{"id":9942,"date":"2019-09-19T15:13:19","date_gmt":"2019-09-19T20:13:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=9942"},"modified":"2019-09-19T15:13:19","modified_gmt":"2019-09-19T20:13:19","slug":"if-i-had-sex-with-someone-does-that-mean-we-cant-get-married","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-i-had-sex-with-someone-does-that-mean-we-cant-get-married\/","title":{"rendered":"If I had sex with someone, does that mean we can&#8217;t get married?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t<h2>Question:<\/h2>\n<p>I am a born-again Christian with a history of having multiple sexual partners (main chick and side-chicks). I got saved and gave my life to Christ, though I still could not control my sexual desires; hence, I continued to practice fornication. I repented and changed but ended up having sex with one lady from my church who is also born-again. I broke the relationship we had and decided to focus on my service to God, which went on for a month. Yesterday, I ended up having sex with her. I realized my sin and repented. We agreed we can&#8217;t fornicate again but wait until the right time.<\/p>\n<p>I promised her I will marry her in a year, but I am been told by my spiritual mentor that I can&#8217;t marry her because we already had sex. Is there anything I can do to marry her or do I just need to let her go? She really has hopes in me, and I don&#8217;t want to disappoint her. Her being an orphan makes me want to be there for her. What if I marry her and regret it later on? There is nothing wrong with her and the only difference is that I am an undergraduate but she dropped out of school at the secondary level due to a lack of school fees.<\/p>\n\t<h2>Answer:<\/h2>\n<p>I know of no statement by God which says people who commit fornication cannot marry. In fact, Exodus 22:16-17 indicates the opposite. &#8220;<em>If a man entices a virgin who is not betrothed, and lies with her, he shall surely pay the bride-price for her to be his wife. If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money according to the bride-price of virgins<\/em>&#8221; (Exodus 22:16-17). One ought to marry instead of remaining in sin. &#8220;<em>Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband<\/em>&#8221; (I Corinthians 7:2).<\/p>\n<p>If you are certain this is the woman you want to spend the rest of your life with, then it is better to get married now instead of later. &#8220;<em>But if they do not have self-control, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn with passion<\/em>&#8221; (I Corinthians 7:9).<\/p>\n<p>A big concern on my part is that you claimed to have become a Christian without giving up your sins of fornication. An essential step in meeting the Lord&#8217;s requirements for salvation is to repent of your sins. Repentance means changing your mind about the acceptability of sin and changing your behavior. See\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-to-become-a-christian\/\">How to Become a Christian<\/a>. You have started to change, but you are still allowing sin into your life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Question: I am a born-again Christian with a history of having multiple sexual partners (main chick and side-chicks). I got saved and gave my life to Christ, though I still could not control my sexual desires; hence, I continued to practice fornication. I repented and changed but ended up having sex with one lady from&hellip;<\/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":[1572,64],"class_list":["post-9942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-fornication","tag-marriage"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":49935,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-ruined-my-reputation-as-a-christian-do-i-have-to-marry-the-woman-i-had-sex-with\/","url_meta":{"origin":9942,"position":0},"title":"I ruined my reputation as a Christian. Do I have to marry the woman I had sex with?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 16, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello sir, I have read some of your answers related to\u00a0sexual sins, and I thought I would seek Godly help from you. I was a very strict Christian in my early life. However, after completing my education, I desired worldly things instead of growing in God. I am staying\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37421,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-to-marry-a-non-virgin-woman\/","url_meta":{"origin":9942,"position":1},"title":"Is it wrong to marry a non-virgin woman?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 25, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My girlfriend is in her mid-twenties. She has a very good heart and she is very beautiful both inside and out. She lost her mother at the age of 8 and was brought up by her grandparents. She had two previous affairs before me. Both of the affairs ended\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":50693,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-dont-think-we-can-hold-out-for-three-years\/","url_meta":{"origin":9942,"position":2},"title":"I don&#8217;t think we can hold out for three years","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 9, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I met my girlfriend after a strong heartbreak from the previous relationship, and she helped me a lot to recover. I was a Catholic then, and I was not born again. When we met she was born again and she used to pray for me to see the truth,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20229,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/since-i-had-sex-with-my-girlfriend-does-this-mean-i-am-married-to-her\/","url_meta":{"origin":9942,"position":3},"title":"Since I had sex with my girlfriend, does this mean I am married to her?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 21, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello brother. Thank you for the good web site and for the questions and answers that you have posted. I have a question and a problem that I want you to help me to solve. I have been dating a girl for three years. She has been really close\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17944,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/am-i-restricted-to-only-marrying-the-boy-i-first-had-sex-with\/","url_meta":{"origin":9942,"position":4},"title":"Am I restricted to only marrying the boy I first had sex with?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 19, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was really having trouble ever since I had sex before marriage. I asked for forgiveness and I was terrified that I would not be forgiven, but tonight I went to church. I'm so happy to have learned and re-learned all of the things I have and I want\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":39298,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-possible-to-stop-having-sex-until-we-marry\/","url_meta":{"origin":9942,"position":5},"title":"Is it possible to stop having sex until we marry?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 12, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My girlfriend and I committed fornication. I want to change our lifestyle long before, but both of us can't successfully do it. We did it for almost a year, but then we were tempted. I love her, but both of us are too weak to stay away from sex.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","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\/9942","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=9942"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9942\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}