Too many people think that how one lives has no impact on the soul.  The truth, however, is that, while we are saved by grace (Ephesians 2:8-9), how we live does play a part in our salvation.  Paul makes this clear in 1 Corinthians 6.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (ESV)
⁹  Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, ¹⁰  nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

In the rest of this chapter, Paul deals with the attitude that the saints at Corinth had concerning sexual immorality.  They thought that it was a non-moral issue as long as they did not commit it as an act of worship.

I know that sounds ludicrous, but is that thinking really different than how fornication is viewed today?  Listen to these comments by actress Amy Steel regarding a role she was playing.  In the role, she portrayed a 23-year-old girl.  She wanted her role to have more love (sex) and less honor.

“Sex is not a moral issue with young women today.  My generation is more open and easygoing.  We accept more challenges including sex without making it a big deal.  In today’s society of easy divorce, people are living together while using contraceptives.  My generation moves faster and isn’t as judgmental of morality.  Virginity isn’t important.  It is not valued or even discussed.  Sharon, the girl I play, is supposed to have an incredible sex life but is always masked or confused with love.  It wouldn’t occur to the writers that a good girl would be interested in sex for sex itself…”  

This was precisely the attitude of the unlearned Christians at Corinth.  Sex for the sake of sex is, like eating meat, a non-moral issue.  Paul now shows them that eating meat and committing fornication are not the same thing at all.  They do not have the same relationship to the physical body that the Corinthians supposed.

Meats were created for the belly, but both are temporary (ver. 13).  In heaven we will not need food; hence, we will not have stomachs.  Now they are necessary and needed for survival, but such is not the case with sexual immorality and the body.  The body does not need sex, nor was it made for sexual immorality.  The body was made for the Lord, and it has a more honorable position than the belly in God’s overall scheme of things.  God will not destroy the body but will instead raise it as He did the body of our Lord (ver. 14).    

Furthermore, our bodies are members of Christ (ver. 15).  Should we take our bodies that have become a part of Christ and join them to another in the act of fornication?  God forbid! When one commits sexual immorality, he becomes one with his or her partner (ver. 16).  Paul is alluding here to Genesis 2:24.  How do fornicators become one with each other in the act of sexual immorality?  I do not exactly know, but it involves more than something physical.  It involves emotions and feelings that cannot be experienced in any other way.  It is a oneness that is supposed to be experienced only by husbands and wives.  As Christians, we are married to Christ and have become one with Him (ver. 17).  When we commit sexual immorality, we uniquely sin against Christ because our bodies have become a part of Him. (ver. 18).  No other sin has that kind of consequence.  Some sins hurt the body, but only sexual immorality can cause our bodies to become one with another in a sinful union.

Let us all determine to remain pure, only using our bodies as instruments of righteousness (Romans 6:13) and giving glory to God.  Better to have a home in heaven than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season (Hebrews 11:25).

As you wind down for the night, think about these things