Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a man can commit is outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.
Parallel translations
- WEB Flee sexual immorality! “Every sin that a man does is outside the body,” but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.
- KJV Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
- NKJV Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.
- NASB Flee sexual immorality. Every other sin that a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.
- NLT Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Flee sexual immorality, for it is a sin against one's own body. It matters because this sin uniquely defiles the very body united to Christ.
Overview
Paul commands not to resist but to 'flee' immorality, as Joseph did. He explains that unlike other sins, sexual sin is committed against one's own body in a peculiar way, violating the one-flesh design and the body's belonging to the Lord. The urgency of flight reflects how deeply this sin assaults the believer's God-given identity.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- 1 Pet 2:11Beloved, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from the desires of the flesh, which war against your soul.
- 1 Th 4:3For it is God’s will that you should be holy: You must abstain from sexual immorality;
- Col 3:5Put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.
- Rom 6:12–13Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires.
- 2 Tim 2:22Flee from youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, together with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
- Heb 13:4Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.
- Eph 5:3But among you, as is proper among the saints, there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed.
- 1 Cor 6:9Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual acts,
- 1 Th 4:5not in lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God;
- Prov 6:24–32to keep you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.
- 2 Cor 12:21I am afraid that when I come again, my God will humble me before you, and I will be grieved over many who have sinned earlier and have not repented of their acts of impurity, sexual immorality, and debauchery.
- Prov 5:3–15Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey and her speech is smoother than oil,
- Gen 39:12–18She grabbed Joseph by his cloak and said, “Sleep with me!” But leaving his cloak in her hand, he escaped and ran outside.
- Rom 1:24Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity for the dishonoring of their bodies with one another.
- Prov 9:16–18“Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” she says to him who lacks judgment.
- Prov 7:5–27that they may keep you from the adulteress, from the stranger with seductive words.
- Prov 2:16–19It will rescue you from the forbidden woman, from the stranger with seductive words
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Christ crucified is the wisdom and power of God; he is our Passover sacrificed for us, the firstfruits of resurrection, the foundation on which everything is built.
How 1 Corinthians 6:18 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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