sexual immorality – The Lowedown

February 20, 2026February 20, 2026

What is Sexual Immorality?

1 Corinthians 7

¹Now about the questions you asked in your letter. Yes, it is good to live a celibate life. ²But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband.

³The husband should not deprive his wife of sexual intimacy, which is her right as a married woman, nor should the wife deprive her husband. ⁴The wife gives authority over her body to her husband, and the husband also gives authority over his body to his wife. ⁵So do not deprive each other of sexual relations. The only exception to this rule would be the agreement of both husband and wife to refrain from sexual intimacy for a limited time, so they can give themselves more completely to prayer. Afterward they should come together again so that Satan won’t be able to tempt them because of their lack of self-control. ⁶This is only my suggestion. It’s not meant to be an absolute rule. ⁷I wish everyone could get along without marrying, just as I do. But we are not all the same. God gives some the gift of marriage, and to others he gives the gift of singleness. ⁸Now I say to those who aren’t married and to widows—it’s better to stay unmarried, just as I am. ⁹But if they can’t control themselves, they should go ahead and marry. It’s better to marry than to burn with lust. (1 Corinthians 7:1-8, NLT)

The Daily DAVEotional

We live in a highly sexualized culture. After all, “sex sells” as they say.

Our culture’s current views on sex can be traced back to the sexual revolution of the 1960’s. Until then, it was commonly understood and accepted within the culture that sex was reserved for marriage. Any portrayal outside of that paradigm was generally frowned upon.

I remember watching reruns of “I Love Lucy” as a kid and when they showed Ricky and Lucy’s bedroom, there were two twin beds.

Opening scene of “I Love Lucy” from the episode “Lucy is Envious” (Season 3, Episode 23) showing Lucy and Ricky’s bedroom in which Lucy and Ricky sleep in separate beds.

Now everyone knew that married couples sleep together but there was a stigma associated with sex. It wasn’t talked about and it certainly wasn’t portrayed on screen.

But things started to change in the 1960’s with the sexual revolution, which sought to break down the social mores that existed at the time, promoting sexual activity for anyone who might want to partake, even if you weren’t married.

Sex was just an activity, the thinking went. It was just pleasure. Nothing more, nothing less. Why should two people who wanted to engage in something pleasurable be denied this activity? Why should society shame people who weren’t married but happened to be engaging in intercourse?

And so for the last 50+ years, our culture has engaged in one of the most intense, long-lasting and successful media campaigns to change the culture’s perception of sex.

I say it’s been successful because there is no doubt that our culture’s views and attitudes toward sex have drastically changed over the last 50-60 years. What started with posters and buttons telling us to “Make Love, not War” advanced to TV shows and movies that continued to push the envelope in terms of what was shown to viewers.

Throughout the culture at large, the stigma that existed with people engaging in sex outside of marriage has largely been erased. In fact, the topic of sex, which was once considered taboo and off limits in public is actively promoted by our education system as well as the media in TV shows and movies.

Christians who hold to the authority of the Bible are perhaps the last holdout for the antiquated view that sex is reserved for marriage between a man and woman.

But in recent years, even the Bible has come under attack for its views on sex. Many people who identify as Christians no longer believe that the Bible restricts sexual activity to married couples.

Many Christians believe that it’s ok to have sex before marriage and still others believe that the Bible affirms sexual activity among same-sex couples.

The problem with some of these views is this phrase “sexual immorality”. The Bible clearly condemns sexual immorality in both the Old and New Testaments. There is nowhere in the Bible where sexual immorality is not condemned as sinful.

The question then is: what is sexual immorality? While there may be wider agreement that sexual immorality is wrong (I mean, it’s hard to deny since the word “immoral” is embedded in the phrase), there is less agreement on what activities fall under that larger umbrella term.

This post is not long enough to do justice to this topic, but this passage does give some insight into the issue.

It appears that one of the issues this church was dealing with had to do with prohibited sexual practices. Like our culture, the Corinthian culture was highly sexualized and sexual temptation abounded. Some were suggesting that the remedy for avoiding sexual temptation was a commitment to celibacy, even within the confines of marriage.

Being single himself, Paul affirmed that being celibate has certain advantages. However, his solution for combating sexual temptation was NOT abstinence. Instead, Paul’s solution for those who have strong sexual urges and are struggling to control them is to satisfy those sexual desires within a marriage relationship.

