HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 307
page A305
• SO NG O F S O NG S 7 :6 | Oh, how beautiful you are! How pleasing, my love, how full of
delights! (See note on page 601.)
• E PH E SI A NS 5 :2 8 , 3 3 | Husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies.
For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself. . . . So again I say, each man
must love his wife as he loves himself.
God clearly allows you to love and delight in sex within marriage. Sex is not for reproduction only; it is also for creating a bond of love and enjoyment between husbands and
wives.
• SO NG O F S O NG S 5 :6 | I opened to my lover, but he was gone! . . . I searched for him but
could not find him anywhere. (See note on page 600.)
When marriage becomes routine, it is important to rekindle the fires of sexual intimacy.
The prevailing modern attitude about sex before marriage seems to be that
as long as we both want to do it, it’s okay. What does the Bible have to say
about premarital sex?
• 1 C O R I NT H I A NS 7 :2 -3 | Because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should
have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband. The husband should
fulfill his wife’s sexual needs, and the wife should fulfill her husband’s needs.
In contradiction to the world’s attitude that says, “If it feels good, do it,” Paul teaches
that God calls us to exercise control over our passions and our body in the area of
premarital sex.
Is it so bad if I just think about sex with someone? I didn’t really do it.
• E X O DU S 2 0 :1 7 | “You must not covet your neighbor’s house. You must not covet your
neighbor’s wife.”
• MAT T H E W 5 :2 7 -2 8 | “You have heard the commandment that says, ‘You must not commit
adultery.’ But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed
adultery with her in his heart.”
Lust is adultery in the heart. It is true that when you imagine having sex with someone you
have not consummated the act with that person physically. But in your heart, you have.
Will God forgive my past sexual sins? Can I truly start over?
• A C T S 1 3 :3 8 -3 9 | “Through . . . Jesus there is forgiveness for your sins. Everyone who
believes in him is made right in God’s sight.”
God will forgive any sexual sin if there is true repentance, which requires turning away from
that sin and seeking forgiveness.
• R O MA NS 1 :2 4 | So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts
desired.
God will not forgive sin when you persist in that sin and are not sorry about it. Engaging
in persistent, willful sin shows that the repentance is not genuine and that you care more
about pleasing yourself than pleasing God. This separates you from God, who is the only
one who can forgive you.
But isn’t my body my own, to do with as I choose?
• DE U T E R O NO MY 2 2 :1 3 | “Suppose a man marries a woman, but after sleeping with her, he
turns against her . . .” (See note on page 179.)
Sex outside of marriage is so damaging because it has the power to destroy trust, create
confusion in relationships, and tear down a climate of respect. Without those things, there
can be no real community in the church.
• 1 C O R I NT H I A NS 6 :1 3 | You can’t say that our bodies were made for sexual immorality.
They were made for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies.
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• 1 T H E S S A L O NI A NS 4 :3 -4 | God’s will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin.
Then each of you will control his own body and live in holiness and honor.
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As Paul describes the role of sexuality in marriage, it is clear that the full expression of our
physical desires—sexual intercourse—is to be reserved for the commitment of marriage.