The Deadliest Sin

"Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body."--1 Corinthians 6:18

From of all places, the Jewish Journal.com: "Eighty percent of young, unmarried Christians have had sex. Two-thirds have been sexually active in the last year. Even though, according to a recent Gallup poll, 76 percent of evangelicals believe sex outside of marriage is wrong."
www.jewishjournal.com/blog/item/why_more_evangelical_christians_are_having_premarital_sex_20110927

Brad Greenberg is the man who wrote that article for the Jewish Journal, and he cited Relevant magazine as the source for his research material. When I went to Relevant's website to search for that article, I couldn't find it, so we'll have to take Mr. Greenberg at his word.

In fairness to Greenberg, his article wasn't a hatchet job meant to smear evangelicals--it merely pointed out the immoral path that an increasing number of Christians are choosing these days.

The Relevant article that Greenberg referred to may have been based upon a poll conducted by the National Association of Evangelicals which cited similar statistics concerning rampant sexual immorality among evangelicals: "According to the National Association of Evangelicals, 80 percent of unmarried evangelical Christians between ages 18-29 admit to having had premarital sex, a shocking figure when measured against the number of pledges made in youth ministries and wristbands worn endorsing abstinence around the country throughout the late ’80s and early ’90s."
http://www.urbanfaith.com/2012/07/why-unmarried-christians-are-having-sex.html/

What's wrong with sex before marriage if it occurs between two consenting adults? What's wrong with it? The Bible condemns premarital sex in no uncertain terms.

In fact, the apostle Paul issued this caveat to Christians who engage in fornication, adultery and homosexuality: "Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God." (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)

Paul's warning is clear and it's based upon God's universal law recorded by Moses and written on the hearts of all human beings: That Christians who are sexually immoral will not be permitted into heaven. Then where will they go after they die? There's only one other place they can go and I think you know what place I'm referring to.

The growing immorality among today's evangelicals underscores how compromised the modern church has become with the world. And it also underscores the declining influence of the Bible in the lives of those who profess to be Christians.

One such professing Christian, a young woman named Chanel Graham said it all: "You see, promiscuity and abstinence can be two sides of the same coin. Both can hint at an insufficient understanding of God’s intention for sex, his blessing of it in the context of marriage, and his creation of his people as sexual beings. So preaching only abstinence is not the answer." 
urbanfaith.com

Tell that to Paul who wrote this in a letter to the early church in Ephesus: "But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people...For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person--such a man is an idolater--has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God." (Ephesians 5:3-5)

It certainly isn't easy for Christians to remain sexually pure in the corrupt world that we live in. But sexual purity isn't optional for Christians--it's mandatory.

And if that's too difficult for them, then perhaps they need to start focusing more on living their lives for Jesus Christ and less on living for the world.