1 Thessalonians 4:3 – Abstaining from Prostitution

3 For this is the will of God: your holiness. You are to be abstaining from all prostitution;

What does Paul mean by “prostitution”? The Greek word porneia is often described as “sexual immorality,” but that explains nothing. Nor is the term limited to paid sex, as the word “prostitution” might suggest. In 1 Corinthians 5:1, Paul also calls the sexual relationship between a man and his father’s wife prostitution. What, then, is the biblical standard?

In 1 Corinthians 6:16, Paul refers to Genesis 2:24, where God establishes the sexual union between a man and his wife: “the two will be one flesh.” This is not about just any woman, but about the man’s own wife. That is why, in 1 Corinthians 7:2, Paul contrasts prostitutions with having one’s own husband or wife. The conclusion is clear: prostitution is sexual intercourse with someone other than one’s own spouse.

God wills our holiness, and therefore also that we abstain from prostitution. For marriage is holy to Him, meaning: set apart. From the very beginning of humanity, God has reserved sexual intercourse (“one flesh”) exclusively for a man and his wife (Gen. 2:24). They are bound to each other for life, until death separates them (Rom. 7:2). Abstaining from prostitution, then, means recognizing the sacred nature of the marriage bond that God Himself established!

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