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Thursday, February 26, 2009

Pre-Marital Sex is condemned of God

"Is it ok to have premarital sex?" That is a common question among teens and engaged couples. Perhaps you are in a relationship that is progressing in that direction, but you're not sure what to do. In your mind, you are probably weighing the pros and cons of premarital sex. The negative side of the scale carries the weights of morals, fear of pregnancy or disease, and guilt. How do these scales balance? What is the right decision? Let's take a look at some of the facts.

Morality is a factor for many people when deciding whether or not to have premarital sex. After all, the messages we receive from most TV shows and movies these days tells us "everyone is doing it." In light of today's permissive attitude, your peers may think you're weird to even question it. Maybe there is something inside you, like a voice in your head, that is making you uncertain about whether or not sex before marriage is a right or a wrong action. Many people refer to this voice as their conscience. How can you know if your "conscience" is right? People all around the world look to the Bible as a moral or religious book, so let's see what it says about premarital sex.

The Bible refers to premarital sex as fornication. That's a word we don't hear much these days, so what does it mean? Fornication is sexual intercourse between people who are not married to each other. The only distinction the Bible makes between premarital sex and adultery is that adultery involves married persons while fornication involves those who are unmarried. Premarital sex is just as much of a sin as adultery and all other forms of sexual immorality. They all involve having sexual relations with someone you are not married to.

The Bible explains, "…The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body" (1 Corinthians 6:13). Verse 18 of this chapter goes on to say, "Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body." Galatians 5:19 speaks the same, "The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity…" Ephesians 5:3 says it most plainly, "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." From these verses, we see that the Bible promotes complete and total abstinence from premarital sex.

Another consideration when deciding about premarital sex is safety. Did you know that 50% of the people who currently have HIV are between the ages of 15 and 24?1 Using a condom only reduces the risk of contracting HIV by 85%. Condoms do not significantly reduce the risk of contracting other sexually transmitted diseases.2 Take these statistics into consideration when making your decision.

Most people don't consider the emotional effects of premarital sex. You see, sex is an emotional experience and it affects our lives in ways we don't understand. After engaging in premarital sex, many people express feelings of guilt, embarrassment, distrust, resentment, lack of respect, tension, and so much more. As you read the next section, consider God's love for you as a primary reason for sexual purity. God does not want you to experience unnecessary emotional pain!

In discussing premarital sex, we often focus on the "recreation" aspect of it. Yes, sex is pleasurable. God, our Creator, designed it that way. It may be hard to think of God creating sex, but He did! In God's plan, sex was designed for married couples to enjoy the pleasure and excitement of sexual relations. The Bible talks about this in Hebrews 13:4, "Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral." God created sex to be fun, exciting, and pleasurable. At the same time, though, it is clear in the Bible that God restricts sexual activity to married couples.

Why is this? Yes, sex is pleasurable, but in God's view, the primary purpose of sex is not recreation, but rather re-creation. In other words, sex is for reproduction. God does not limit sex to married couples to rob pleasure from those who are unmarried. Rather, God commands against premarital sex in order to protect unmarried people from unwanted pregnancies, from children born to parents who do not want them, and to protect children from parents who are not prepared for them. Imagine, for a moment, a world without premarital sex. There would be no sexually-transmitted diseases, there would be no un-wed mothers, there would be no unwanted pregnancies, there would be no abortions, etc. According to the Bible, abstinence is God's only policy when it comes to premarital sex. Abstinence saves lives, protects babies, gives sexual relations the proper value, and most importantly abstinence honors God.

Sometimes you will hear people say that the Bible doesn't say anything about premarital sex. Apparently this statement is made by people who haven't read the Bible or, at least, who haven't read it thoroughly. The Bible speaks in clear language directly to the issue in both the Old and New Testaments. Premarital sex is viewed as a "disgraceful thing" and "evil."

It is clear, however, that virginity is still the standard for unmarried Christians and that sex outside the context of marriage is still considered sin.
Not only a woman is to save her virginity before marriage but also the man is to be a virgin when he takes his wife.

