fornication is actually any sexual act, masturbation, making out with a girlfriend, etc. Sex before marriage is also fornication, but is more directly called adultery.
I will adress the rest of your post later but for now I wish to study fornication in the Bible, which can mean sex, or even homosexuality, but in general it means "sexual sin, or sexual impurities.
1 corinthians 6:13, Romans 1:29, 1 Corinthians 5:1, mention it as "sexual impurity."
and in these verses it's listed in addition to adultery as if it is something separate from adultery:
Matthew 15:19, Mark 7:21,
here is a great commentary on it:
fornication in KJV is sometimes translated "sexual impurity" In the New King James, and that is the greek word Porneia:
"
The term
sexually immoral is the ancient Greek word
porneia; it broadly refers to all types of sexual activity outside of marriage (including homosexuality).
i. Originally,
porneia just referred to going to prostitutes; but before New Testament times, the Jewish community used the word to refer to any kind of extramarital sex, including homosexuality. This is its sense in the New Testament.
ii. Commentators on the word
porneia: "the Scripture by this word comprehends all species of unlawful mixtures." (Poole) "must be understood in its utmost latitude of meaning, as implying all kinds of impurity." (Clarke)
iii.
Porneia so often appears first in New Testament "sin lists" but not because the first Christians had a lot of "hang ups" about sex. Instead, it is because the area of sex was one of the most dramatic places where the ethics of Greek culture clashed with the ethics of Jesus. Sexual immorality was an accepted fact of life for the common person in Greek culture, but it was not to be so among the followers of Jesus."
David Guzik online commentary:
Study Guide for 1 Corinthians 5 by David Guzik
here is my favorite greek dictionary on porneia:
Strong number 4202 πορνεία porneía,
gen. porneías, fem. noun from porneúō (
4203),
to commit fornication or any sexual sin. Fornication, lewdness, or any sexual sin.
(I) Any sexual sin; coupled with moicheía (
3430), adultery (
Mark 7:21),
and other sins (Rom. 1:29). Used generally to refer to any sexual sin (1 Cor. 6:13, 18; 7:2; 2 Cor. 12:21; Gal. 5:19; Eph. 5:3; Col. 3:5; 1 Thess. 4:3; Rev. 9:21). In
John 8:41, “We be not born of fornication” means, “We are not spurious children, born of a concubine, but are the true descendants of Abraham” (a.t. [Sept.:
Gen. 38:24;
Hos. 1:2]). Specifically of adultery (
Matt. 5:32;
19:9); of incest (
1 Cor. 5:1). Porneía may also refer to marriages within the degrees prohibited by the Law of Moses and generally to all such intercourse as prohibited in that Law (
cf.
Lev. 18;
20:10ff.).
(II) Symbolically it stands for idolatry, the forsaking of the true God in order to worship idols. Since God is said to be married to His Church through Christ, then any idolatry is unfaithfulness toward God equal to sexual unfaithfulness to one’s marriage partner (
Rev. 2:21;
14:8;
17:2,
4;
18:3;
19:2;
Sept.:
Jer. 3:9;
Ezek. 16:15,
22;
23:27;
Hos. 2:2;
4:12).
(III) Fornication as a sexual vice was common before the time of Moses and was grossly prevalent in Egypt (
Gen. 39:7). Prostitution was not tolerated by the Sinaitical code, being an abomination in the sight of God (
Lev. 19:29;
Deut. 23:17,
18). Its price could not be accepted in the sanctuary (
Mic. 1:7), and death by stoning was the penalty for an unmarried woman who had concealed her crime (
Deut. 22:20,
21). The term “strange woman” in
Prov. 2:16 probably referred to a harlot procured from foreigners. See also
Prov. 2:16–19;
5:3–6;
7:5–27. God’s displeasure was thus incited (
Jer. 5:7;
Amos 2:7;
7:17). Such excesses were very common among the heathen in the times of the Apostles (
1 Cor. 5:1,
9,
10;
6:9). Israel is symbolically presented as a harlot (
Is. 1:21;
Jer. 2:20;
Ezek. 16;
Hos. 1:2;
3:1)."
above quote from:
Zodhiates Greek New Testament Dictionary
