Articles or rules for doctrine or practice in matters of religion to be imposed upon men, should be as few as may be; there is very great danger in the unnecessary multiplying them. This in all ages has caused division and exceeding disturbances in the churches of Christ.
Jeremiah Burroughs

Sex Before Marriage

Sex Before Marriage

SEX BEFORE MARRIAGE?

Today, it is very difficult for a person to find out just what is the right thing to do about sex before marriage. The standards of society are constantly changing. What was right for our parents just doesn’t seem to fit in with today’s modern thinking. Even some churches are advocating situational ethics and it appears to be the thing to do.

It is very possible to find out just where we should stand on this matter. God has set down the rules we are to go by in His Word to us, the Bible. His Word is to all generations (Hebrews 13:8) and we must all give an account to God of what we have done at the day of Judgement (Romans 2:16).

Many people know that in marriage adultery is wrong, but don’t realize that God considers pre-marital sex (fornication) just as serious. God definitely says “no” to any sex before marriage. In the Bible, the apostle Paul wrote by inspiration of God in his letter to the Corinthians, “Now the body is not for fornication.” (I Cor. 6:13). Fornication is defined in the dictionary as “human sexual intercourse other than between a man and his wife: sexual intercourse between unmarried people.” The Lord goes further in how He feels about unmarried people and sex relations. “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God ” (I Cor. 6:9 & 10). God feels very strongly about sex before marriage and has listed it with the most serious offenses.

Many a person has ruined their whole life by not “cooling it” until it is the right time and place. Practically every person knows someone who has had their life and the dreams of their parents shattered because of a few moments which really weren’t as wonderful as they had hoped. No “new morality” can change the life of a girl who had to give up her baby not knowing whether it will ever be adopted or not, or the girl who can’t live with herself after a sexual experience and ends up in a mental institution, or the you man who has to pay for the support of his illegitimate child, or the woman who tries to find happiness in marriage only to have those premarital experiences with someone else keep haunting her, or the young person who is slowly dying an agonizing death because venereal disease has gotten past the point where it can be cured, or the girl who thought her boy friend loved her finds he was only using her body and doesn’t want anything to do with her now that she is pregnant, or the many young women who die each year due to illegal abortions.

Many say these things can’t happen to them but they do and while they are willing to take a chance, few want to pay the consequences.

It is not God’s will that any of these things should happen to you. He has a perfect plan for your life here on earth and in the life eternal. He wants you to have the best. He wants you to experience the joy of the wedding, the experiences of becoming one with your mate (Genesis 2:4 & 5) that time when a man and woman first fully and freely express themselves totally as God meant it to be. He wants you to experience the joy of having children that you want and He wants you to be happily married for the rest of your life.

You may already have been involved with fornication and realizing the seriousness of the matter would somehow like to just erase the whole blot on your life and get a fresh start. This is possible; God’s plan of redemption will do just that. The apostle Paul realizing that some were already guilty of such sins writes, “And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God ” (I Cor. 6:11). Paul is telling us that if we repent of our sins and believe with all our heart that Jesus Christ died for our sins and we ask forgiveness and receive Him as our Lord and Savior we can have complete forgiveness and the promise of eternal life.

Yes, God does have a wonderful plan for each of us and we must take the time to read the Bible and discover that wonderful life Jesus Christ has for us not only for here and now but for the life we will have for ever and forever. You will never regret following God’s plan for your life.

James L. Meyers

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