There are at least three reasons why sexual sin is offensive to God.

First, all sin is offensive to our holy and pure God. He cannot condone or excuse any sin, sexual or otherwise. For this reason we find many other sins listed alongside sexual sins in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God."

Second, if Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior, our bodies belong to Him. They are His holy temple designed to bring Him glory and to manifest His image in our interactions with others. When we sin sexually, we defile our bodies from their holy calling. "Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of a harlot? God forbid. What? know ye not that he which is joined to a harlot is one body? for two, he saith, shall be one flesh. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit... Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." (1 Corinthians 6:15-16, 19-20) Sexual sin is a sacriligious offense to God which may be comparable to Belshazzar's desecration of the gold and silver vessels from the Lord's temple recorded in Daniel 5.

Third, sexual sin is a counterfeit intimacy that cripples us from expressing the genuine love of Jesus Christ. Paul recognizes this in 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8. In the first three chapters of this letter, Paul gives many examples of the genuine love that he and Silas demonstrated to the new Thessalonian believers, including: "we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children" (2:7), "being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us" (2:8), "we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father doth his children" (2:11), "we joy for your sakes before our God; night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith" (3:9-10), and "ye are our glory and joy" (2:20). Paul prays that God would empower the Thessalonians to imitate the genuine love that has been demonstrated to them: "And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you." (3:11) And to imitate genuine love, Paul begins with this command: "Ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication." (4:2-3) For sexual sin defrauds one's brother of the genuine love of Christ, brings uncleanness and the vengeance of God, and demonstrates that a person despises Him. (4:6-8)

Whether we fully realize it or not, all of us who have engaged in sexual sin are actively opposed to the Almighty God who created all of the universe. Our sin is offensive to Him, and from it we deserve death through His wrath. Thanks be to God that His Son, Jesus Christ, died in our place, and in receiving Him by faith, our death penalty is removed and we have a perfect standing before God in Christ.

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