Whatever your definition of sexual immorality is, Paul’s solution to addressing the sexual temptation is to get married and to get busy!

What I find interesting is that Paul says that each MAN should have his own wife and each WOMAN should have her own husband.

In just these few verses, Paul establishes that sex within the confines of marriage between a husband and wife is NOT sexual immorality, but is the antidote to sexual immorality. The strong implication is that any sexual activity that is not between a married man and woman IS sexual immorality.

There are some who undoubtedly will disagree with this assertion, stating that Paul only mentions the marriage relationship and doesn’t mention other potentially acceptable sexual relationships because of cultural reasons.

That is exactly the point though. The Bible clearly condemns sexual immorality but in our culture, morality is no longer tethered to any objective standard.

Hence, the list of activities that are considered sexually immoral and therefore prohibited are continually being condensed by the culture. This means that any appeal to the Bible regarding sexual ethics has to be reframed or explained in such a way to allow for those practices that have traditionally been considered sexually immoral.

This passage certainly isn’t the last word on biblical sexual ethics. It may not even be a main passage used for or against one’s preferred sexual views.

But it’s clear that sexual temptation, which was very strong in this culture and was a major issue within the Corinthian church, prompted Paul to make a statement regarding how to deal with that temptation. The ONE thing he affirms as being appropriate and NOT sexually immoral, is for husbands and wives to be engaged and active sexually.

This is the traditional, biblical view of sexual ethics – that only sex within the context of a marriage union between one man and one woman is ordained by God, and it is clearly affirmed by Paul in this passage.

Did you enjoy this post? I’d love to hear your thoughts! Feel free to like, leave a comment below, and share it with your friends or on social media if you found it helpful or interesting. Your support keeps the conversation going!

Reflection

How would you define sexual immorality? What do you think is included in that category?

How did you arrive at your answer to the previous question? What role does the Bible play in determining your morality?

Do you think that there are some sexual sins that the Bible prohibited but that are no morally ok? If so, what is the reasoning for your position?

In what ways do you see the culture influencing people’s views on sex and morality in general?

Photo by Dima Solomin on Unsplash

June 18, 2021January 26, 2026

Compromise Isn’t Always Good

Revelation 2

¹²“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Pergamum. This is the message from the one who has a sharp two-edged sword:

¹³“I know that you live in the city where that great throne of Satan is located, and yet you have remained loyal to me. And you refused to deny me even when Antipas, my faithful witness, was martyred among you by Satan’s followers. ¹⁴And yet I have a few complaints against you. You tolerate some among you who are like Balaam, who showed Balak how to trip up the people of Israel. He taught them to worship idols by eating food offered to idols and by committing sexual sin. ¹⁵In the same way, you have some Nicolaitans among you—people who follow the same teaching and commit the same sins. ¹⁶Repent, or I will come to you suddenly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

¹⁷“Anyone who is willing to hear should listen to the Spirit and understand what the Spirit is saying to the churches. Everyone who is victorious will eat of the manna that has been hidden away in heaven. And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it. (Revelation 2:12-17, NLT)

The Daily DAVEotional

Though the book of Revelation is filled with figurative language describing apocalyptic events that will occur in the future, the first couple of chapters describe real events that were happening at the time the author penned his words.

In chapters 2 and 3, John is instructed to write down messages that were to be delivered to 7 different churches. These were real churches and the messages were a combination of praise for the things they were doing well and rebuke for those things they were failing to do as true followers of Jesus.

In this passage of Revelation, John is writing to the church at Pergamum. The people in that church had done some things that were worthy of praise, most notably, they had remained loyal to Jesus despite cultural pressures that existed in their city.

But there were some things that were not pleasing to the Lord. The text calls them complaints. The biggest issue in this church was that they were compromising on their moral values, particularly in the area of sexual purity.

The Lord references two obscure biblical characters to lodge His complaint. He mentions Balaam as well as a group referred to as the “Nicolaitans”.

Balaam was a prophet whose story is found in Numbers 22-25. Balak, the king of Aram had seen the vast people of Israel encamped near him and he sought the help of Balaam in bringing a curse upon the Israelites. The short story is that even though the king of Aram offered up an incredible amount of riches in exchange for Balaam’s curse, Balaam ends up blessing the Israelites instead.

