The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery;
idolatry and sorcery; hatred, discord, jealousy, and rage; rivalries, divisions, factions,
and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
He continued: “What comes out of a man, that is what defiles him.
For from within the hearts of men come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,
greed, wickedness, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, arrogance, and foolishness.
All these evils come from within, and these are what defile a man.”
But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, brings adultery upon her. And he who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide an escape, so that you can stand up under it.
But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death.”
For it is God’s will that you should be holy: You must abstain from sexual immorality;
each of you must know how to control his own body in holiness and honor,
not in lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God;
My son, keep my words and treasure my commandments within you.
Keep my commandments and live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.
Tie them to your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.
Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” and call understanding your kinsman,
that they may keep you from the adulteress, from the stranger with seductive words.
. . .
“Food for the stomach and the stomach for food,” but God will destroy them both. The body is not intended for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’
But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
My son, pay attention to my wisdom; incline your ear to my insight,
that you may maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge.
Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey and her speech is smoother than oil,
in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a double-edged sword.
Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to Sheol.
. . .
I 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.
For certain men have crept in among you unnoticed—ungodly ones who were designated long ago for condemnation. They turn the grace of our God into a license for immorality, and they deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
Do 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,
You must abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell.
In like manner, Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, who indulged in sexual immorality and pursued strange flesh, are on display as an example of those who sustain the punishment of eternal fire.
But now I am writing you not to associate with anyone who claims to be a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a verbal abuser, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.
Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
But he must ask in faith, without doubting, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
I wrote you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people.
I was not including the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world.
But now I am writing you not to associate with anyone who claims to be a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a verbal abuser, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.
I wrote you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people.
I was not including the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world.
But now I am writing you not to associate with anyone who claims to be a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a verbal abuser, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.
What business of mine is it to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?
God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.”
Therefore, since you have been raised with Christ, strive for the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
Put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.
. . .
May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth:
A loving doe, a graceful fawn—may her breasts satisfy you always; may you be captivated by her love forever.
Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.
When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone.
But each one is tempted when by his own evil desires he is lured away and enticed.
Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
Husbands, in the same way, treat your wives with consideration as a delicate vessel, and with honor as fellow heirs of the gracious gift of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.
Let no one deceive you in any way, for it will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness—the son of destruction—is revealed.
He will oppose and exalt himself above every so-called god or object of worship. So he will seat himself in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.
Do you not remember that I told you these things while I was still with you?
And you know what is now restraining him, so that he may be revealed at the proper time.
For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but the one who now restrains it will continue until he is taken out of the way.
My son, pay attention to my wisdom; incline your ear to my insight,
that you may maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge.
Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey and her speech is smoother than oil,
in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a double-edged sword.
Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to Sheol.
. . .
Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple, and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?
If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.
Do 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,
nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.
Instead, we should write and tell them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals, and from blood.
But 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.
Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk, or crude joking, which are out of character, but rather thanksgiving.
For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure, or greedy person (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
“Food for the stomach and the stomach for food,” but God will destroy them both. The body is not intended for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
By His power God raised the Lord from the dead, and He will raise us also.
Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never!
Or don’t you know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.”
But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with Him in spirit.
. . .
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.
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;
you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.
Do 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,
nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.
And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband.
The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife.
For it is God’s will that you should be holy: You must abstain from sexual immorality;
each of you must know how to control his own body in holiness and honor,
not in lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God;
and no one should ever violate or exploit his brother in this regard, because the Lord will avenge all such acts, as we have already told you and solemnly warned you.
For God has not called us to impurity, but to holiness.
. . .
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership can righteousness have with wickedness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?
As soon as night had fallen, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went into the Jewish synagogue.
Now the Bereans were more noble-minded than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if these teachings were true.
Be imitators of God, therefore, as beloved children,
and walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant sacrificial offering to God.
But 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.
Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk, or crude joking, which are out of character, but rather thanksgiving.
For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure, or greedy person (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
. . .
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be encumbered once more by a yoke of slavery.
Take notice: I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.
Again I testify to every man who gets himself circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.
You who are trying to be justified by the law have been severed from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.
But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the hope of righteousness.
. . .
See to it that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if the people did not escape when they refused Him who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject Him who warns us from heaven?
You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God.
You must not lie carnally with any animal, thus defiling yourself with it; a woman must not stand before an animal to mate with it; that is a perversion.
Then Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury,
and He saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins.
“Truly I tell you,” He said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others.
For they all contributed out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.”
As some of the disciples were remarking how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and consecrated gifts, Jesus said,
. . .
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think on these things.
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, and set apart for the gospel of God—
the gospel He promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures,
regarding His Son, who was a descendant of David according to the flesh,
and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.
Through Him and on behalf of His name, we received grace and apostleship to call all those among the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.
. . .
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world.
The world is passing away, along with its desires; but whoever does the will of God remains forever.
By this we can be sure that we have come to know Him: if we keep His commandments.
If anyone says, “I know Him,” but does not keep His commandments, he is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
Finally, brothers, we ask and encourage you in the Lord Jesus to live in a way that is pleasing to God, just as you have received from us. This is how you already live, so you should do so all the more.
For you know the instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.
For it is God’s will that you should be holy: You must abstain from sexual immorality;
each of you must know how to control his own body in holiness and honor,
not in lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God;
. . .
If we deliberately go on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins remains,
but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume all adversaries.
Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
How much more severely do you think one deserves to be punished who has trampled on the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and insulted the Spirit of grace?
For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge His people.”
. . .
This is the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants what must soon come to pass. He made it known by sending His angel to His servant John,
But I have a few things against you, because some of you hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to place a stumbling block before the Israelites so they would eat food sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality.
But I have a few things against you, because some of you hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to place a stumbling block before the Israelites so they would eat food sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality.
In the same way, some of you also hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.
But I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads My servants to be sexually immoral and to eat food sacrificed to idols.