{"id":31273,"date":"2021-01-27T07:59:39","date_gmt":"2021-01-27T13:59:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=31273"},"modified":"2021-01-27T07:59:39","modified_gmt":"2021-01-27T13:59:39","slug":"why-is-sex-outside-of-marriage-wrong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-is-sex-outside-of-marriage-wrong\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Is Sex Outside of Marriage Wrong?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

by Perry Hall<\/p>\n

“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 for believers than for unbelievers. Here though are four reasons why sex outside of marriage is wrong for everyone besides, “God said so.”<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. For everyone, it makes common that which is sacred. God designed the marriage of a man and woman to be a type of Jesus and His Bride the Church (Ephesians 5:31-32). What God declares holy becomes special. Sex outside of marriage is committed without the commitment of Christ to His Church. This commitment defines marriage.<\/li>\n
  2. For everyone, it makes the flesh superior to the spirit and therefore the Spirit. After listing the works of the flesh, Paul says “the one who sows to his flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit<\/em>” (Galatians 6:8). As examples of what is sown, Paul includes sexual sins in the “works of the flesh<\/em>“. These are contrasted to the character traits of the Holy Spirit which are the “fruit of the Spirit.” Sex outside of marriage is contrary to all the fruit of the Spirit which should fill our marriages.<\/li>\n
  3. For believers, it makes God’s holy temple into an unclean temple. Remember the Israelites who brought in false gods to the God’s temple? Afterward, it had to be cleansed. Paul explained, “Do you not know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, who you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body<\/em>” (I Corinthians 6:19). Sex outside of marriage is using our bodies contrary to how God designed them because we are glorifying our desires, making ourselves the false idols.<\/li>\n
  4. For believers, it makes Christ’s body polluted with “prostitution”. That’s strong language, but this is probably because of Corinthian temple prostitutes. Listen again to Paul: “Do you not know that your bodies are the members of Christ? So should I take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Absolutely not!<\/em>” (I Corinthians 6:15). Is there an application here? I suggest, whether it is prostitution or lust, such is an unholy alignment of our physical bodies with Christ’s spiritual body. Sex outside of marriage is wrong because I am a member of the body of Christ and should I do that to Jesus’ body?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Sex outside of marriage is wrong, but not because the flesh is evil or dirty. Sex outside of marriage, whether before marriage or outside of marriage, dirties that which is holy. Holiness is the theme of why. That’s why God said so.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    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 for believers than for unbelievers.…<\/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":[27],"tags":[1572],"class_list":["post-31273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-fornication"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":45508,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-the-only-way-to-have-sex-is-if-one-is-married\/","url_meta":{"origin":31273,"position":0},"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":1521,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-is-sex-a-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":31273,"position":1},"title":"Why is sex a sin?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 28, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Why is sex a sin? Answer: The short answer to your question is that sex is not a sin, but it can become a sin in certain situations. \"Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge\" (Hebrews 13:4). The Greek word\u00a0koite\u00a0is\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":33651,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/will-god-refuse-to-bless-our-future-marriage-because-we-have-been-having-sex\/","url_meta":{"origin":31273,"position":2},"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":22953,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-we-had-committed-fornication-would-god-judge-us-and-force-us-to-divorce\/","url_meta":{"origin":31273,"position":3},"title":"If we had committed fornication, would God judge us and force us to divorce?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 12, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Of late, I have been pouring over the articles on the La Vista church website. I came across a number of articles that have left me a bit confused. I wonder if my girlfriend and I can still get married even though we committed fornication. According to \"Why Sex\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":32659,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-doesnt-god-want-us-to-have-sex-before-marriage\/","url_meta":{"origin":31273,"position":4},"title":"Why doesn’t God want us to have sex before marriage?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 24, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I really would like to know why God doesn't want us to have sex before marriage. What is His reason? It doesn't make sense to me. It's free will. We can all do whatever we want and sex is pleasurable. But what are his reasons? I don't have\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":1818,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/will-i-be-sinning-if-i-have-sex-with-my-girlfriend\/","url_meta":{"origin":31273,"position":5},"title":"Will I be sinning if I have sex with my girlfriend?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 23, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"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,\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\/31273","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=31273"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31273\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}