Saving Fo Fornication

                                 SAVING FOR FORNICATION

A CLOSER LOOK AT DIVORCE FOR THE CAUSE OF FORNICATION.

We know that Jesus said a man should not divorce his wife save for the cause of fornication.

Matthew 5:32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.

I have heard and and in the past, have even said myself, that while Jesus allowed for divorce for fornication, there was yet a better way and that being forgiveness and reconciliation. We say that God is a God of reconciliation and this is true.

Have you, however, ever considered why Jesus would say 'saving for the cause of fornication?

You might say 'It is because fornication is breaking the marital vow.' Yet there are many other ways a spouse can break a marital vow, such as a man not honoring, cherishing or loving his wife.

What is the difference with fornication?

A difference made from every other sin -

1 Corinthians 6:18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.

without = (Strong's) - the exterior, ... outside ....

flee = (Strong's) - to run away (lit. or fig.) : by implication to shun; by analogy to vanish:- escape, (flee (away)

Here we're told that fornication is different from every other sin, in that it is the one sin that is against your own body. Other sins, it says, are outside the body, but this sin is against the body. Now notice what Ephesians 5:28 says-

Ephesians 5:28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.

A man's wife is his own body. The two are one flesh in God's eyes. When a man (or visa versa) commits fornication, he sins against his own body, which includes his wife, who is part of his body.

Matthew 19:4+5 And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,

5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?

Ephesians 5:31For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.

This connection, in itself, sets fornication apart from every other sin that a man can commit.

But there is another aspect to this sin as well. When we become born again, we become members of Christ's body, because we have received His seed - the Word of God - in us and the Spirit of God has made it alive in us. This is why we are considered dead to sin by the death of Jesus on the cross. He took our sin in His body on the cross and the body of sin was killed. When we receive His seed in us, we become members of His body that has been washed clean from sin, by the shedding of the blood of that body on the cross. Now look closely at God's view of immoral sexual behavior in relationship to our being part of God's body. -

1 Corinthians 6:15 Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.

So when a Christian commits fornication he is sinning against Jesus' body. Would you defile the body of your Savior? When you commit fornication you break the vow to your spouse and break fellowship with her (or him). You defile your spouse's body! When you do this thing you also break the vow to Christ, break fellowship with Him and defile His body!

1 Corinthians 6:16-20 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.

17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.

18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.

19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

Hebrews 3:6 But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.

God has said that two were to be one flesh, not three or four are one flesh. When a man commits fornication it is a ripping and tearing away of the connection that makes them one, and becoming physically one with another.

Perhaps this is why when a man breaks covenant with God,, turning to the god of this world, God calls it whoring after other Gods. How much more when after having taken His seed, the Word of God and the Holy Spirit into his life, a man turns from God to go his own way, which is, in fact, aligning with the the enemy of God.

The issue of fornication is a very serious one, for we are speaking of sinning against oneself, your spouse and Christ's own body! You are taking that which Jesus died for, paid a great price for, and which belongs to him and defiling it!

Too often people have thought that the only thing that mattered to God was our spirit and that only our spirit will be with Christ in eternity. But these scriptures say differently. When we are born again, our body becomes a part of Christ's body - members of Christ.

1 Corinthians 12:27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.

This mortal body will one day be changed to immortality and live with Christ forever.

1 Corinthians 15:53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

1 Corinthians 15:54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

This is what the resurrection is about! It is not about the resurrection of our spirit, for when we die our spirit goes to be with the Father. (2 Corinthians 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.)

It does not say that our spirit is part of God's Spirit, but that our bodies are members of Christ's body and the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us.

The mortal part of man is his body and one day this mortal will put on immortality. When this happens - then - is death swallowed up in victory, for death cannot take hold on our bodies, which belong to the Lord.

When a man who has been saved, turns and has sex with a harlot he is taking the members of Christ and defiling them!

1 Corinthians 6:13 ... Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.

1 Corinthians 6:14 And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power.

(What will God raise? Our bodies.)

What does the scripture say in these verses? Does it say only our spirit or soul belongs to the Lord? NO!

In fact the Bible tells us that our body is FOR THE LORD and that the Lord is FOR THE BODY!

Child of God, do you hear the Word of the Lord? You have been bought with a great price, body and spirit! Both belong to God. Your body is your spouses body. Your body is a member of Christ's body and the temple, or house where the Holy Spirit is to dwell. Fornication is the one sin that sins against yourself, your spouse and Christ's own body!

Our BODY is for the Lord and it IS NOT for fornication! And the Lord is for the body; the place where His Spirit is supposed to dwell, lead us, teach us and guide us! It is our body that God will one day raise up, just as He raised Jesus from death and raised Him up free of all sin and unrighteousness!

20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

We are not only to glorify God in our spirit, but also in our body, for BOTH ARE THE LORD'S!

1Corinthians 3:17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

It is a serious thing when we make a commitment to Christ and give our lives to Him in salvation. It is a holy commitment not to be entered into lightly but with all gravity. When you become a true child of God, you become the temple of the Lord and His temple is a holy thing. To defile the temple of God is to bring destruction upon yourself.

Now let us consider this matter further still. If we are a part of Christ's body then we are a part of all the other members of His body.

1Corinthians 12:12-13 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.

13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

1 Corinthians 12:20 But now are they many members, yet but one body.

When a person commits fornication he is sinning against the entire body of Christ, that is, every person who is a born again believer, committed to Jesus Christ!

Can you begin to see why this sin is considered to be different than other sins? This is a sin which, it would seem, God takes very personal! But there is even further reason!

Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion ....

When God was creating His image, He first created the male and provided him with the means to procreate and to be physically united to another, before he provided that 'other'. God was in the process of creating His own image. The word for 'God' here is the word elohiym, which is the plural of elowahh (God). God being the Father and the Son, with the Holy Spirit, would need to make a plural unit - two who would be one - in order to create a reflection of himself.

So He made the male, put him to sleep, took bone and flesh from his body and created another person who was literally a part of himself. Eve was an individual who was a physical part of Adam. They were two made of one flesh and bone.

In other words, when God was creating a reflection of himself it was necessary to create a person who, like Him, could be one body made up of two persons and both were to never be without the Holy Spirit.

I say all of this to say, that when the marriage is defiled by fornication, the image of God is being defiled which God intended to be seen, reflecting Himself throughout the earth.

This is why when men began to create for themselves other Gods to worship, other than their creator, God gave them over to a reprobate mind to commit homosexual acts. This is the final and greatest perversion of the image of God. It is fornication, so it is a sin against God's body, but it is also a perversion of His image!

Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

Romans 1:19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.

Romans 1:21Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

Romans 1:23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

Romans 1:24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:

Romans 1:25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

Romans 1:26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:

Romans 1:27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.

Romans 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

When a person is committing fornication in homosexual acts he is changing the truth of God into a lie! The truth of God which God intended to be seen through His reflection which he designed by the marital union of man and wife, is being made into a LIE!

Finally look with me at God's view and His sentence on fornication as seen in the New Testament.

1Corinthians 5:1-13 It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife.

2 And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.

3 For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed,

4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,

5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

6 Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?

7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:

8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

9 I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators:

10 Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world.

11 But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.

12 For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within?

13 But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.

This portion of scripture may be very hard for some to receive, but it is the Word of God and vitally important to believers today.

In this chapter the apostle addressed the issue of a man, who has evidently been known as a brother in the body of Christ, who has been committing fornication. However by reading all of what is said, we see that he is not only addressing the particular activities of this one man, who had went so far as to commit fornication with his father's wife, but fornication in general that is committed by those who have claimed Christianity. He lists other sins, but points out fornication, in particular more than once.

The church at Corinth was criticized by Paul for having been puffed up instead of removing the fornicator from among them.

This may be shocking to many Christians today who would view such an action as totally not Christ like and a mean, unloving act. Yet Paul says they were 'puffed up', or that is, (Strong's) ... make proud (haughty):- puff up.

Their pride kept them from putting this fornicator out of their fellowship!

Do you find this incomprehensible? Yet there it is in the Word of God!

What is the reason given that such a person should be disfellowshipped from the body and even delivered to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus?

The answer is in verses 5 and 6. First of all it was for the fornicators benefit. When they put him out of their fellowship and let him go the way he was choosing to go - the way of the god of this world - Satan- he would suffer the destruction of the flesh and perhaps repent and be saved.

This word 'destruction' in the Greek can also mean punishment. But whether he suffer disease, death or a milder punishment, if it brought him to repentance and the salvation of his soul for eternity, then it would be worth it.

When it says "To deliver such an one unto Satan" this word 'deliver' means (Strong's) ; to surrender, that is, yield up ...

An individual choosing to live in fornication, is choosing to follow the will of Satan. The church was not asked to be patient with him, let him continue to be in the church so he could be shown love and understanding, but rather the church was instructed to (perhaps stop hanging on to him for dear life) and - LET HIM GO! This was the one way of hope for his soul but also important for the rest of the body.

