The Beast1 raises a good point: even if fornication is not explicitly a sin in the same manner that adultery or prostitution are, that doesn't imply that fornication should be endorsed or passed off as harmless. Sex is the ultimate indulgence of the flesh, and the Bible repeatedly warns of the dangers of indulging the flesh and how doing so corrupts the spirit, since the spirit and the flesh are opposed to each other (Gal. 5:17).
Paul also explicitly writes that just because a thing is lawful, doesn't mean that it is necessarily good for us to do:
So I think the best that we can say is that even if fornication is not explicitly a sin, at the same time it is not something that should be indulged in with reckless abandon, and to the extent that it is done at all it should be as a temporary measure with an eye toward marriage. What should certainly be avoided is becoming a slave to the desire to fornicate, which is very easy to do given how powerful the sexual urge is and how quickly and easily it can overcome the flesh. So even if fornication is not a sin, men do well to keep their sexual desire in check as much as possible, since indulging the flesh always damages the spirit and pulls us farther away from God.
Paul also explicitly writes that just because a thing is lawful, doesn't mean that it is necessarily good for us to do:
Quote:1st Corinthians 6:12 (NASB) Wrote:
All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything.
So I think the best that we can say is that even if fornication is not explicitly a sin, at the same time it is not something that should be indulged in with reckless abandon, and to the extent that it is done at all it should be as a temporary measure with an eye toward marriage. What should certainly be avoided is becoming a slave to the desire to fornicate, which is very easy to do given how powerful the sexual urge is and how quickly and easily it can overcome the flesh. So even if fornication is not a sin, men do well to keep their sexual desire in check as much as possible, since indulging the flesh always damages the spirit and pulls us farther away from God.
[size=8pt]"For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”[/size] [size=7pt] - Romans 8:18[/size]