Sex Before Marriage

Question:

I must apologize for not knowing the exact scripture or where to find it in the Bible. I have only recently truly embarked on this path to God and this is a subject I would really like more understanding and information/explanation about. Is there indeed a scripture that says that one should withhold sexual intercourse until one is married? Where would I find that in the Bible? If so why? What is the reason for that?

Comment:

This is a difficult question to answer in a brief reply. I cannot think offhand of a specific Bible passage that forbids sex before marriage. Certainly the stories are replete with examples of people—even spiritually powerful people—disregarding that rule. King David, to take just one example, is intimate with Bathsheba while she is married to another. He is punished, of course, but not for the sex act itself. Rather the punishment is for the negative energies of the scheming and maneuvering with which David tried to cover up the affair—leading to the death of Uriah, Bathsheba's husband.   To Jesus, strict obedience to the letter of the law was never the point. In Matthew 5:27 we read, "'You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." It is lust—not the presence or absence of the sex act itself—that is the spiritual challenge. Lust is the shadow side of love; it is placing our emphasis solely on our physical bodies and physical demands. It is a violation of the other, because it is only about using the other to gratify our own perceived needs. Love, on the other hand, is an expression of divine energy—an experience and expression of Oneness that allows the very essence of our divinity—"God is love" we read in 1 John—to join with that of another. Is our consciousness locked in lust or expressive of the joy of love? We can only turn for an answer to the guidance of the Christ voice within us, where the truth is always known.   Blessings!

Rev. Ed