Sex and Marriage According to the Bible
The Lord created sex as an expression of love, intimacy, sharing, unity and procreation. Jesus said, “At the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate” (Matthew 19:4-6). The Lord also said, “Be fruitful, and multiply” (Genesis 1:22). So, Sex is God’s gift of love and procreation to a married couple.
The apostle Paul teaches that “Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge” (Hebrews 13:4). The marriage institution was ordained by a wise Creator to be a great joy to human beings, and when the plan of the Creator is done in the family life, great blessing are reaped. Only when marriage is corrupted to serve unholy purposes does marriage lose the quality of being “honorable.”
Sex Outside of Marriage
The Bible gives many references that teach that sex outside marriage is a sin (Acts 15:20; 1 Corinthians 5:1;6:13, 18;10:8; 2 Corinthians 12:21; Galatians 5:19; Ephesians 5:3; Colossians 3:5;1 Thessalonians 4:3; Jude 7). God expects the believer to keep away from this sin and not to place himself in the path of temptation (1 Corinthians 6:18). For “it is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality” (1 Thessalonians 4:3).
Sin outside of marriage is breaking of the seventh commandment, which says, “Thou shalt not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14). This prohibition for sex covers not only adultery but fornication and impurity of every act, word, and thought (Matthew 5:27, 28). This is, our third duty toward our “neighbor.” We are to respect and honor the bond upon which the family is built, that of the marriage relationship, which to the believer should be as as precious as life itself.
In fact, in first Corinthians 6:9-10, the Lord declares that those that commit this sin will not have a part in His kingdom. “Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men . . . will inherit the kingdom of God.”
In our modern day, when standards of sexual behavior are lowered, when purity is so generally regarded as being outdated and divorces are so common, God’s instructions deserves the careful attention of every professed Christian. The Lord kept sex within marriage for the happiness and well-being of the members of the family. Abstinence before marriage saves lives, protects babies and gives a sexual relation the proper beauty, honor and respect it deserves.
In His service,
BibleAsk Team
