Word origin for the word fornication is porneioa.
The Greek for fornication is porneioa.
Definition of porneioa/fornication includes:
Illicit (forbidden) sex, homosexuality, lesbianism, intercourse with animals etc.
When preparing to write my book, A Law from Eden, I wrote a letter to an author in England and asked him if he knew the definition of the word fornication at the time the King James Bible was translated in England in 1611. He wrote back and said, “You don’t want to know. It was a horrible word and is seldom used in England anymore.” However, when Noah Webster gave America our first dictionary in 1828 he did not use the Greek definition nor did he give us the horrible one the English used. Webster gave us “American word usage” and he changed the meaning of the word fornication. Without the correct definition it is impossible to understand the Bible; for this word is used in all the fundamental theological issues in scripture. And holiness is just one of the basics the word fornication focuses on.
The body is not for fornication.
One extremely important fact must be understood. The body is not made for fornication. This truth is simply stated in 1 Corinthians 6:13, “The body is not for fornication, but for the Lord and the Lord for the body.” When we use the Greek definition for fornication which is illicit sex, the sex of homosexuals and lesbians, oral and anal sex, we can understand what the body is not made for. The fact that God did not make the body for fornication emphasizes the fact that a man and his wife are not to use their bodies for unnatural sex. Fornication, this forbidden sex, can be committed between a male and a female (married or unmarried to one another) a male and a male, a female and a female.
Jude 1:7 makes clear that the sex of Sodom and Gomorrah is called fornication. “Sodom and Gomorrah giving themselves over to fornication and going after strange flesh are set forth for an example suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.” The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities were not populated solely by homosexuals but by all those given to fornication including heterosexual married and unmarried couples.
To blaspheme.
Because the sin of oral sex is forbidden by God, committing it is rebellion against God. “Flee fornication, every sin a man doeth is without the body, but he that committed fornication sinneth against his own body. What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which you have of God, 1 Corinthians 6:18, 19.” Fornication is the sin against one’s own body and your body is the home of the Holy Spirit. Flee from it, take off, and run from the sin of abnormal sex. You are holy before this sin is committed and unholy after it is committed. So “If sinners entice thee consent thou not, Proverbs 1:19.” If you consent the Holy Spirit will leave and you will become profane, unholy. Either a person has God and no fornication or they commit fornication and do not have God, for God will leave. When a person departs from the truth they have departed from God. Believing that God made the human body for fornication is a lie. The fornicator has fallen for a lie and this lie comes from Satan.
Holiness.
Fornication makes a person profane. So, abstaining from this unlawful sex will make a person holy again as stated in 1 Thessalonians 4:3, “For this is the will of God, even your sanctification; that ye should abstain from fornication.” A sanctified holy person abstains from sexual perverseness. God instructs us to be holy for he is holy. A holy God, a holy Jesus, and a holy person do not believe in committing fornication even once. Then it only stands to reason that there is no unnatural sex in holy matrimony between a male and a female. And it also stands to reason that those who engage in same-sex relationships, those who are joined together in a civil union or in a gay marriage do not have a holy union. They are not holy people and God is not found in those unions.
Esau is one of the many unholy characters in scripture. Fornication is the sin that made him profane/unholy as reported in Hebrews 12:16, “Lest there be any fornicator or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.” Because Esau practiced the forbidden sex of Sodom and Gomorrah, Esau became profane which means unholy. When God tells us, “I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,” He is also saying that He is not the god of Esau. Esau departed from the ways of God when he committed fornication. He is not only unholy, separated from God, but he is also fallen – no longer upright. Because these two brothers are mentioned over and over again in the Bible fornication is part of their story even when the word is not used. Jacob was not a fornicator, but Esau was. These two brothers are said to be two nations and represent the population of the earth. All people are either like Jacob or they have been deceived and are like Esau. Not until the end of this age will the kingdom of Esau be overturned and God will set up the kingdom of God. At this time those given to sin will return to God.
The fall.
The fall of mankind began with this one sin of fornication as we learn in 1 Corinthians 10:8, “Neither let us commit fornication, as some…and fell in one day 23,000.” A man and his wife (Adam and Eve) began the fall. Human beings fall one at a time. We are born alive, upright, just, and holy until this act of sin (oral sex) is committed. The first-time original sin is committed spiritual death occurs. Physically dead people do not stand upright and spiritually dead people do not stand upright. They fall. From the first act of original sin a person has fallen and is bent to repeat the act again. He will become a slave to sin, captured by the devil, and sin will have dominion over him. Adam and Eve were the first to be deceived, die a spiritual death, fall, and become unholy. Many have followed this same path. It is the broad way that leads to destruction – not good for mankind. All pain, suffering, sorrow, and wrongs are a result of going against this Eden law of God. God gave us the proper way to live, and if we had obeyed we would still have an Eden on earth without pain and sorrow. The curses, the woes, the suffering are natural consequences of going against what is good.
