But I say to the unmarried and to the widows: It is good for them if they remain even as I am; but if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion<\/em>” (I Corinthians 7:8-9).<\/p>\nYou are incorrect that your situation cannot change. You can change today if you are determined to live righteously before God.<\/p>\n
If you are with a group that pretends that fornication is acceptable to God, you are with the wrong group. Find a congregation that supports the truth.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: I have been with my partner for 19 years, but we are not married.\u00a0 I started going to church three years ago, but my partner isn’t a believer.\u00a0 Some in the church say that in the eyes of God we are married and, therefore, I should be baptized. However, others say I should be…<\/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,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[52,1711,1572,655,50],"class_list":["post-48779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-baptism","tag-cohabitation","tag-fornication","tag-living-together","tag-repentance"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":44681,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/my-girlfriend-wont-get-married-in-my-church-and-i-wont-get-married-in-her-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":48779,"position":0},"title":"My girlfriend won’t get married in my church and I won’t get married in her church","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 15, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I have a question and need further advice. My girlfriend and I have been together for 8 years and have been living together for 6 years. I have recently gotten saved. I was raised Catholic but have converted to Christianity. When I had found out about sexual immorality\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":36112,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-decided-to-be-baptized-but-im-not-getting-married-for-two-years-and-were-having-sex-can-i-ask-for-forgiveness-after-we-get-married\/","url_meta":{"origin":48779,"position":1},"title":"I decided to be baptized, but I’m not getting married for two years and we’re having sex. Can I ask for forgiveness after we get married?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 13, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have decided I will be getting baptized this Sunday. I have been very conflicted lately because my fiance and I have decided to be intimate, but I know it is a sin before marriage. I keep having these thoughts that if I repent once we are married everything\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":46969,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-i-wait-until-after-i-get-married-to-be-baptized\/","url_meta":{"origin":48779,"position":2},"title":"Should I wait until after I get married to be baptized?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 19, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I am in the process of getting baptized and being confirmed as a Catholic. At the same time, I am engaged and my fiance and I live together. We will be getting married next year. Should I wait to be baptized after we are married? Answer: To be\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":17206,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/my-girlfriend-and-i-will-get-married-but-we-cant-afford-it-right-now\/","url_meta":{"origin":48779,"position":3},"title":"My girlfriend and I will get married, but we can’t afford it right now","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 6, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My girlfriend and I have been together for 3 1\/2 years. We're both into our church, and we have grown up with religion as a big part of it. We aren't married, mostly because we don't have the money to get married, but we are truly in love with\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":40964,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/weve-been-living-together-for-years-how-can-we-stop-committing-fornication\/","url_meta":{"origin":48779,"position":4},"title":"We’ve been living together for years, how can we stop committing fornication?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 18, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I got pregnant at the age of 17, I am now 21 and am still with the father of my baby. I've always gone to church since I was young but about a few months ago I realized that I needed to take my life more serious and\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":38275,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-i-marry-the-catholic-woman-im-living-with\/","url_meta":{"origin":48779,"position":5},"title":"Should I marry the Catholic woman I’m living with?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 7, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hey, I'm having a hard time getting my head around a few things. First, I was brought up in a loving Protestant Christian home and lost my way through high school. I am now in my mid-twenties and I'm engaged to a Catholic. We've bought a house and are\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\/48779","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=48779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48779\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}