Page updated 28 September 2018
Page Suggestions: Bible Facts
What does the BIBLE say about Sex before marriage (fornication)
scriptures
Psalm 145:17-21,
Ezekiel 16:15-63,
1 Corinthians 5:1,
1 Corinthians 6:18-20,
1 Corinthians 7:1-2,
1 Thessalonians 5:22-23,
Titus 2:12-13,
Revelation 21:8
| pages to read | videos |
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| What does the BIBLE say about Cohabitation |
Sex and the Bible
[ Part 1,
Part 2,
Part 3,
Part 4] |
What is 'true love'
True Love Isn't ... Sex
Josh McDowell | 21 September 2010 | www.josh.org
True love is not the same as sex. Many students (and many adults as well) confuse the intensity of sexual desire with true love. Perhaps you have wondered the same thing about your sexual desires for someone.
Sex as God intended it is not wrong. It was designed by God for procreation and fulfillment within the bounds of marriage. But sex and love are distinct. You can have sex without love and love without sex. Love is a process; sex is an act. Love is learned; sex is instinctive. Love requires constant attention; sex takes no effort. Love takes time to develop and mature; sex needs no time to develop. Love requires emotional and spiritual interaction; sex requires only physical interaction. Love deepens a relationship; sex without love dulls a relationship.
If love is more than lust, romance, infatuation or sex, you may wonder how you know whether you're in love. That’s the big question, especially when you find yourself attracted to members of the opposite sex and increasingly involved in dating. To answer that question, you need to know more than what true love isn’t. You need to understand what true love is. Just as many people confuse love with lust, romance, infatuation, and sex, many are also in the dark about the different kinds of love people express.
Flee Fornication
Writer: Betty Miller | bibleresources.org/fornication (bibleresources.org/sex-before-marriage-3)
"Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. 1 Corinthians 6:18-20
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
The dictionary meaning of the word "fornication" means any unlawful sexual intercourse including adultery. In the Bible the Greek definition of the word "fornication" means to commit illicit sexual intercourse.
What constitutes unlawful sex? Whose laws do we live by?
Worldly standards or laws many times do not always line up with the Word of God.
The founding fathers of the United States established many laws that were originally based on Christian standards and the laws of the Bible. However, through time the United States has drifted far from these standards and at the present our moral standards are shocking the world. However, immorality is not only found in the U.S. but is a world-wide epidemic. Societies throughout history and around the globe have embraced sexual standards that are called sins in the Bible.
Fornication is not just tolerated in our society but is actually being encouraged. The sin of fornication is being committed even among Christians, as many couples "live together" and have sex before marriage. The Bible tells us to flee this sin. We have counseled Christians of the opposite sex who share an apartment and they told us they were not having sex so this surely wasn't wrong. The Bible declares these words in 1 Thessalonians 5:22-23:
"Abstain from all appearance of evil. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Our lives as Christians are a living witness to others and we cannot break the laws of God without hindering others from coming to Christ. We must live our lives in purity before a sinful and wicked world. We should not be living according to their standards but according to God's standard in the Bible. No couple should live together outside the bonds of marriage.
Many say they live together before marriage to see if they are compatible as they don't want to divorce. This may sound like a justifiable reason for committing the sin of fornication, but in God's eyes it is still sin. Statistics however, show that those who live together before marriage are more likely to get a divorce than those who do not. Living together shows a total lack of trust in God and a failure to commit to Him the choosing of a mate. Christians who are living in this situation are out of the will of God and need to repent and seek God as to whether this person is the right one for them. If it is God's will for them to be together they should marry. Otherwise, they need to change their living arrangements.
As Christians, the goal of any relationship should be to cause the people in our lives to love and know the Lord better. Living together is shameful and selfish as the parties do not care what others think or how they might affect their families and others. They are living to please their own lust and selfish desires. This type of life style is destructive and especially so for children whose parents are living a bad example before them. No wonder our children are confused about right and wrong when parents degrade the sanctity of marriage by living together out of wedlock. How can living together cause children to love and honor God when their parents break the laws of God before them because they are lustful?