Notice that to avoid sexual immorality outside of marriage people should marry. If you are struggling with wanting to have sex, get married. Premarital sex isn't an option for dealing with lust. It's either marriage or you are in sexual sin.

"Acquire a wife in a way that is holy and honorable" or you are in sexual immorality. Sexual sin harms others besides those who engage in it. In adultery, the spouse is always wronged. Premarital sex "cheats" the future partner by robbing him or her of the virginity that ought to be brought to marriage.
For these reasons, sexual union has a special role for the unity in marriage, expression of love, pure pleasure and enjoyment, and procreation. To reduce it to any of them and ignore the others is to deny God's intent for sex.

As a Christian you tried to fight off temptation every day. Being tempted is not the sin, but giving into the temptation is. Christians were sinners before they came to Christ and Christians are still sinners after they come to Christ. If you have violated God's standards of premarital sex, but are repentant, then accept the FACT that you are washed, made pure, and in a right relationship with your heavenly Father. Seek the miracle of His power filling you to overcome further temptation toward sexual sin.


10 comments:

Prihandoko said...

Now I know better about this...Thank you WhiteShadow

Pancake said...

I wish more understood this!! I am talking to a friend of mine that recently joined a church, and is 50, and has a BF. She think it is ok!! HUMMM NO! SO, I will be sending her over here!

Unknown said...

You have a pretty interesting blog here. I wish a lot of teenager would read your blog and understand better about pre-marital sex.

anney said...

Very educational post here! There are lots of teenagers who engage in pre marital sex without knowing the consequences. If only they will be educated early in their life, I guess there will be less unwanted pregnancies and sexually related diseases.

Unknown said...

Song of Solomon 6:3 (NIV) I am my lover's and my lover is mine; he browses among the lilies.

Only in forming a relationship do we make the choice of giving ourselves to another. We are born into families, they are attached without choice. Our relations of choice place extra value because of the emphases that we attribute to the chosen party. Without the chastity that virginity brings to the marriage, the full honor and place of this special relationship is reduced in rank. We can not give what has already been given away. It is an act of obedience to God as well as solid training for us in righteousness. To follow this instruction gives the highest value to God, ourselves, and mankind overall. When it is not followed the scripture quoted can never be claimed. This was a very good post.

Blessings,
Matt.

Meh said...

Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraph #2396 - Among the sins gravely contrary to chastity are masturbation, fornication, pornography, and homosexual practices.

Paragraph #2517 - The heart is the seat of moral personality: "Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication. . . . " The struggle against carnal covetousness entails purifying the heart and practicing temperance:

Remain simple and innocent, and you will be like little children who do not know the evil that destroys man's life.

Bluedreamer said...

teens nowadays should know all the responsibilities that they will have to undergone after going to that point
How i wish evrybody can read this post

Unknown said...

this was a great blog good information. If people only would listen to those that didn't go down the road of no sex before marriage they would keep a lot of pain from their lives. God gives us these instrutions to help us not punish us.And why do we all ways say "I have to learn it for myself" thats just like saying I need this pain I want this pain, sounds crazy huh.

great post my sister

DoLLY said...

You're every inch correct, White Shadow. Temptation per se is not the sin; giving in to the temptation is.

A cliche goes, "If there's a will, there's a way." To those who uphold the sanctity of marriage, I guess there will always be a way not to engage in premarital sex.

Oh wow, I've missed the learning part of blogging, i.e., learning from the insights of co-bloggers...

Johnny said...

I'm not sure if the Bible 'condemns' the practice of premarital sex. I don't believe that it does because King David and his son Solomon for example, were quite promiscuous with perhaps hundreds of women and even committed adultery. King David slept with another man's wife and even had him killed.

The Bible does say that premarital sex is wrong. It is not right. The Old Testament says that if a man has premarital sex with a woman, to make it right he has to marry her. If he does not marry her then I believe that is when it turns into a 'condemned act'. It is true. Don't believe me. Just look it up.