Premarital Sex

"Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and the sexually immoral." (Hebrews 13:4 NIV).

Christians are to be morally and sexually pure. "Pure" or "chaste" comes from the Greek word "hagnos" which means to be free from that which is tainted or lewd. It suggests refraining from all acts or thoughts which incite desires that confict with one's virginity or marital vows. It stresses restraint or avoidance from all sexual actions that would defile or cheapen oneself before God. We should each possess our vessel in sanctification and honor, and not in lust (1 Thessalonians 4:4-5). Sexual intimacy is to be reserved for marriage. Jesus said, "For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh." (Matthew 19:4-6; Genesis 2:24). This union of two becoming one is physical as well as spiritual. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, "Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband." (1 Corinthians 7:1-2).

To try and justify premarital intimacy in the name of Christ on the grounds of love or commitment compromises the holy standards which God has ordained. The modern teaching that intimacy among unmarried couples is okay as long as it stops short of sexual union is contrary to God's standard of purity and holiness. It is explicitly prohibited to uncover another person's nakedness who is not your wife or husband (Leviticus 18:6-30). Fornication, from the Greek word "porneia", is defined as unlawful or illicit sexual intercourse or relations and includes adultery. Paul told the church at Ephesus, "But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints." (Ephesians 5:3). "It is God's will that you should be sanctifed," Paul wrote, "that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable." (1 Thessalonians 4:4-5 NIV). Finally, to the Corinthians, Paul wrote, "The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.... Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, 'The two shall become one flesh.' But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit. Flee from sexual immorality," Paul continued, "all other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, who you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. Therefore honor God with your body." (1 Corinthians 6:13-20 NIV).

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