"Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral." Hebrews 13:4 NIV
I grew up during the sexual revolution, so I can remember what social morality was prior and what it is now. I have lived through the evolution of morals in our country regarding sexual freedom and sexual rights. Sexual morals are very different now, with terms like "reproductive rights" and "sexual freedom" flaunted about, even within the Church.
Several things have changed our morals regarding sexual activity. One was the invention of birth control. Just even think about that phrase: birth control. Birth control, in all forms, was invented in order to circumvent the logical conclusion of having sexual relationships, i.e. the birth of another human being. Now, I’m not a proponent of families having an unbridled number of children, though that can certainly be their choice if they wish. But I think, as believers, we need to understand what guides our thinking and understanding about morality. And the purpose of creating birth control was to allow people to have sex without having to consider the consequences of their actions. That purpose is important for us to realize because that purpose has shaped how we think about sexual relationships.
The second thing that happened was Roe v. Wade. You see, it wasn’t enough to simply have medication or devices which would prevent pregnancy. The next step in birthing true sexual freedom was to allow people to stop experiencing the consequences of sexual activity at any cost, even at the cost of the life of another human being. Now, it would be dishonest not to acknowledge that abortion has existed for a very long time. But then again so has murder (since Cain and Abel). And existence doesn’t justify an action. In America, Roe v. Wade has resulted in over 50 million deaths of baby Americans with the vast majority of abortions because the mother (or family) simply didn’t want the child. There are a small percentage of cases where the medical safety of the mother was at risk, but those abortions were legal prior to Roe v. Wade. Legal abortion exists, on the whole, to allow people to have sex without having to deal with the very real fact that the purpose of sex is to create life.
The third thing that happened was media, starting with television. From the very beginning, the movers and shakers behind television, movies, and other media realized that "sex sells." More than anything else! (You only have to watch about three minutes of most commercials to realize that.) And with that, we began to become what we are today . . . a hypersexualized society. Of course, we aren’t the first society to be hypersexualized (and if the Lord tarries, we won’t be the last). During the time Hebrews was written, the secular society in which the new Church lived was hypersexualized, including legal prostitution as part of their temple. The fact is, people have been looking for ways to legitimize their desire to have unbridled sexual activities since probably the beginning of time.
In Hebrews, the Holy Spirit is adamant that sex remain solely within heterosexual marriage. If not, the spiritual (and eternal) consequences are severe: God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. The word "judge" is krino and means to separate or put asunder. In this judgement, God will separate out the adulterers and the sexually immoral for eternal punishment. It is a consequence we don’t want to experience. 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 NIV: "Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies." When we sin sexually, we defile the Temple of the Holy Spirit (ourselves). God wants us to honor Him (and ourselves) by keeping ourselves sexually pure and honoring marriage as He created it.
© 2017 Robin L. O’Hare. All rights reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice). For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.
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