Will I be sinning if I have sex with my girlfriend?<\/p>\n\t
In the Greek language of the New Testament is the word\u00a0pornos<\/i>. It refers to a person who has sex outside the bonds of marriage. It is most accurately translated as “fornicator” in English, but in some translations, the word is more vaguely translated as “sexually immoral person” or even more vaguely as “immoral person.” Regardless of how it is translated, its definition remains the same. Paul points out, “For this you know, that no\u00a0fornicator<\/b>, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God<\/i>” (Ephesians 5:5). In\u00a0Hebrews 13:4\u00a0we read, “Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but\u00a0fornicators<\/b>\u00a0and adulterers God will judge.<\/i>” But probably the plainest teaching is found in Revelation 21:8. Here a list is given of those who will end up in hell. “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers,\u00a0sexually immoral<\/b>, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.<\/i>“<\/p>\n
Sex within marriage is honorable, pure, and expected; but sex outside of marriage is a sin. It will cause the participants to face the wrath of God.<\/p>\n
Often, when I explain this to young people who come to see me, their initial reaction is often, “Well, I don’t believe the Bible is true anyway.” In other words, they are willing to consider what God says so long as it doesn’t interfere with what they have already decided to do. Yet, God’s laws are not arbitrarily given. There are reasons behind the laws which benefits the person willing to follow those laws. God is not being unjust or cruel by saying you need to wait until marriage to have sex. He has good, practical reasons behind His command.<\/p>\n
A while ago I wrote two articles on this matter and I would appreciate it if you would take the time to read both of them. The first is “Why Sex Outside of Marriage is Wrong<\/a>” and the second is “Waiting for the Proper Time<\/a>.” Let me know what you think of the information presented. I would like an opportunity to address any comments or concerns you may have.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: Will I be sinning if I have sex with my girlfriend? Answer: In the Greek language of the New Testament is the word\u00a0pornos. It refers to a person who has sex outside the bonds of marriage. It is most accurately translated as “fornicator” in English, but in some translations, the word is more vaguely…<\/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_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[1572],"class_list":["post-1818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-fornication"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":33651,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/will-god-refuse-to-bless-our-future-marriage-because-we-have-been-having-sex\/","url_meta":{"origin":1818,"position":0},"title":"Will God refuse to bless our future marriage because we have been having sex?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 5, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My girlfriend and I have been dating for almost two years. We have had sex multiple times now. We started doing it because we decided how much we love each other and that we want to marry each other, but I'm worried now because people are telling me that\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":44654,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-my-fiance-doesnt-repent-of-his-past-fornication-does-this-mean-ill-become-a-fornicator-if-i-marry-him\/","url_meta":{"origin":1818,"position":1},"title":"If my fiance doesn’t repent of his past fornication, does this mean I’ll become a fornicator if I marry him?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 11, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, First, I want to thank you for caring and taking the time to answer questions. My question is kind of half answered and also several in one. My fianc\u00e9 and I are divided on the issue of premarital sex. We have never done it, nor have I ever\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":1814,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-sexual-acts-should-not-be-committed-before-marriage\/","url_meta":{"origin":1818,"position":2},"title":"What sexual acts should not be committed before marriage?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 21, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What sexual acts should not be committed in a relationship before marriage? Answer: \"Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge\" (Hebrews 13:4). From the time that God created the world, His intention was that sex would be freely expressed within\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":45508,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-the-only-way-to-have-sex-is-if-one-is-married\/","url_meta":{"origin":1818,"position":3},"title":"Is the only way to have sex is if one is married?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 13, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good evening, I'm sure you get a lot of questions that are related to sexual intercourse and the like; however, it is difficult to fully grasp and understand the word of God when it doesn't match the heart's desires. What I'm asking is if the only way that one\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":54862,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-porneia-only-refer-to-sex-with-someone-you-have-no-emotional-connection-with\/","url_meta":{"origin":1818,"position":4},"title":"Can\u00a0porneia\u00a0only refer to sex with someone you have no emotional connection with?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 17, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was reading\u00a0your page about the Greek \"porneia\" and I was wondering if this meant prostitution and sexual intercourse with those to whom you have no emotional connection. More specifically, is sex with someone you love, like a boyfriend or girlfriend, specifically deemed immoral in the Bible, or is\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":8375,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-a-person-commits-fornication-while-engaged-does-that-affect-the-later-marriage\/","url_meta":{"origin":1818,"position":5},"title":"If a person commits fornication while engaged, does that affect the later marriage?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 8, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My spouse was engaged to a woman for a month and a half. They were sexually active before and after they became engaged. They were not faithful to each other during the engagement and decided to break the engagement. He has since repented for his sin (been baptized, etc.)\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":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1818","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=1818"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1818\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}