To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion.
Posts tagged sex
Biblical Abstinence
0During my senior year in high school I moderated two discussions on human sexuality. I was asked to do this by my life sciences teacher, one who I greatly respected. She was not, as far as I knew, a believer, but we had similar views on human sexuality to two different ends. I believe in abstinence for biblical reasons, while she believes in them for scientific ones. She rightly says that abstinence is effective 100% of the time. However she also believed that contraceptives should be made available and their proper use should be taught if passions were to be exercised. Over the past few years I have considered what that meant.
You don’t have to be a Christian to believe in a biblical principle. There are plenty of unbelievers who believe that murder and stealing are wrong. It is where conventional wisdom of man and what the bible says align that we often have to ask ourselves why we believe something, because our view of that topic may be distorted by cultural influences. Consider the command in Ephesians 5 for wives to submit to their husbands. This command was culturally supported for many centuries, but the reason why was often muddled leading to trouble. In Ephesians 5 Paul calls us to reflect the love and submission of Christ by husbands loving their wives and wives submitting to their husbands, but Western Civilization adopted this principle as a way to be prejudiced against women. Men who leverage their power over their wives abusively do not follow the bible, because they do not see the biblical reason for their wives to submit. They just assume that it is because they are supposed to lord over them, not as a reflection of the humility of Christ.
Abstinence is a powerful part of the Christian culture. It is a part of our cultural ethos to dedicate ourselves to a life of refraining from sexual contact until marriage. This is a biblical idea which started with the first man and woman. In Genesis 2:22-25 there is a marriage ceremony between Adam and his wife Eve. It is officiated by God, and afterwards in reflection the Holy Spirit quickened the hand of the writer of Genesis to write verse 24 which says, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife and they shall become one flesh.” Here we have a basic description of the standard of sexuality that the bible calls us to. We are to leave our parents, cling to our spouses, and have sex. All of this is after entering into a covenant with God and this other person that they would be as our flesh, as described in verse 23.
Adam and Eve’s courtship was very quick, and there were no other women for Adam to engage with sexually up until that point. So what about the time between when we start having sexual feelings towards others and when we get married? Isn’t it wrong to suppress your sexual desires? Why do we have sexual desires I will answer this question using the example of Christ.
Jesus Christ has existed eternally. He is the Son, the 2nd person of the trinity. He is in every way God. He is God with the Spirit and Father. He is one with them, and they are one with him. In being God Jesus is omnipresent. This is to say that Jesus Christ is God, and he is everywhere all the time. God is everywhere all the time. (Jeremiah 23:22-23) (more…)
Sexual Purity
01 year ago
by Jack
in Common Misconceptions
Purity is a buzz word that is tossed around Christianity a lot. We have purity rings, purity prayers, and pure aspirations. For all that is said about it, purity remains ambiguous in translation. This is as much as to say that purity is talked about and defined, nearly to death, in church culture, but the idea of purity doesn’t seem to really sink in. 42% of teenagers who identify as Christians have had sexual intercourse. This includes only intercourse, and not other sexual acts. Why, if purity is so well preached, does it not translate into action? I believe that the answer is found in what is preached about purity. Of course I’m not condemning every preacher out there, that would be incredibly pompous. I am here to simply present a biblical view of purity, and what that looks like in our lives. Sexual purity is first and foremost a reflection of our passion and love for God. Without a love for God, true sexual purity is not possible. Sexual purity is not abstinence singularly. Sexual purity is also contentment with what one has. Without contentment we are drawn to lust. Contrary to popular belief, it really isn’t about what you do sexually, but what happens in the head that matters to God. This means that when you are checking out his butt or sizing her up you are committing as egregious a sin as though you are sleeping with them. Verses like 1 Samuel 16:7 and Proverbs 16:2 seem to indicate that the Lord cares about more than just our actions. Temptation can be physical or mental. We can bump into someone on the street and have a sinful thought because they look good. We can just as easily have a special someone who (unbeknownst to us) does not have the same morals as us. They can present us with a difficult situation. At that moment the Lord looks at our thoughts. Do we want to take advantage of that thought process or situation? Actions come from thoughts, but not every bad thought leads to action. A totally revolutionary way of considering your sin is through the standard that originates from Jesus’ sermon on the mount, specifically in Mathew 5:28. If you look on a woman lustfully, if you want her, you are sinning just as much as any adulterer. (more…)
Modern Sexuality
01 year ago
by Jack
As I was flipping through MTV last night I stopped to watch an ad for their newest episode for the show “True Life.” True Life documents how people honestly react in certain situations. Episodes include “My dad just got out of prison” and “I hate my plastic surgery.” The episode that MTV was advertising was called “We’re newlyweds” and it will show couples who have never lived together try to blend their lives together.
One of the couples were passionately devoted to the biblical moral of sexual purity. They had vowed not to have sex, or even kiss on the lips, until marriage. The other couple was less open about what they had or had not done, but they had not been living together, and had been separated by 400 miles for most of their engagement.
It’s interesting to me that these days MTV has to have a show that documents what was considered normal just 50 years ago. While fornication has always been an issue, recent generations have taken it to a new level. These days unmarried people can sleep together, live together, and have children together without being looked down upon. It has gotten to such a level that purity until marriage is now considered a topic worthy of an hour long documentary.
The fact is, we live in a culture that is shallow. We have shallow views of God, shallow views of ourselves, and shallow sexual relations. A man is allowed to make a rude comment to a girl without fear of any repercussions. A girl is allowed to kiss another girl and think nothing of it. The deeper things, commitment, respect, and dignity are thrown out the door. (more…)