The Gentiles.
The reality of how important it is to understand the correct definition of the word fornication can be seen when we understand the sin of the Gentiles. Their sin is explained in 1 Thessalonians 4:5, “Not in the lust of concupiscence even as the Gentiles which know not God.” Concupiscence and fornication have the same meaning, abnormal sexual desires. The Gentiles are given to evil sex. It is because of this forbidden unholy sex that they do not know God. God has left. The only other god or power they have available to serve is Satan and that is stated in 1 Corinthians 10:20, “But, I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to devils, and not to God.” Idolatry is worshiping, serving, reverencing, holding in high regard, and showing respect to. Abnormal sex is showing respect and loyalty to Satan. (Concupiscence means: a strong, abnormal desire or appetite, especially sexual desire.)
Many believe that Jesus says nothing about homosexuality. Yet, when one understands the sin of the Gentiles and realizes that Jesus is sent to the Gentiles (those given to evil sex) to bring them out of lustful sexual perverseness and back to God, then we must accept the truth that much of what Jesus says is in reference to forbidden sex. However, Jesus does not single out the homosexual for illicit/unlawful/unholy sexual behavior, for fornication is forbidden for every human being, not just same-sex partners. In Isaiah 42:1, we are informed of the main mission of Jesus, “My servant, whom I uphold; mine elect…he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.” He will judge all those given to the sex called fornication/concupiscence. Judgment is for the purpose of correction, not punishment. “For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth, Acts 13:47.” Salvation is not punishment; it is correction with love.
Not only does Jesus come to put an end to fornication, but He will also give those instructions to his disciples. In Romans 15:16 Paul is speaking, “That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost (truth).” A person is sanctified holy when they abstain from fornication. When sanctified holy they will be acceptable to God. Jesus, his disciples, and his movement comes to make holy again the unholy.
Paul will also say this, “As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols…and from fornication, Acts 21:25.” Keep yourself from committing fornication, the sex of Sodom and Gomorrah and then you will be sanctified holy and acceptable to God.
And Peter will do this, “Peter rose up, and said unto them…that the Gentiles [those given to evil concupiscence/fornication] by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe, Acts 15:7.” The Gospel of Jesus Christ is all about the end of fornication. The Good News will end the original sin that began in Eden with a man and his wife and all the wicked imaginations of the mind that occurred after that first sin – anal sex, group sex, sex with animals, etc. A list of evils, the social ills of mankind, that come out of the minds of the sexually perverse are listed in Romans 1:28-31.
As you can see, the purpose of Christianity is to put an end to the forbidden sex that God has outlawed since Eden. Christians do not commit deviant sex; they are obedient to the ways of God. This truth is stated in Ephesians 5:3, “But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints.” There is no fornication in Christianity.
However, today we have a Christianity that looks like Sodom and Gomorrah with one denomination after another accepting those who are given to fornication. The members given to the sin of unnatural sex have tried to make themselves righteous but have failed. This multi-denominational Christianity is in need of being made holy. It is in need of being sanctified. Jesus loves this unholy church as stated in Ephesians 5:25, 26, “Husbands love your wives, even as Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he (Jesus) might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word.”
How do you sanctify a church? The formula is clearly laid out, “For this is the will of God, even your sanctification that ye should abstain from fornication, 1 Thessalonians 4:3.” End fornication and the church will be holy. The word of God, truth, will wash and make clean this unclean Christianity. Not only will Jesus make holy an unholy church he will instruct husbands to love their wives just as he loved the church. In other words, sanctify marriage. Remove oral and anal sex from marriage. Saints do not commit fornication. The human body is not made for fornication. There is no fornication in a holy heterosexual marriage. There is no such thing as a holy gay marriage or a holy civil union.
The day will come when the Gentiles (those given to fornication) will come to God. They will understand holiness and see that God requires holiness from his children, “For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness, 1 Thessalonians, 4:7.” They will come from the ends of the earth, bringing their children and will say we have been listening to lies but now we hear truth. “O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, “Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit, Jeremiah 16:19.”