WHY?

6 Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?

7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:

8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Leaven, such as yeast, when mixed into the mix to make a batter, spreads throughout all of the dough.

Here in this portion of scripture, the leaven being spoken of was the leaven of fornication. It tells us that it only takes a little of this leaven to leaven, or that is, effect, cause to swell, the entire lump, which in this case was the church.

Everyone would be effected if this leaven was allowed to remain in the church. Isn't it interesting that Paul doesn't say, "Don't worry about the fornicator because you have more power than him and if he stays in the church he has a greater chance of making his life right? Your love will cover his sin as will the love of God!"

No this is not even close to what Paul had to say. Yet Paul's instructions agree perfectly with the scripture that says -

2 Corinthians 6:14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

2 Corinthians 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,

2 Corinthians 6:18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

But Paul goes on and makes it clear that he is not instructing the church to avoid all fornicators in the world. We live in this world and are a light to the world. But we do not have fellowship

fellowship - (Strong's) 3352 = participation, that is, intercourse ....

communion - (Strong's) 2842 = partnership, that is (lit.) participation .... - with the fornicator who claims to be a brother in Christ.

We cannot partner with sin. We cannot accept a fornicator as part of Christ's body. The body of Christ is not to be defiled.

So Paul tells the church to purge out the old leaven (verse 7) so that they would be a new lump, that is a body without leaven, or that is - sin. He tells them -

1 Cor. 5:11 11 But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.

and - 13 But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.

This may be very disturbing to many who would read and consider these words carefully, but nonetheless the Word of God instructs that the church was not even to eat with a person who is called a 'brother' but who is practicing fornication.

Even a wife, who hangs on to a marriage contract, that is being broken by fornication, is not immuned to being effected by the leaven of her husband. If he remains in her house the effect of the leaven will be there, but if she remains in constant communication with him after he leaves, what are the possibilities of his spiritual condition effecting her and her children?

Now perhaps after reading these instructions carefully it can be better understood why when it came to divorce, Jesus made the exception in the case of fornication.

When a man or woman commits fornication he or she is defiling and perverting the image of God. If a Christian man or woman has sexual intercourse with a fornicator, he is joining the members of Christ's body to a person who is defiling his own body, his wife, the body of Christ (the church) and the temple of God and perverting God's image.

1 Corinthians 6:18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.

It is said that God hates divorce, and we will look at the scripture this is taken from. But God also hates and will not tolerate the body of Christ, the temple of the Holy Ghost, to be defiled, but will destroy the person who does so.

Now look at the scripture referring to God hating divorce.

Malachi 2:13-16 And this have ye done again, covering the altar of the LORD with tears, with weeping, and with crying out, insomuch that he regardeth not the offering any more, or receiveth it with good will at your hand.

14 Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.

15 And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.

16 For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the LORD of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously.

In the book of Malachi we find Malachi giving the people of Israel a word from God to them. This was not written to the Gentiles , but we can still get a picture of God's attitude through these scriptures. Here we see Him speaking to the men and telling them that God is no longer regarding their offering, even though they cover the alter of the Lord with their tears. They could bring offerings to the alter of God and weep and cry but it was not going to move God unless they were truly repenting.

WHY?

Because thy were dealing treacherously with their wives.

treacherously (Strong's) = fig. to act covertly ... deal deceitfully (treacherously, unfaithfully), offend, transgress ....

Their wife was their companion and the wife of their covenant. God had made them to be one.

Evidently these men were not treating their wives as they should have and were even putting them away, which thing God hated. Men were to provide for their wives, honor them and treat them as their companion, the wife they had made a covenant with and the help meat God had created them to be, not mistreat them and put them away!

God hates for a man to mistreat and put away his wife. Furthermore if he is doing so, he can kneel at an alter and weep all day but it is not moving God, unless perhaps it moves him to anger unless he is truly repenting.

1 Thessalonians 4:4 That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour;

1Peter 3:7 Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.

Yes the dishonoring of a wife can result in a man's prayers being hindered, though he prays in tears!

Whether a man is unfaithful (and visa versa) to his wife with a woman or another man, he is sinning against her and God.

It is important to realize then, that those who claim to be Christians, but are living in fornication, including homosexuality and especially those who leave their spouses to do so, cannot be Christians while they defile the temple of God. They have set themselves up for destruction.

He may say he is homosexual but still loves God, but if he thinks this to be so, he is greatly deceived. He is not loving the God he is defiling, but a god he has fashioned in his own mind; a god that does not even resemble the true and living God, creator of the universe.