A quick reading of the story might lead one to conclude that Balaam was a good guy who followed the Lord’s leading. However, we find out in subsequent chapters that even though Balaam did obey the Lord by not cursing the Israelites but blessing them instead, he also conspired against the Israelites by suggesting to Balak a way to do an end around God’s blessing of his people.

It was Balaam who suggested to king Balak that Israel would easily defile themselves if their men were encouraged to pursue foreign women as wives. Balaam knew that these men, in their physical lust, would forsake the Lord and worship the gods of these foreigners. Though Israelite men were forbidden to sleep with foreign women or take them as wives. Balaam urged Balak to take this course anyway, knowing that it would be the first step to leading the whole nation away from the Lord.

The other group also referenced in this passage is the Nicolaitans. This group was not praised and there are at least two passages that reference this group and warns about them.

So who are the Nicolaitans and what was wrong with their doctrine?

Most of what we know about the Nicolaitans is from early church fathers who wrote that the Nicolaitans were followers of Nicolas, who taught a doctrine of compromise.

One view is that because it was mentioned in Acts 6:5 that Nicolas was a proselyte from Antioch then he must’ve had a background in the occult and pagan religions. It’s speculated that he taught that one did not need to relinquish all ties to former religions when coming to Christ. He, and his followers, had one foot in Christianity and another foot in the world.

In other words, pagan practices were not discouraged or spoken against and therefore, there was a compromise of character and conduct that didn’t match Jesus’ teachings and the expectations of the early church.

One thing we know for sure, the church at Pergamum was rebuked because of their compromise in the sexual area. The Lord cites the example of Balaam, who showed Balak how to trip up the Israelites by enticing them to fall into sexual sin, as well as the example of the Nicolaitans, who according to this passage, committed the same sexual sins.

Many commentators believe that the 7 churches in these chapters, though real churches, are also representative of all churches throughout the ages. In other words, every church will generally resemble one of these churches in terms of the issues it struggles with.

We live in a culture that is very progressive in its views of sexuality and sex. Almost nothing is off limits any more. And some of these sexual views have crept into the church so that many Christians are no longer holding fast to traditional biblical views on sex and sexual immorality. In short, we are seeing quite a bit of compromise.

I recently wrote about “The Recipe for Salad Bar Religion”, in which I looked at a passage from 2 Kings 17 that showed that the people who had been transplanted in Jerusalem were taught how to worship the Lord but they never forsook their old worship practices. Hence, their understanding of God was simply added to the pantheon of religious views and practices they already held.

In a way, this is the problem for the church at Pergamum and for us today. We have some doctrinal views about God and Jesus and particularly salvation that we hold to but when it comes to our daily practices, we often adopt the practices of the world. We therefore end up with a faith in which we appear loyal to God intellectually and doctrinally but in our daily practices our lives often are more reflective of the culture around us.

The message Jesus has for us today is the same message He had 2000 years ago to the church at Pergamum. The Lord may well tell us the same thing He vocalized to His people then – that He is glad we are remaining loyal in the midst of a wicked culture but He is upset with how easily we compromise our moral standards, particularly when it comes to the area of sexual fidelity.

Reflection

What are some moral areas in which you see Christians compromising today?

What are some of the ways you see the culture influencing Christians to compromise regarding their views and understanding of sexual immorality?

How would you summarize the biblical view of sex and sexual immorality to a new believer? What scriptural references would you use to support your views?

What steps can you take to ensure that you are not rebuked by Jesus for compromising your moral values?

Photo by Joshimer Biñas from Pexels

May 27, 2021May 27, 2021

Wise Advice Concerning Sex!

Proverbs 5

¹My son, pay attention to my wisdom; listen carefully to my wise counsel. ²Then you will learn to be discreet and will store up knowledge.

³The lips of an immoral woman are as sweet as honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil. ⁴But the result is as bitter as poison, sharp as a double-edged sword. ⁵Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave. ⁶For she does not care about the path to life. She staggers down a crooked trail and doesn’t even realize where it leads.

⁷So now, my sons, listen to me. Never stray from what I am about to say: ⁸Run from her! Don’t go near the door of her house! ⁹If you do, you will lose your honor and hand over to merciless people everything you have achieved in life. ¹⁰Strangers will obtain your wealth, and someone else will enjoy the fruit of your labor. ¹¹Afterward you will groan in anguish when disease consumes your body, ¹²and you will say, “How I hated discipline! If only I had not demanded my own way! ¹³Oh, why didn’t I listen to my teachers? Why didn’t I pay attention to those who gave me instruction? ¹⁴I have come to the brink of utter ruin, and now I must face public disgrace.”

