Idolatry always has fostered sexual indecency, particularly since ritual prostitution features so heavily in pagan worship. And I dare say, in popular novels being written today calling for a return to pagan worship, sexual indecency is part of the worship they call for. Idolatry and sexual perversion always go together. Here is Paul in Corinth. Well, what was atop the Acropolis of Corinth? It was the temple of Aphrodite, and she was served by a thousand priestesses. They were actually ritual prostitutes. And so in a culture like that, it is inevitable that the people being converted to Jesus Christ would have grossly erroneous and false and impure views of marriage and about sexuality. For instance, it was simply considered unreasonable in the Greco-Roman culture for a man to restrict his sexual passions to the monogamous bond of marriage. Now that is a view that is becoming more common today. Mistresses were absolutely commonplace in that world—as is also generally true today. Whatever shred of expectation there was for sexual purity was placed on women alone, with no thought of it for men. And in fact, in their world, it was really for wives alone, placed solely on them. As for the men—many of whom, of course, would have owned female slaves—it was simply inconceivable that they should show sexual self-control. And so again, we see why Paul would prioritize sexual purity for Christians recently converted out of a society like that. Many of the men would have had mistresses—there is no doubt about it. Many of the women in the early church would have been practicing harlotry.
And here Paul is saying that your faith in Jesus Christ is not a mere declaration. It is union with the Holy One. It is a spiritual oneness with the Lord Jesus Christ through faith, and therefore it requires a complete and radical break with these licentious and unclean practices. Christians were—and are—called to a holy use of their bodies. Now again, the context in which we live today may not be as thoroughly debased as that of Paul’s—I think it is not—and yet all the trends are quickly moving in that direction. And so it is just as urgent today that followers of Jesus Christ take a stance toward sexuality that is radically, fundamentally opposed to the wickedness around us and that honours the holiness of our relationship with God.1
Richard D. Phillips
3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality;