Sexual Ethics
Monday June 23, 2014
God made men and women sexual beings with the ability to recreate their kind. His plan for sexual intercourse was, and still is, that it only be practiced inside the protection of heterosexual marriage. Any other type of sexual intercourse is not in keeping with God’s plan for His creation. Those may be stark and startling words for the majority of people in our society today. However, this is the Biblical approach for sexual relationship between humans. This is certainly not what is taught today in sex education classes in school. It is definitely not evident in the storylines of television programs or movies. It is also not evident in the real lives of people who participate in the film industry or in society in general.
Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God…. Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. (1 Corinthians 6:9-10, 18-20 NLT)
The fact that people have engaged in sex outside of marriage for thousands of years is not the issue. What is at issue is that until the middle of the 20th century it was well understood across society that such activity was wrong. In the 21st century things have shifted so dramatically that saving sex for marriage now seems an impossible standard to attain or at least an unreasonable demand from ancient times.
As Christians our primary concern is not what other people think or practice, but rather what God says in His word. The Bible is quite clear about the issue of sexual activity in its many forms. In ancient times when the most basic rules for a healthy society were handed down through Moses to the people (The Ten Commandments) the seventh rule given was “You must not commit adultery.” (Exodus 20:14 NLT) It is obvious from the need for this commandment that intercourse outside of marriage was happening in that society, at that time. In one of Jesus’ most important teachings called the Sermon on the Mount, he extended the call to sexual purity to include not just our actions but out thoughts and feelings.
“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. (Matthew 5:27-28 NLT)
Does your sexual conduct honour the teaching of the scriptures or are your sexual ethics guided by society’s morals?
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