¹⁵Drink water from your own well—share your love only with your wife. ¹⁶Why spill the water of your springs in public, having sex with just anyone? ¹⁷You should reserve it for yourselves. Don’t share it with strangers.

¹⁸Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you. Rejoice in the wife of your youth. ¹⁹She is a loving doe, a graceful deer. Let her breasts satisfy you always. May you always be captivated by her love. ²⁰Why be captivated, my son, with an immoral woman, or embrace the breasts of an adulterous woman?

²¹For the LORD sees clearly what a man does, examining every path he takes. ²²An evil man is held captive by his own sins; they are ropes that catch and hold him. ²³He will die for lack of self-control; he will be lost because of his incredible folly. (Proverbs 5:1-23, NLT)

The Daily DAVEotional

Reading through the Proverbs is often like reading the fortune from a fortune cookie – they are typically short statements packed with wise advice.

But in Proverbs 5, Solomon doesn’t just give us a few pithy statements related to his views on sex; instead, he devotes a whole chapter to warning his son about the dangers of sexual immorality.

Solomon starts out by acknowledging how enticing sexual sin is. In verse 3, he says that sexual sin always looks enticing and appealing IN THE MOMENT. But countless people realize the error of their decision immediately after satisfying their sexual desires.

In verses 7 and 8, Solomon again urges his son to “listen carefully”. This must be really important! Sexual sin is so enticing that Solomon’s advice is to RUN. In other words, don’t hang around! Lingering is almost always disastrous as the will is slowly broken down as we give our minds an opportunity to rationalize our projected sin.

The results of not heeding this advice are widespread and far-reaching. Relationships are ruined and financial positions are compromised. I realize that this is not a popular belief in our current culture, but the reality is that nothing good comes from sleeping around.

Fifty years ago, our culture experienced a sexual revolution in which traditional views and values of sex were challenged and cast aside in favor of a more “free” expression of sex. This radical new perspective gave people the freedom to enjoy sex outside of the traditional marriage relationship without experiencing the stigma that was normally associated with casual sex outside of marriage.

Now, more than fifty years after this counter-culture revolution dramatically changed the moral landscape of America, are we better off? Did the sexual revolution deliver on its promise of a better society by casting off the chains that were depriving people of unleashing their sexual repression and fulfilling their every sexual desire?

It’s not the intent of this post to give a detailed analysis of the results of the sexual revolution but I would say that even casual observations about the state of our culture now reveal that the answer to the question above is “NO!”

What have been the results of being released from our so-called sexual prison?

To start with, abortion became legal as a means of limiting the responsibility of unwanted pregnancies. Over 62 million babies have been aborted since it was legalized. It’s also no surprise that the spread of sexually transmitted diseases rose and has remained high.

Predictably, the number of babies born out of wedlock has dramatically increased, leading to a higher percentage of single-parent families. Single-parent families often face greater challenges financially, which in turn often results in kids having less developmental resources and educational opportunities.

Divorce rates went up and have stayed up, contributing to the breakdown of the nuclear family. The breakdown of the family unit, research has shown, is a major factor that has contributed to many of our society’s greatest ills – including crime, drugs, mental health issues, abuse, homelessness, and pornography, just to name a few.

Solomon urges his listeners to maintain sexual purity by “drinking water from your own well”, which is another way of saying that we should keep our sexual relationships within the context of marriage.

There is no doubt that sex is enjoyable, but Solomon asks the reader why they would have sex with just anyone, which, in his view doesn’t make us free, but actually cheapens the experience. His advice is to cherish sex and enjoy it in the context of your marriage partner, which is exactly how God intended it.

Reflection

In what ways have you or your extended family been negatively impacted by the changing moral values of the sexual revolution?

Chances are that you or someone you know has been impacted by divorce. What are some of the negative effects of divorce on kids and families?

Who are some of your role models in terms of long-standing marital relationships? What do you think are some of the benefits of staying married and being faithful to one spouse?

In what ways can you relate to Solomon’s advice to RUN when confronted with an opportunity to engage in sexual sin?

Photo by Sandy Millar on Unsplash