Sexual Immorality

Sexual immorality is discussed a lot in the Bible and is considered a sin.  Here are a few of the major passages that talk about it that are broken down so that one could understand what it consists of in the context of Scripture.

Sexual Immorality - Paul

Paul states, "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" (1 Corinthians 6:9 ESV).  The word immoral (πόρνος) refers to one who is a fornicator.  According to Baker Encyclopedia, a fornicator "refers to every kind of illegal sexual intercourse, that is, any intercourse except that between a husband and wife" (Gerig, W., L., 1988).  The word adulterer (μοιχός) refers to someone who is unfaithful to a spouse, and homosexuality (μαλακός) refers to being passive in a same-sex relationship (Arndt, et, al., 2000). 

Paul in Romans states,  "For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error" (Romans 1:26-27).  Paul is talking about natural (φυσικός), meaning basic order of things in nature and human behavior, and relations (χρῆσις), meaning the state of intimate involvement especially of sexual intercourse (Arndt, et, al., 2000).  In other words, they switched up natural sexual intercourse with unnatural ones.  

He also mentions the sexually immoral in Ephesians, saying, "But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving" (Ephesians 5:3-4).  Here sexually immoral (πορνεία) has to do with unlawful sexual intercourse, fornication, prostitution, and unchastity (Arndt, et, al., 2000).  He also states there should be no sexually explicit jokes or foolish talk with regards to this matter. 

Sodom and Gomorrah

Moses writes in Genesis, "But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house.  And they called to Lot, 'Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them'" (Genesis 19:4-5).

In this instance, young and old men who were in Sodom surrounded Lot's house and wanted to know where the other men were located.  The Hebrew term for know (ידע) in this case means to know sexually and have intercourse in a paederastic manner - where a man would have sex with a boy (Koehler, L., et al., 2000). 

Lot begged not to do this, saying, "I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly" (Genesis 19:7).  However, they brought Lot in with the other men and beat the other men but not Lot.  In Genesis, it states, "And they struck with blindness the men who were at the entrance of the house, both small and great, so that they wore themselves out groping for the door" (Genesis 19:11).

In the story, God rescues Lot and his family from the wicked treatment of the men who came to him.  Moses writes, "As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, 'Up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city.'  But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the LORD being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city And as they brought them out, one said, 'Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away'" (Genesis 19:15-17).

Leviticus and Homosexuality

In Leviticus, Moses writes, "You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination" (Leviticus 18:22).  The term for male (זָכָר) is referring to homosexual activity.  He uses the same term for male a little later, stating, "If a man lies with a male (זָכָר) as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them" (Leviticus 20:13) (Koehler, L., et al., 2000).

Transgenderism

"So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them" (Genesis 1:27).  The term image (צֶלֶם) refers to likeness, so God made males (זָכָר - men) and females (נְקֵבָה - women) in His likeness (Koehler, L., et al., 2000).   

"A woman shall not wear a man’s garment, nor shall a man put on a woman’s cloak, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD your God" (Deuteronomy 22:5).  The term man (גֶּ֫בֶר) refers in this case to a young man (Koehler, L., et al., 2000).  Grudem writes, "Within Israelite culture, then, there were certain styles of dress, ornaments, or items that distinguished men and women. As such, two things appear to be at stake in this law: (1)   everyone needed to let their gender expression align with their biological sex, and (2)   everyone needed to guard against gender confusion, wherein others could wrongly perceive a man to be a woman and a woman to be a man based on dress" (Grudem, W., 2018).

Jesus and Committing Adultery

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus talks about committing adultery in one's heart.  He states, "“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’  But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart (Matthew 5:27-28). In this case, Jesus is referring to the 10 Commandments (Exodus 20:14) and is referring to this being of both sexes (μοιχεύω).  The term adultery (נאף) from the Exodus passage is as if you went and had a relationship with the wife of another man or vice versa (Koehler, L., et al., 2000).  Then Jesus takes it even further saying that if you have lustful intent (strong desire for her - ἐπιθυμέω) then you have committed adultery in your heart (whole inner life wishes and desires - καρδία) (Arndt, et, al., 2000).  

Jesus then states, "But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery" (Matthew 5:32).  In other words, Jesus says that when one has a divorce (ἀπολύω - a dissolving of a marriage) then that causes adultery to be committed, except on the grounds of sexual immorality (πορνεία - participation in prohibited degrees of marriage) (Arndt, et, al., 2000).  Baker Encyclopedia says, "Conservative scholars disagree whether Jesus’ exceptive phrase relative to divorce has to do with fornication in a general or limited sense. He might have meant adultery alone, or he might have been including it generally with other sexual sins" (Gerig, W., L., 1988).  

References

Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., Bauer, W., & Gingrich, F. W. (2000). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature (3rd ed., p. 854). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Gerig, W. L. (1988). Fornication. In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (Vol. 1, p. 815). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.

Grudem, W., (2018). Christian Ethics (Kindle Locations 22432-22435). Crossway. Kindle Edition.

Holy Bible: ESV (2001). Good News Publishers. Wheaton, Illinois.

with variants) occurs for the first

Koehler, L., Baumgartner, W., Richardson, M. E. J., & Stamm, J. J. (1994–2000). The Hebrew and Aramaic lexicon of the Old Testament (electronic ed.). Leiden: E.J. Brill.