God’s Advice on Sexual Behavior/Part 3
| By: Dr. John Ankerberg and Dr. John Weldon; ©2002 |
| Perhaps one reason why God treats the sexual act so seriously is because of all it implies concerning what He has accomplished in the incarnation and in His marriage relationship with the Church. What are the consequences of rejecting God’s principles for sex? |
God’s Advice on Sexual Behavior—Part Three
Perhaps one reason why God treats the sexual act so seriously is because of all it implies concerning what He has accomplished in the incarnation and in His marriage relationship to the Church. Scripture itself comments on this by implication:
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to Himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies…. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the Church—for we are members of his body. “For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the Church. (Eph. 5:25-32, emphasis added)
Indeed, the spiritual aspects of sex and marriage are far more profound than many people realize.
Another reason God wants us to wait for sex until marriage is because He wants to protect the most important sex organ we will ever have—our mind. Those who do wait until marriage usually have better marriage relationships. This is not necessarily because the sex is any better (though there are those who argue from experience it is), but because a mutual trust has been established at the beginning of the relationship which provides a good foundation for a successful marriage.
Put another way, because sex and marriage are gifts from God, they are properly subject to His loving commands. Since God is their author, having sex in accordance with His purposes and obeying His commands about marriage should not only produce the best sex, but also the best sexual development, freedom and experience, and the best marriages.
God also wants to protect us from being unable to discern the difference between love and sex, and He wants us to have a logical basis to know whether or not we are in love with someone or whether it is primarily our hormones or emotions speaking to us. Illicit sex frequently confuses the issue.
Finally, it goes without saying that God further wants to protect us from fear and give us peace of mind in the area of sexually transmitted diseases—those who wait for sex until marriage have this peace.
In essence, the reason for the biblical teaching about sexuality is because God is the one who made sex and designed it to be enjoyed in the manner it was intended. Like anything whose proper function is abused, it either doesn’t work well or causes additional problems. God wants to protect us from this, and He wants to provide the best for us in a quality mate simply because He loves us. This is why He has given us commands to obey and why we should give our children the same commands.
Dating, sex and marriage are all wonderful gifts from the Lord and those who take them seriously will find great reward. God knows how He has created us, what human nature is like, what is or isn’t in our best interest. In truth, the commands God has given us are only those for our own best welfare. A God of love would do no less (1 John 4:8).
Rejecting God’s principles for sex only produces the myriad of serious problems we see about us today. Because sexual permissiveness is destructive to the created social order, it is also ultimately self-destructive. Thus, parents who have educated their children in biblical standards concerning love, marriage and sexuality—and children who have obeyed those injunctions—characteristically have fewer of the problems encountered by those who are educated in liberal attitudes toward love, marriage and sex. Obedient Christians do not have to deal with guilt, broken relationships or divorce, emotional problems, suicide, sexually transmitted diseases, unwanted pregnancies, adultery, abortion or other problems.
The biblical view of sex may not be popular in our culture—but it is demonstrably[1] what is best for our culture—for ourselves, our children and for our nation and its future.
Note:
- ↑ John Ankerberg and John Weldon, The Myth of Safe Sex, (Moody Press, 1993, passim.