Holiness is not the only truth the correct definition of fornication will make clear. The word is used 26 times in scripture. However, if you were to consider how many times the Gentiles are mentioned that will give you some idea of how many times this sin is spoken of. Then consider that the word Gentile is interchangeable with heathen and the sin of the Gentiles, fornication, is interchangeable with whoring and idolatry to see how this sin permeates the Scriptures. Below are a few passages that take on a new meaning when the correct definition for fornication is used.
Grounds for divorce.
Matthew 5:32, “Whosoever shall put away his wife saving for the cause of fornication.” When using the Greek in this verse it reads like this, “Whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication [porneioa], causeth her to commit adultery [moichao]: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery [moichao].” Two different Greek words explain what Jesus means when he tells us, “It was Moses who said adultery is grounds for divorce, but I tell you that fornication (unnatural sex) is the only grounds for divorce.” Jesus will change the grounds for divorce from adultery to sexual perverseness, fornication. When a person who does not believe in oral sex is married to a person who does believe in unnatural sex, the one who does not is unequally yoked together with a nonbeliever.
Idolatry
Colossians 3:5, “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” Fornication is the sex of Sodom and Gomorrah, oral and anal. Inordinate means perverse affection or contrary to what is normal. Evil concupiscence means wicked abnormal sexual desires. These words all refer to the sin that Satan introduced to mankind. To believe in and to follow the ways of Satan is idolatry. All those who bow to their lustful desires are serving a god that is not God. The many passages pertaining to idolatry are in reference to illicit sex.
Fornication corrupts the earth.
“For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, Revelations 19:2.” Perverseness was responsible for the corruption on earth in the days of Noah and sexual perverseness is corrupting the earth today. The fornicators are the people who will be judged by Jesus and this truth is stated in many different passages, such as, Jesus will judge the Gentiles, those given to fornication. He will judge Sodom and Gomorrah, those given to fornication. He will judge the mount of Esau the fornicator. He will judge Babylon, full of fornication. Please keep in mind judgment is for the purpose of correction, not punishment. “Hearken unto me…and give ear unto me, O my nation: for a law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the people, Isaiah 51:4.” The law is light. The law, oral sex is forbidden for all mankind, is light and will bring those in darkness back to God.
Who should listen to this law?
“Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom: give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah, Isaiah 1:10.” The sin of these two cities has grown to cover the earth. For some reason for these many years, since the creation of man, those given to unnatural sex have not believed there is a law directed to them. But in the last days, a law from God will go out to all those given to fornication, the sex of Sodom and Gomorrah. The sex you practice is forbidden by God for all humans.
Wine and drunkenness.
Revelations 17:2, “With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.” The wine man makes (fermented fruits and grains) affects the reasoning of the mind and so does fornication. A drunken person does not have his good senses about him. The wine of fornication (evil concupiscence) also affects the mind. It causes wrong thinking, backward thinking, and base thinking. The inhabitants of the earth are drunk. America is staggering.
Christians are instructed to be sober. To be spiritually sober minded one must abstain from fornication. To be of sound mind, a person cannot be a fornicator. When looking at our society today the evidence of wrong thinking is everywhere. Again, the list of what comes out of the minds of those given to unnatural sex can be read in the first chapter of Romans. The list is long and covers all the social ills of our culture today.
The end of “the World.”
Babylon is not a city to be found on the map of the world. Satan is the inventor of Babylon. Overall the word Babylon means “confusion” and is responsible for the confusion into which the whole social order of the world has fallen under Gentile world-domination as a result of the unnatural sex almost all fell for. In the last days this one sin will have overwhelmed the human race until it has grown to cover the earth.
Babylon is sometimes referred to as “the world” in the margin references of my Bible. And throughout Scripture “the world” is referring to Babylon. The end of “the world” is the end of fornication on earth. The end of fornication, which began in Eden, will end Satan’s rule on earth. The best thing that can happen to mankind is for Babylon to fall, for the end of evil concupiscence, the end of fornication will bring a better life for everyone. “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, Revelations 14:8.” All the earth is drunk with the wine of fornication. As Babylon begins to fall, as people come out of “the world,” out of darkness into the light, this will necessitate a change of mind.
The gospel of Jesus Christ requires that the sinner renews his mind. “And be ye not conformed to “this world” but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, Romans 12:2.” To come out of “the world” is to come out of the world of the sexually perverse and return to the ways of God. God made male and female and vaginal intercourse. To depart from what God made is to depart from the truth and when you depart from this truth you are departing from God. “Love not the world…if any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father, but of the world, 1 John 2:15, 16.”
The purpose of Christianity is to put an end to “the world.” The end of “the world” will bring heaven to earth.
Written by Marilyn Taplin
Author of: A Law from Eden, Solving the
Mystery of Original Sin