{"id":45508,"date":"2015-07-13T20:42:00","date_gmt":"2015-07-14T01:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=45508"},"modified":"2022-03-21T20:44:37","modified_gmt":"2022-03-22T01:44:37","slug":"is-the-only-way-to-have-sex-is-if-one-is-married","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-the-only-way-to-have-sex-is-if-one-is-married\/","title":{"rendered":"Is the only way to have sex is if one is married?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

Question:<\/h2>\n

Good evening,<\/p>\n

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 can have sexual intercourse is if one is married.<\/p>\n

Why I’m asking this is because I would like to know what should happen if one does not want to be married but would rather stay committed and faithful to one person. I ask this because I feel as though it prompts people to get married prematurely in order to indulge in sexual intercourse; thus, defeating the whole act of marriage.<\/p>\n

Is marriage the only sanctifying method for professing one’s love and commitment to another person?<\/p>\n\t

Answer:<\/h2>\n

Sexual intercourse is reserved exclusively for married couples. Sex outside of marriage is sinful. “Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge<\/em>” (Hebrews 13:4). The Greek word that is translated as “bed” here, refers to the act of sexual intercourse. See:\u00a0Why Sex Outside of Marriage is Wrong<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The argument that the desire for sex will cause people to marry prematurely is false. Sex creates bonds between two people. If you are not certain that a person is someone you want to be with for the rest of your life and you are willing to commit yourself to that person, then you have no business binding yourself to that person with sex. See Marriage’s Glue<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mothers ought to profess their love and commitment to their children (Titus 2:4). Close friends can profess their love and devotion to each other (I Samuel 18:1). Christians are to love each other and be devoted to one another (Romans 12:10). However, these types of relationships do not include sex.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 can have sexual intercourse is…<\/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":[63],"class_list":["post-45508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-sex"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":17247,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/would-masturbation-be-unacceptable-between-a-husband-and-wife-as-a-part-of-sexual-intercourse\/","url_meta":{"origin":45508,"position":0},"title":"Would masturbation be unacceptable between a husband and wife as a part of sexual intercourse?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 11, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, My husband and I have been married for a year now and really love God. \u00a0I just wanted to find out what type of sex is acceptable in a marriage? Would masturbation be unacceptable in God's eyes even if it was done during sexual intercourse? Hope to hear\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":531,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-sex-outside-of-marriage-is-wrong\/","url_meta":{"origin":45508,"position":1},"title":"Why Sex Outside of Marriage Is Wrong","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 8, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton In the United States, marriage is becoming increasingly rare. The 2000 U.S. Census found only 51% of all households are married couples, continuing a steady decline over the past several decades. Meanwhile, the number of unmarried couples living together has increased rapidly. In 2000, 5.4 million\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":525,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-wrong-with-pre-marital-sex\/","url_meta":{"origin":45508,"position":2},"title":"What is wrong with pre-marital sex?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 26, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What is wrong with pre-marital sex? If your spouse finds out that you are bad at sex after you are married, won't your spouse leave you for someone else? Answer: Here lies a classic argument of \"Let us do evil that good may come\" (Romans 3:8). You want to\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":5051,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-oral-sex-between-a-married-couple-a-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":45508,"position":3},"title":"Is oral sex between a married couple a sin?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 29, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is oral sex between a married man and woman a sin and if so where can it be found in the Bible? Answer: The act of sex is to be restricted to married couples. \"Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will\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":45508,"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":28075,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-matthew-528-only-apply-to-lusting-after-a-married-woman\/","url_meta":{"origin":45508,"position":5},"title":"Does Matthew 5:28 only apply to lusting after a married woman?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 8, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am a Christian and worship in a congregation of the Church of Christ. \u00a0I would like to ask you something, that has been vexing me for some time, and I know the general and most common answers but I would truly applicate your reply. \"But I say to\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\/45508","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=45508"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45508\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}