Is living together, but not sleeping together, a sin?<\/a><\/p>\nBaptism is based on repentance — a change in behavior and a change in attitude toward sin (Acts 2:38). Where is there evidence that such a change took place? If someone repented of stealing but you find out that he still enters uninvited into places of business in the middle of the night, would you assume he has changed?<\/p>\n
I’m left wondering why the couple doesn’t simply get married? If they can’t marry, then one should move out until a wedding can take place.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Can a person be denied baptism if he is living with his fianc\u00e9e but isn\u2019t committing fornication because they saw the error of their ways Answer: Paul declared “that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance” (Acts 26:20). If a person realizes that fornication is sinful, then why 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,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[52,156,50,185],"class_list":["post-6222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-baptism","tag-lust","tag-repentance","tag-temptation"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":84235,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-falling-back-into-sin-make-a-baptism-invalid\/","url_meta":{"origin":6222,"position":0},"title":"Does falling back into sin make a baptism invalid?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 8, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: This idea has come up many times in Bible studies. It concerns sin before baptism and the process of repentance. The Scriptures teach that one must repent before baptism and that Christians will sin after baptism. I don't know of anyone who would think that a Christian can live\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":22032,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-a-person-living-in-an-adulterous-marriage-still-be-in-sin-after-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":6222,"position":1},"title":"How can a person living in an adulterous marriage still be in sin after baptism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 19, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I don't understand how a non-believer, who divorced their spouse for reasons other than fornication and remarries, if they are born again, are living in sin. I thought when you are baptized all of your sins were forgiven according to Acts 2:38. Are only certain sins forgivable? Can you\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":34672,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-i-be-sure-i-repented\/","url_meta":{"origin":6222,"position":2},"title":"How can I be sure I repented?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 7, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi Jeff, Hope you are well. I wrote to you a few years back regarding repentance.\u00a0 I was reading some articles on your page tonight and came across another article \"Should we refuse to study with someone who is in an adulterous marriage?\"\u00a0 In your answer to the inquirer,\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":19001,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-a-person-is-in-an-unscriptural-marriage-must-the-person-divorce-before-becoming-a-christian\/","url_meta":{"origin":6222,"position":3},"title":"If a person is in an unscriptural marriage, must the person divorce before becoming a Christian?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 9, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Do you agree it is scriptural if a non-Christian who was previously married but got divorced for unscriptural reasons and was re-married and wants to become a Christian has to get divorced before they can be baptized? Answer: Can a person become a Christian while remaining in their former\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":70110,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-progressive-repentance-scriptural\/","url_meta":{"origin":6222,"position":4},"title":"Is Progressive Repentance Scriptural?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 3, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Osamagbe Lesley Egharevba via Unmasking Sophistry, Vol 4. No. 4, October-December 2024 During my preaching work in Ghana in July and August 2024, I heard the term \"Progressive Repentance\" for the first time. This is the idea that an alien sinner may not repent of his sins by ending\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":30719,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/would-you-marry-a-couple-who-are-committing-fornication\/","url_meta":{"origin":6222,"position":5},"title":"Would you marry a couple who are committing fornication?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 16, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My question is: If you end up counseling someone you are considering to perform their wedding and you find out they are currently living together, what do you do? I know you will discuss that with them from the Bible no doubt. But what do you do if they\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\/6222","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=6222"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6222\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}