Pornography is a multibillion-dollar industry, the largest online. Some statistics suggest that nearly seventy percent of all men ages 18–24 view porn at least once a week, which is not to mention the struggle among Gen Xers, and increasingly among women. This is not a light matter. Porn is an outrageous sin against God and his image-bearers, including your own body. But we are not without guidance. Through God’s word, specifically 1 Corinthians 5–7, Paul shows us how to deal with porn and other sexual sins.

The church of Corinth was tainted by diverse sexual perversions. A man went to bed with his father’s wife, an act that is severely condemned in the Old Testament (Leviticus 18:8; Deuteronomy 22:30; 27:20). Shockingly, the church of Corinth boasted about such practices. They also failed to excommunicate the one who was doing this heinous act. Paul, alarmed by such bragging, says, “Ought you not rather to mourn?” (1 Corinthians 5:2).

“Good theology triumphs over biology.”

Paul addresses this problem by giving the church theological truths that, if embraced, will dethrone all forms of sexual immorality from our hearts. Seven times in 1 Corinthians 5–7 Paul uses the phrase “Do you not know” (1 Corinthians 5:6; 6:2–3, 9, 15–16, 19). Paul clearly assumes that we should already have the knowledge he is about to give us. He also believes that this knowledge will shape and govern our sexuality because of the power these truths contain. Good theology triumphs over biology.

The Needed Ammunition

Paul’s twofold imperative for the church is to flee sexual immorality and glorify God with your body (1 Corinthians 6:18–20). Paul gives us seven theological ammunitions that empower us to obey these commands and kill porn.

1. As God’s church, we know that tolerance of sexual immorality in our midst ferments the church (1 Corinthians 5:6–8);
2. As a believer in Christ, you know that you were washed, sanctified, and justified (1 Corinthians 6:11) in the name of Jesus Christ and by the Holy Spirit of God (because the entire Godhead — the Father, Spirit, and Son — was involved in your salvation);
3. You know that your body is for the Lord, not for porn or masturbation or adultery (1 Corinthians 6:12–14);
4. You know that you are a member of Christ’s body (1 Corinthians 6:15);
5. You know that you are married to Christ (1 Corinthians 6:16–17);
6. You know that the sexually immoral, the unrepentant porn-stars and porn-watchers, will not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9–10);
7. You know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19–20). Therefore, flee sexual immorality and glorify God in your body.

This is your ammunition — truths accomplished by God, knowledge given you by his grace.

Ammunition in Action

Paul has given you the ammunition to use in fighting and defeating sin. Now, follow the commands that this knowledge frees you to obey.

First, make it your habit to flee sexual immorality. Do not only avoid it; run from it. In the Old Testament, people “flee” from deadly foes (cf. Genesis 14:10), deadly serpents (Exodus 4:3), kinsman avengers (Numbers 35:6), and other formidable dangers. Sexual immorality, however, poses a greater danger than any of those foes. Sexual immorality is the enemy of your soul; it wants to damn you forever.

Not only that, but sexual immorality strikes the core of our being. “Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body” (1 Corinthians 6:18). Porn presents a threat to your new status and nature in Christ because, instead of remaining united to Christ as his body, you become united to a prostitute. The story of Joseph in Genesis naturally comes to mind. Joseph, contrary to his elder brother Judah (Genesis 38), is a quintessential example of how to flee. Four times in Genesis 39, Moses reports that Joseph, who also had the Spirit (Genesis 41:38), “fled” from adultery (Genesis 39:12–13, 15, 18) because he considered sexual immorality a “great wickedness and sin against God” (Genesis 39:9). In fleeing, he was driven by a conviction and passion to obey and glorify God.

“Make it your habit to flee sexual immorality. Do not only avoid it, run from it.”

Second, glorify God with your body. In the Old Testament, the temple existed to bring glory to God and sanctify his name (1 Kings 8:10–11). Now that believers in Christ have replaced the temple, they are to glorify God and sanctify his name with their bodies. Because you were bought with the precious blood of Christ, like a slave, you belong to Christ, and you are commanded to glorify the one who paid the high price for you.

In Hosea 3, Hosea tells Gomer, who was once loved by another man, not to prostitute because of his relationship to her as her husband. Because Hosea bought Gomer with a price, he requires that she be chaste. “You shall not play the whore, or belong to another man; so will I also be to you” (Hosea 3:3). Because God has paid a ransom price for believers with the precious blood of his Son, we are bound to him. We are not whores. Glorify God with your body.