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What Does God Think About Premarital Sex?
Article By: Matt Erickson

If you were to look through the whole Bible for the words "pre-marital sex" you'd never find it. Looking for that phrase in the Bible would be like looking for the word "yacht" in Homer's The Odyssey (even though much of that work takes place in a boat) or "situation ethics" in Machiavelli's The Prince (even though that's a significant part of what he urges for rulers in that work). Those words or phrases were not current in the time in which these works were written, and it's the same with "pre-marital sex" within the context of the Bible.

That said, when you look through the Bible as a whole, it becomes pretty clear what God's design for human sexuality is and where sex before or outside of marriage fits into that. This may seem like more than you were looking for, but if you really want to understand what the Bible says here, please track with me for a bit.

First off, let me say that, contrary to popular belief, God does not hate sex. HE CREATED IT AND CALLED IT GOOD! In the account of Creation, the Scriptures say: "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He create him; male and female He created them" (Genesis 1:27) and later "God saw all that he had made and it was very good" (Genesis 1:31). God was the originator of human sexuality and dubbed it 'very good' as a part of His overall creation.

Second, it is important to understand the concept of marriage that the Bible outlines. Just one more chapter later in the book of Genesis, when Adam and Eve first encounter one another, Adam is pretty excited about this new being called woman. The biblical author says following their encounter, "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh" (Genesis 2:24). It is important to understand that there is a sacred union that takes place in sexuality that is important before God. Phrases like 'united' and 'one flesh' are pretty strong when you stop and think about it. And it is a whole state of being - not just a physical event. Sexual intercourse is ordained by God as one part of the union of a husband and wife, reflective of the reality that before God they are 'one flesh.' Does that make sense?

Jesus mentions this verse from Genesis when teaching about divorce. It is interesting that Jesus implies that the physical union is tied to union before God that should not be separated. Thus, sexual intercourse is something that is a unifying activity only intended within the God-ordained union of husband and wife. It is not to be taken lightly and doesn't have a place outside of marriage.

The Apostle Paul, also in the New Testament, references this very verse in Genesis in his letter to a group of Christians in the city of Ephesus (Ephesians 5:31-33). In another of his letters, he addresses the seriousness of thinking about our bodies as God's dwelling place, or temple (1 Corinthians 6:12-20). While talking about sexual relationships with prostitutes, Paul states a broader principle about sexuality: "Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, 'The two will become one flesh'" (1 Corinthians 6:16-17). It is important to note that immediately after this in chapter 7 of this letter, Paul discusses marriage, stating: "But since there is so much immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband" (1 Corinthians 7:2). God is reaffirming through Paul the seriousness of the physical union in relation to union before God. There is something both physical and spiritual that is going on in sexuality.

In another letter, Paul discusses sexuality within the broader context of how we can live a holy life, a life that is set apart to please God (1 Thessalonians 4:1-12). He urges his readers to 'avoid sexual immorality' (4:3) in order to control their bodies 'in a way that is holy and honorable' (4:4). Why? Because God desires for us to be pure and holy, which really means set apart to follow Him and His ways. We cannot follow His ways if we do not take seriously the spiritual realities at play in the physical union between a man and a woman.

As 21st century Westerners, we tend to divorce the physical from the spiritual, but there is something more going on here than is apparent to the naked eye (sorry for the pun). I hope that this makes sense to you from a broad scope of the Bible. Although 'pre-marital sex' is not prohibited in those terms, the concept is contrary to God's desire for human sexuality.

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