Did Jesus mention fornication?

Question:

Hello,

I know the Bible talks about how fornicators won't inherit the kingdom of God (I Corinthians 6:9). But my question is: what does Jesus specifically say about fornication? I believe in the Bible, but I wonder if he mentioned it.

I see a lot of people nowadays trying to justify fornication and saying sex outside of marriage is not a sin if you are committed to each other.

Anyway, overall, my two main questions are: what did Jesus say about fornication, and why do people nowadays say sex outside of marriage is not a sin when it obviously is?

Answer:

Jesus said,

  • When divorce occurs because of fornication (sexual immorality), the divorce by the non-sinning doesn't cause the divorced spouse to commit adultery (Matthew 5:32; 19:9). The implication is that the person is already in sin.
  • The cause of fornication and other sins is lust (Matthew 15:19; Mark 7:21).

These are the direct references. Of course, the apostles were given the Holy Spirit to know what Jesus wanted taught. "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you" (John 16:13-15). Therefore, we don't limit doctrine to just the words of Jesus while he was here on earth. The things Paul wrote carry equal weight because Paul wasn't writing his own thoughts. "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words" (I Corinthians 2:12-13).

In Romans 1, Paul analyzes the decay of the Greek society. He stated that it started with a rejection of God (Romans 1:18-21). This led them to replace God with gods of their own imaginations (Romans 1:22-23). Since these were their own gods, they were able to declare their own rules. One of the most common rules of God that is thrown out is any restriction on sex (Romans 1:24-25). The change is due to their lusts.

History tends to repeat itself. In the 1950s, there was a fad to declare that God was dead because it was thought that evolution and atheism had proven there was no God. Without people following God, in the 1960s, we saw the hippie movement with its ideas of "free love" and "alternative marriages." In other words, modern society follows the same path of decay that the ancient Greeks followed. The variation is that instead of idols, we are following the religious beliefs of atheism in society. However, the motivation remains the same. People are following their lusts, and what "I feel" is more important to them than what God said.

We also have a society that has declared that there is no absolute truth. What is true for you may not be true for me. With that concept comes the idea that you can't judge me for what I wish to believe. Of course, this concept is false because it is a judgment made against others. Self-contradictory statements are automatically false. However, people aren't usually logical. Thus, calling something a sin is a judgment, and society has declared judgments wrong. Since society now accepts fornication, people bristle when someone mentions that it is a sin.

Response:

Thank you for your response!