"Flee Fornication"

Tony Ripley
The physical relationship between men and women is not an evil within itself. In fact it is a divine order (Hebrews 13:4). However, it does come with conditions and can be used for evil when those divine conditions are subverted or ignored. The Bible teaches us that this relationship is one that is allowed exclusively in the marriage relationship and no other. To experiment outside of the marriage yoke (whether married or unmarried), is sinful and will cost one their precious soul in judgment. In 1Corinthians 6:18, The beloved apostle commanded that Christians are to “flee fornication”. The word “flee” carries with it a very serious tense. It is likened to running away from something dreadful or terrible. We understand the consequences of such things as fires that are out of control, tornadoes and their destructive fury, floods, disease, famine, rabid animals, poisonous snakes, and the dreaded Recluse spider. We do not think twice about running vigorously away from such dangers and this is the tense to Paul’s warning. Fornication is a very serious danger and will perpetuate consequences that transcend any of the afore mentioned. The bite and sting of God’s justice will far outweigh any attack of a vicious animal or act of natural law. It might be good to note that James stated that if a Christian would resist the devil, he would also flee. This is the same tense and shows the terror that righteous living has in the perspective of Satan.

It is very possible that many good people do not think such a sin could effect them, especially if they have reached adulthood and consider themselves to be quite pious and faithful in the kingdom. However, such thinking is naive at best and foolish. In this day and time, the wedding ring means nothing to those who are out seeking prey and there are many who are walking about doing the devil’s bidding. Many attractive people think nothing of flirtatious responses and some will stop at nothing until they have accomplished their agenda. So then, who should flee? Certainly young people should listen to the apostle’s warning. Teenagers are very vulnerable to the devil’s devices in that they are dawning upon new ground. Since many of the school mates are not Christians, the warning to flee fornication may not be impressed upon them in the home as it should be. Therefore, our young Christian teenagers need to be alert to the thinking of people who are not reared in moral elements. Single adult Christians need to be cautious of the temptations that are out there. The fact that one has matured is no reason to let your guard down against such temptations. The married person also needs to be alert to the obstacles that may present themselves. When one does not receive the attention from their spouse that they are supposed to receive, the attention of another may cause a person to fall and ignore his/her vows.

Fornication is a real foe and must be resisted as James declares in James 4:7 and as Peter warns in 1Peter 5:8-9. We learn from Joseph that if we literally run away from the presence of those who seek to entice, we can overcome such temptations. We must be careful not to create opportunities where the temptation can grow and conceive sin (James 1:13-15). David had the opportunity to flee, but allowed himself to create more opportunity for sin to occur. He suffered greatly for his decision. There is an old saying, “You can not stop a bird from landing on your head, but you can keep her from building her nest there”. We should be careful in the way we dress in that we do not send a message to others that we are trying to create opportunity for something sinful to happen. Some people are walking billboards. Finally, it is important to pray always that these temptation do not come our way and if they do we must pray for wisdom, strength and help from our God to flee as he would have us to and resist the devil in his relentless attack on our spiritual lives.