Sexual Abstinence
Concerning sexual activity, the British ethnologist and social anthropologist of Oxford and Cambridge Universities, J.D. Unwin, showed in his book, Sex and Culture, that when sexual restrictions in a society are at their highest level, the society inevitably progresses, but when restrictions are lessened, the society inevitably stops progressing. Unwin concluded that the more lenient a society is in its sexual freedoms, the more energy is used by that society in gratifying its fleshy desires. And the more strict a society is (abstinence) the more that extra energy is used in expanding a society and progressing.
His study was conducted on 86 different societies from over 5,000 years of history. He examined each culture (before the discovery of telephones, television, Internet, etc.) based on how strict its societal rules and expectations were in relation to sexual activity.
Prompted by the principle of the sexual revolution of the sixties, American culture has opened the door for increased practice in pornography, adultery, divorce and remarriage, homosexuality, and pedophilia. And the Last decades have proven, without doubt, that unrestrained sex freedoms have only resulted in moral degeneracy and the breakdown of the family and society. “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34).
In Matthew 19, Jesus directed the attention of His audience to the creation account saying, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female, and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate” (Matthew 19:4-6).
Scriptural marriage is intended by God to be comprised of one eligible man marrying one eligible woman, and the two becoming one flesh for life. According to the Bible, sexual activity is good and to be encouraged but only in the setting of marriage (1 Corinthians 7:3-5; Hebrews 13:4; Proverbs 5; Song of Solomon).
Once people follow God’s guidelines they prosper and flourish: “If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth” (Deuteronomy 28:1). The prosperity of God’s children lies in their own hands as to the choices they make. We can choose to obey God’s directions or not and the Lord rewards each man in harmony with his behavior and choices (Matthew 6:33).
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In His service,
BibleAsk Team
