FORNICATION
Thursday – February 2, 2017
Praise the Lord for another day to worship (submit to) our God and Savior. Greetings from Eastern Gate Ministries International and The Three Minute Word publication. As you guessed the picture today is not Texas but Maine a couple of years ago but looks much the same today. This is a boggy area in the foreground with a small mountain in the distance not far from one of our relatives in Mount Vernon, Maine. Looks rather cold don’t you think. Back to our Bible Study.
Ephesians 5:1-5 (KJV)
1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;
2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;
4 Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.
5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
Wow, the Apostle Paul is really giving the folks at Ephesus the what for. Now, let’s remember who this book is written to, it is the saints and the faithful in Christ Jesus. So this is not written to a bunch of heathens but to born again persons some of which have been considered to be faithful in Christ Jesus. So, apparently all of these things that we think are relegated only to the world are going on in the Church and apparently on a pretty regular basis. Lest we look down our noses let us consider ourselves. I will focus first on the third verse in the KJV and the AMP.
Ephesians 5:3 (KJV)
3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;
Ephesians 5:3 (AMP)
3 But immorality (sexual vice) and all impurity [of lustful, rich, wasteful living] or greediness must not even be named among you, as is fitting and proper among saints (God’s consecrated people).
We generally think of fornication as referring to sex with someone to whom we are not married (male and female). This can and frequently is just that but it has a wide range of application including in the spiritual realm The Greek word used here when transliterated to English is ‘porneia’ according to Strong’s Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary. I don’t think we have to be a language wizard to see that our word ‘pornography’ comes from this word. Remember what Jesus had to say about lust of a woman, spiritual, not physical yet.
Matthew 5:28 (KJV)
28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
Lust is not a quickly dismissed or fleeting thought, it means to set the heart or thoughts upon. Be reminded that to persist in a certain line of thought is a choice. Part of our supernatural inheritance, one of the fruit of our spirit which is a duplicate of His Spirit is temperance or self-control.
Galatians 5:22-23 (KJV)
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
This temperance has to do with having a sound mind and the following verse has to do with our making our mind sound, or disciplining our mind. That is to think on what we choose which must be the Word of God for success in the Kingdom of God.
2 Timothy 1:7 (KJV)
7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
Anxiety, depression and so on are not a spirit we received of God and in the end are a failure on our part to discipline our mind and function as the mind of Christ. As I wind up todays teaching I don’t want us to lose sight of the fact that fornication is frequently not physical sexual contact but a spiritual focus, i.e. the choosing of another god.
2 Chronicles 21:10-11 (KJV)
10 So the Edomites revolted from under the hand of Judah unto this day. The same time also did Libnah revolt from under his hand; because he had forsaken the LORD God of his fathers.
11 Moreover he made high places in the mountains of Judah, and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication, and compelled Judah thereto.
The high places referred to here are actual places of worship to other gods and they are on a hill so that they are higher than the Temple of God. High places are also ideas that are placed above the Word of God. When we do that we are in adultery concerning God and fornicating with another god.
Jeremiah 3:8 (KJV)
8 And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.
Fornication, adultery physical and especially spiritual brings separation from God. The wages of sin are death (Romans 6:23).
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