He has chosen to worship a god of his own making.

Be careful not to allow such a person to verbally pray for you or your children, for he is speaking to a false god.

SO WHERE DOES FORGIVENESS COME IN TO THE PICTURE?

Forgiveness when it comes to fornication and the marital unit, comes with true repentance; turning away from the unclean thing. When the sinner turns from the sin, refusing to again touch the unclean thing, giving himself wholly to God, then God says he will receive him!

2 Corinthians 6:17

Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,

 

2 Corinthians 6:18

And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

 

This may take a deliverance from evil spirits that have bound him, especially the homosexual who God has given over to a reprobate mind. But God can do the work - if - the fornicator is willing. God will force no man to be saved.

Jesus gave fornication as an acceptable reason for divorce. He did not say it was only a reason to separate, but divorce, which was completely ending the marriage.

If Jesus gave fornication as an acceptable reason for divorce, we can be certain He had a good reason and His reasoning was not flawed.

God is a God of reconciliation, but he does not reconcile darkness with light, or an unclean vessel with a clean. These cannot be reconciled.

If a person is hoping for a reconciliation with a spouse who has broken the marital covenant by committing fornication and who is continuing to live in fornication, he or she must be willing first to comply with the instructions found in the scriptures.

1 Peter 1:16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

If you are a born again child of God, your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. You cannot join your body to that of a fornicator, even if he be your husband or wife, without joining the members of Christ with the fornicator. If a man lives in fornication he defiles his wife, Christ's body, the body of Christ as a whole - the church and the temple of the Holy Spirit.

God is willing to forgive the fornicator and to make him new, if he is truly repentant. He is willing to give him a new start. However Paul made it clear to the church that the hope of such a conversion was not in keeping in fellowship with the fornicator but in releasing him, surrendering him to the god he chooses to serve, in the hopes that after he has suffered in the flesh he will repent and turn from his wicked ways.

Our attitude toward a person who we have had to separate from should be the attitude of love for a sinner. Pray and intercede for him. Always love him. Never be hateful or unkind. But never compromise the instructions of the Lord

It is a dangerous thing to attempt to reach a soul for Christ using any method that is of our own choosing, our own thinking or planning that is not in agreement with the word of God.

Never be as the Corinthian church who were puffed up and had not mourned and been willing to put away that one who was called a brother but living in unrepented sin. No other sin is against the body as is fornication.

A Side Note (to consider the attitude of God, even in the Old Testament)

It might be of interest to the reader to consider what was done in the Old Testament, even before salvation had come through Jesus Christ. When God's people had married 'strange' wives. The same God who wanted two to become one in marriage and was against divorce, was in favor of the strange wives being put away.

Ezra 10:1Now when Ezra had prayed, and when he had confessed, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there assembled unto him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and women and children: for the people wept very sore.

2 And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said unto Ezra, We have trespassed against our God, and have taken strangewives of the people of the land: yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing.

3 Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of my lord, and of those that tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law.

4 Arise; for this matter belongeth unto thee: we also will be with thee: be of good courage, and do it.

5 Then arose Ezra, and made the chief priests, the Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they should do according to this word. And they sware.

6 Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God, and went into the chamber of Johanan the son of Eliashib: and when he came thither, he did eat no bread, nor drink water: for he mourned because of the transgression of them that had been carried away.

7And they made proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem unto all the children of the captivity, that they should gather themselves together unto Jerusalem; 8 And that whosoever would not come within three days, according to the counsel of the princes and the elders, all his substance should be forfeited, and himself separated from the congregation of those that had been carried away.

9 Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered themselves together unto Jerusalem within three days. It was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month; and all the people sat in the street of the house of God, trembling because of this matter, and for the great rain.

10 And Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto them, Ye have transgressed, and have taken strange wives, to increase the trespass of Israel.

11 Now therefore make confession unto the LORD God of your fathers, and do his pleasure: and separate yourselves from the people of the land, and from the strange wives.

12 Then all the congregation answered and said with a loud voice, As thou hast said, so must we do.

13 But the people are many, and it is a time of much rain, and we are not able to stand without, neither is this a work of one day or two: for we are many that have transgressed in this thing.

14 Let now our rulers of all the congregation stand, and let all them which have taken strange wives in our cities come at appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and the judges thereof, until the fierce wrath of our God for this matter be turned from us....

16 And the children of the captivity did so....17 And they made an end with all the men that had taken strange wives by the first day of the first month....

19 And they gave their hands that they would put away their wives; and being guilty, they offered a ram of the flock for their trespass.