Gr. porneia (see on Matt. 5:32; Acts 15:20; 1 Cor. 5:1). This sin needed emphatic denunciation among Gentile converts, for they had been reared in an atmosphere where moral laxity was accepted and vice consecrated as a religious rite (see Vol. VI, pp. 91, 92). The patron deity of Corinth, whence Paul was writing, was Aphrodite, the goddess of love and generation, and her worship was accompanied by the wildest orgies. It would be difficult for Christians in any pagan city to remain unaffected by such blatant immorality. But all that is contrary to chastity of heart, in speech and behavior, is contrary to the command of God in the Decalogue, and to that holiness which the gospel requires (cf. Matt. 5:27, 28; Acts 15:29; 1 Cor. 6:18; Gal. 5:19; Eph. 5:3). In our day, when standards of sexual conduct are lowered, when chastity is so commonly regarded as being outmoded and divorces are so frequent, this injunction deserves the scrupulous attention of every professed follower of the Lord.

 Gr. apechomai, “to hold oneself away from,” hence, “to abstain.” God expects the Christian to keep away from sin, not to expose himself to temptation (see on 1 Cor. 6:18).

 Gr. hagiasmos (see on Rom. 6:19). The term hagiasmos is an inclusive one, and is not to be limited to chastity, although the apostle has chastity in the forefront of his mind in the present context. The will of God, however, can be fulfilled only in our complete consecration. Christ died to make our holiness possible (Eph. 5:25-27), but such a result is not obtained in a moment. Justification is accomplished momentarily when the repentant sinner accepts God’s forgiveness, but not so with sanctification, which is a continuous work of grace (see on Rom. 12:1, 2). It is “not the work of a moment, an hour, a day, but of a lifetime” (AA 560).

 God’s will here represents His desires for His children. It is not His will that even one member of His family should perish because of any kind of sin (Matt. 18:14).