Morning Meditations: 1 Corinthians 1:2 - What is Sacitification?

Continuing on in verse 2.

1 Corinthians 1:2 Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:

What is sanctification?

1 Thessalonians 4:3 For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:

Sanctification is the will of God. Sanctification is separation, or as the Bible puts it abstaining. Today we will examine fornication.

2 Chronicles 21:11-13 Moreover he made high places in the mountains of Judah and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication, and compelled Judah thereto. 12 And there came a writing to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of David thy father, Because thou hast not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat thy father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah, 13 But hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to go a whoring, like to the whoredoms of the house of Ahab, and also hast slain thy brethren of thy father's house, which were better than thyself:

The first type of fornication is spiritual fornication. Also known as whoring:

Judges 2:17 And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the LORD; but they did not so.

Throughout the histories of Israel and the church, there have been periods of tremendous revival followed by terrible apostasy. During the apostasy people would go off and serve other Gods.

Matthew 5:32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.

The second type of fornication is physical fornication. Which the Bible defines as sex outside marriage.

Mark 10:9 What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

It is a sin to have sex outside marriage. The Bible doesn't say sex specifically because in those days, it wasn't a sliding scale. Today we like to think of petting as not as bad a penetration, but the Bible makes no such distinctions.

Heavenly Father, keep us from fornication. Make us mindful of situations around us so that we can avoid them. In Jesus name we pray, amen.