When we become Christians, our perspective changes from the will of the flesh to the will of the Father in heaven. The old ways of pleasure cease to be the guiding light of our days. We have a higher calling based on new criteria.<\/p>\n
Men make their decisions based on the standards of their culture. Culture factors nothing into its decisions except popularity and pleasure. It is shallow and filled with frustration and hopelessness.<\/p>\n
God’s will bases its commands on holiness but includes health and happiness. Christians lead a happier, healthier life than their carnal friends.<\/p>\n
The fleshly idea is that cohabitation is necessary for couples to “get to know one another” before marriage. Whatever the motivation, it is contrary to God’s will. Hebrews 13:4 says, “Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge<\/em>.” All sex outside of marriage is sin. Fornication refers to any sexual activity with someone whom you are not married to. Adultery is when a married person has sex with someone outside of their marriage.<\/p>\n Adultery and fornication exclude men from the kingdom of God (I Corinthians 5:9,10; I Corinthians 6:9). They come from an evil heart of unbelief (Matthew 15:19). They corrupt the beautiful gift of sexuality given by God only to married couples.<\/p>\n Linda J. Waite and Maggie Gallagher’s excellent book entitled,\u00a0The Case for Marriage,<\/em>\u00a0focuses on the many reasons why those who are married are better off than those who are cohabitating.[4]<\/cite> Waite and Gallagher have forty pages of endnotes and bibliography. Both are highly esteemed in their field.<\/p>\n Those who are married [as opposed to cohabitating] have better health. Studies show that men and women engage in much less drinking and drugs when they are married.[5]<\/cite>\u00a0“The evidence from four decades of research is surprisingly clear: a good marriage is both men and women’s best bet for living a long and healthy life.”[6]<\/cite><\/p>\n Married couples have better mental health than those who are cohabitating. “Married people were also about half as likely as singles or cohabitators to say they are unhappy with their lives.”[7]<\/cite><\/p>\n Couples who were married were more productive in their work, generated much more wealth, and were better parents with happier children.<\/p>\n One myth about cohabitation versus marriage is that the latter is most often sexless. However, the numbers paint a much different picture. Sexual satisfaction among the married is much higher than those who live together. Cohabitating men were also four times more likely to cheat than married men, and cohabitating women were eight times more likely than married women.[8]<\/cite>\u00a0Married men and women both report greater satisfaction with their sex lives than those who are cohabitating.[9]<\/p>\n Another myth is that marriage is a breeding ground for physical abuse. Yet, “the evidence is overwhelming that being unmarried puts women at special risk for domestic abuse.”[10]<\/p>\n Finally, divorce is higher among those who cohabit before marriage than those who do not. “Cohabitators who marry each other may be as much as 46 percent more likely to divorce than people who marry but have not cohabited first.”[11]<\/p>\n A cost-benefit analysis clearly establishes marriage as superior to cohabitation. God’s plan for marriage is proved right again (Genesis 2:18-25).<\/p>\n__________ by Richard Mansel via\u00a0Forthright Magazine When we become Christians, our perspective changes from the will of the flesh to the will of the Father in heaven. The old ways of pleasure cease to be the guiding light of our days. We have a higher calling based on new criteria. Men make their decisions based on…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[1572,38],"class_list":["post-15808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-fornication","tag-morality"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":70216,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-cohabitation-create-a-marriage\/","url_meta":{"origin":15808,"position":0},"title":"Does cohabitation create a marriage?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 8, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Does cohabitation with sex make a marriage? A lot of Christians think so. They say that when you go live with someone and have sex, that's a marriage according to the Bible because, in the Old Testament, that's how marriages were made.\u00a0They give the case of Isaac and Rebecca.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40228,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/would-god-bless-our-marriage-after-living-together\/","url_meta":{"origin":15808,"position":1},"title":"Would God bless our marriage after living together?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 30, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello! Thank you for answering so many important questions. My boyfriend and I have been together for 2 years, and we weren't Christians when we started dating. In the last few months, our faith has shifted and we are trying to clean our lives up. We are not married,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41789,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/my-boyfriend-wants-to-move-in-before-we-get-married\/","url_meta":{"origin":15808,"position":2},"title":"My boyfriend wants to move in before we get married","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 4, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear friend, I am super confused now, and it seems like I am in a dilemma. I do not know what I am supposed to do. Please help me. My boyfriend wants to live with me. We are going to rent a two-bedroom apartment. We are seriously in love\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31273,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-is-sex-outside-of-marriage-wrong\/","url_meta":{"origin":15808,"position":3},"title":"Why Is Sex Outside of Marriage Wrong?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 27, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Perry Hall \"I've been told sex outside of marriage is wrong. Why?\" That is a question I got asked recently. \"God said so\" is one answer, but not as meaningful as others. Why did God say so? Is there a \"why\" behind the \"what\"? Surprisingly, two answers are different\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":96796,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-we-compromising-on-morality\/","url_meta":{"origin":15808,"position":4},"title":"Are We Compromising on Morality?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 20, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by John Exum There are times when God's people need encouragement, and there are times when we need honest self-examination. This is one of those times. As we look around at our culture, it is obvious that morality is no longer guided by the Word of God. Sin is celebrated,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":62683,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-harm-of-living-together-without-marriage\/","url_meta":{"origin":15808,"position":5},"title":"The Harm of Living Together Without Marriage","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 14, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Psalm 50 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As Christianity spread through the Gentile world, it faced many challenges \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0For thousands of years, the Gentiles gave little thought to God. Oh, they had their gods, but these were little more than extensions of their own desires. No, they lived in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15808"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15808\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/cohabitation-300x249.jpg\")
Sex outside of marriage and cohabitation are rampant in our world today and illustrative of the flesh versus holiness dilemma. Cohabitation is living together in a sexual relationship outside of marriage. Marriage is rapidly decreasing in the United States as cohabitation increases. “Cohabitation has increased nearly 1,000 percent since 1980, and the marriage rate has dropped more than 40 percent since 1960.”[1]<\/cite>\u00a0“About two-fifths of children are expected to live in a cohabiting household at some point.”[2]<\/cite>\u00a0“The majority of couples marrying today have lived together first (53% of women’s first marriages are preceded by cohabitation).”[3]<\/cite><\/p>\n
\n1\/\u00a0http:\/\/tinyurl.com\/kd258
\n2\/\u00a0http:\/\/tinyurl.com\/a3ly5
\n3\/\u00a0http:\/\/tinyurl.com\/a3ly5
\n4\/\u00a0Linda J. Waite, Maggie Gallagher, The Case for Marriage (Broadway Books: New York, 2000).
\n5\/\u00a0Waite, Gallagher, 54,59-60.
\n6\/\u00a0Waite and Gallagher, 64.
\n7\/\u00a0Waite and Gallagher, 67.
\n8\/\u00a0Waite and Gallagher, 92-93.
\n9\/Waite and Gallagher, 82-83.
\n10\/\u00a0Waite and Gallagher, 154-155.
\n11\/\u00a0http:\/\/tinyurl.com\/yp5fp9\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"