If you have sex before marriage but you marry that person, is it still a sin? If that’s the only person you had sex with is it still a sin? And another question: If you beg God to forgive your sins, how will you know if He forgives them?<\/p>\n\t
“Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge<\/em>” (Hebrews 13:4).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Sex is undefiled, that is not sinful, within the bonds of marriage. It is sinful when you have sex without being married (fornication), or sex with someone other than your spouse (adultery). Therefore, once you are married, having sex with your spouse is no longer a sin.<\/p>\n
However, getting married doesn’t erase the fact that you had sinned. To gain forgiveness, a critical element is repenting of that sin. Repenting means changing your attitude about a sin — accepting the fact that it is a sin — and changing your behavior so you are no longer committing the sin.<\/p>\n\n
If you are a Christian, God’s solution is for the Christian to admit that he was wrong. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness<\/em>” (I John 1:9). That is all it takes. “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous<\/em>” (I John 2:1). God also tells us that if you feel too unworthy to talk to God, or if you are concerned about overcoming sin, you can also enlist the aid of a faithful brother. “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much<\/em>” (James 5:16).<\/p>\n
How do you know you’ve been forgiven? This too is simple. Do you know that you did as God asked? “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked<\/em>” (I John 2:3-6). It becomes a matter of whether you truly believe that God keeps His promises.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: If you have sex before marriage but you marry that person, is it still a sin? If that’s the only person you had sex with is it still a sin? And another question: If you beg God to forgive your sins, how will you know if He forgives them? Answer: “Marriage is honorable among…<\/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":[51,1571,1572],"class_list":["post-33729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-confession","tag-forgiveness","tag-fornication"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":81514,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-we-get-married-will-the-sin-stop\/","url_meta":{"origin":33729,"position":0},"title":"If we get married, will the sin stop?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 11, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Do you really answer questions? I have something bothering me. Can you help me with it? I met a woman who has been divorced for a year. I intend to marry her, but the fact is that we have had sexual relations before marriage, and we are living together\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":28224,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-person-who-married-a-person-who-had-no-right-to-marry-divorce-and-marry-someone-else\/","url_meta":{"origin":33729,"position":1},"title":"Can a person who married a person who had no right to marry, divorce, and marry someone else?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 28, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: If a man marries a woman who was not supposed to remarry because she and her husband had committed adultery, can the man in the second marriage divorce her because of her continued adulteries during the second marriage and be able to marry again? Answer: When a person marries\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":49282,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-true-that-a-couple-who-commits-fornication-cannot-get-married\/","url_meta":{"origin":33729,"position":2},"title":"Is it true that a couple who commits fornication cannot get married?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 13, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have had sex with the girl I proposed to marry. Now we are very close to our wedding. Her pastor became aware that we have had sex by virtue of her confession. She was told that I am not her husband and as such, can not get 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":32043,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-i-keep-committing-fornication-before-marriage-will-god-continue-to-hold-that-against-me-after-marriage\/","url_meta":{"origin":33729,"position":3},"title":"If I keep committing fornication before marriage, will God continue to hold that against me after marriage?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 5, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I will keep this short. My girlfriend and I have been together for over a year. We have broken up four times, for maybe all together seven hours of being broken up. We are very in love with each other and plan on getting married. My question is if\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":772,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-spousal-rape-constitute-fornication\/","url_meta":{"origin":33729,"position":4},"title":"Does spousal rape constitute fornication?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 1, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Does spousal rape constitute fornication, or sexual immorality, thus giving grounds for divorce and remarriage? Answer: Some questions are difficult - not because we cannot clearly state the truth, but because the way the questions are worded cause you to make assumptions that may not be true. A classic\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":16434,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-sex-before-marriage-a-sin-for-a-couple-who-divorced-their-prior-spouses\/","url_meta":{"origin":33729,"position":5},"title":"Is sex before marriage a sin for a couple who divorced their prior spouses?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 4, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My partner and I are both divorced. Both of our previous partners committed adultery. We are engaged and find it difficult to find any reference in the Bible to our situation regarding sex before marriage. Could you help, please? Answer: You are currently not married. 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