The second sin on Paul's list is fornication. There are many definitions of this sin, but as always, we need to stick to what the Bible says.
As most people are aware, the Old Testament was written first in Hebrew, then translated into Greek by the rabbis while the New Testament was written in Greek first. I bring this up because understanding the original words will bring extra clarification to what makes up this particular sin.
Fornication is the term used to encompass many sins. It would be similar to what we would call a homonym such as the word "mine". Mine is spelled and pronounced the same way, but can mean a possession, a weapon, an activity, or a place. That is how fornication works.
In 2 Chronicles 21:11, we see that King Jehoram "caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication, and compelled Judah thereto." The Hebrew term used there is "zanah". Zanah has multiple meanings such as seduction, oral sex, and incest among others primarily during idol worship. Most pagan cultures at this time were led by priestesses what would hold orgies as part of their celebrations and worship cessions to their gods. These acts would start out with seductive dances (similar to modern-day routines performed by strippers), then would proceed to the priestesses would take men and boys and perform oral and manual stimulation and have them ejaculate onto the ground. After this part of the ritual took place, depending on the culture and god they were worshipping, there would be an orgy or some sort of bestiality act while sacrifices were offered. Many times these priestesses would perform these acts on family members such as a grandmother with her grandchild.
In Ezekiel 16:29, the term fornication is used once again. In this verse, the Hebrew word is "taznuth" which means harlotry or prostitution.
If a person goes through Leviticus 18:6-23 in the Hebrew, the root word for zanah is used repeatedly when talking about incest, sex with a woman on her period, beastiality, and homosexuality. Additionally, Deuteronomy chapter 22 adds sex outside of marriage to the definition of fornication.
The Greek term used in both the Old Testament translation and the original New Testament is the word "porneia" from which we get the term "pornography". This term was used in Genesis chapter 38 when Judah had sex with Tamar assuming her to be a harlot (verses 25 and 24).
This same term is used in the New Testament to add "lust" to the definition of fornication. In Matthew 5:28, Jesus said "but I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart" and a few verses later in verse 32, He said "but I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery." The terms lust and fornication are the same word porneia in the Greek!
According to the Bible, fornication consists of:
Sex outside of marriage
Pornography
Beastiality
Homosexuality
Incest
Oral sex outside of marriage
Prostitution and stripping
Sex during a woman's period
God hates this sin! He hates what it does to our body, our mind, and our emotional state.
"Just as a heroin addict chases a substance-induced high, sex addicts are bingeing on chemicals — in this case, their own hormones." Alexandra Katehakis, Founder and Clinical Director of the Center for Healthy Sex
Next work of the flesh: uncleanness