.
However, the Greek word πορνεία denotes illicit sexual intercourse.(Cf. Matthew 19:9; John 8:41; 1 Corinthians 5:1.)
Thus, all sexual sins:
- Fornication, adultery, incest, prostitution, masturbation, rape, homosexuality (gay and lesbian), bestiality (sex between a human and an animal) and the use of sex toys can be classified as fornication, because they are all wrong, illegal, and sinful before God.
The Lord designed sex for two persons who are legally or scripturally married, for pleasure and for reproduction in order to replenish the earth (see Genesis 2:24; 1:27,28; Matthew 19:4-6).
Anything short of this even the use of sex toys runs contrary to God’s design and is a flagrant disobedience to His word.
CAUSES OF SEXUAL SINS
Some of the causes of sexual sins are:
Lack of fear for God. Man disobeys and disrespects God who forbids fornication and continues to wallow in all sorts of sexual sins. (Exodus 20:14; Galatians 5:19; 1 Corinthians 6:18.)
Uncontrolled sexual urge/desire. Many men and women cannot control their sexual desires; hence they commit fornication in an inconvenient manner.
No value for virginity. In traditional Africa, a woman who marries with virginity brings honour to the family and she is celebrated. But today, westernization or civilization has eroded that and fornication has become the order of the day.
Drunkenness: Drunkenness stimulates a high level of sexual desire and it makes many fornicate regrettably.
Seductive activities: Seductive activities -half‑naked dressing, pornography, and ‘blue films’ lure both men and women into sexual sins.
Peer groups: Immoral peer group influences others to commit fornication as some even arrange for the dis-virgin of their friends.
Satan: The evil one cannot be exempted as one of the causes of fornication since his demonic agents instigate people to commit fornication through charms and other diabolical means.
Other causes include problems of life, sex eaneaton, love of money, lack of proper upbringing, beauty, sexual refusal by spouse, fear of being victimized, delay in giving birth.
EFFECTS
Sexual sins have the following consequences:
Pride and disrespect: Young ones who practice fornication become proud and disrespectful to parents and other older people, as they feel they have arrived.
Murder or Suicide: barrenness: In the process of abortion of unwanted pregnancies, both the mother and the child may die. The mother misses heaven, while the child goes back home. Frequent use of preventive drugs and abortion causes permanent barrenness in some women.
Separation of marriages: Many marriages have been put asunder by fornication leading to shame, and pain in the family and vicinity.
Untimely death: Many men have died through [magum] in Nigeria as they commit fornication, women through abortion, while Absalom killed Ammon for raping his sister Tamar (2 Samuel 13:1-29).
Diseases: From Gonorrhoea to HIV/AIDS are deadly diseases in sexual sins.
Punishment in hell fire for all fornicators (Revelation 21:8).
SOLUTIONS
Obedience to God: Christians must fear and obey God avoiding fornication or all sexual sins as Joseph did. See Genesis 39:7-12; Ecclesiastes 12:13b; 1 Corinthians 6:18a)
Make a covenant with your eyes: Job said, “I have made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a woman” and so we must do to avoid fornication. (Job 31:1; Matthew 5:27–28).
Self‑determination: Christians must make a deliberate self-determination not to live in fornication and the Holy Spirit will provide the needed support (1 John 3:9).
Sister, your body is metaphorically referred to as a locked garden before marriage, and after marriage only your husband has the sole right to enter into your garden (Song of Solomon 4:12, 16).
If you fornicate before marriage, you have joined yourself in sin by yourselves what would God honour in your marriage? (Hebrews 13:4) – Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.
We must avoid bad and immoral peer group or association so that we will not be influenced negatively to commit fornication (1 Corinthians 15:33).
Avoid alcoholic drinks especially when you travel and you are alone or with clubs or family members but without your spouse.
Reading pornographic magazines and watching blue films or any other seductive activities must be avoided.
Teaching and admonition: Fornication is destructive especially to youths; therefore the church and parents must seriously teach and counsel youths and adults against the dangers of sexual sins.
Prayer: Finally, Christians must pray fervently against temptation to any sexual sin, reading and applying the word of God in their lives (1 Thessalonians 5:17; Ephesians 6:17).
Brethren if God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for homosexuality and today man is involved in bestiality, what do you think would have happened without the grace of Christ.
CONCLUSION
Sex is sacred and secret approved by God for only married couples and as such Christians must strictly practice the design of God because all fornicators would be in the lake of fire at the end of time (Revelation 21:8).
But if you refuse to obey God will give you up to all manner of unnatural sexual activities (Romans 1:26,27).
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