Bible Question: What is considered a sinful sexual act between a man and a woman before marriage (what about during marriage)? While I realize sexual intercourse prior to marriage is spoken of explicitly throughout the bible it does not explain about other sexual acts besides intercourse. While I have searched for guidance in this area in many places I have often received conflicting answers. Some say that everything below the neck is wrong, others say that the physical intimacy should reflect emotional intimacy with the highest emotional intimacy (marriage) being equated with intercourse. Still others guide me by saying that one should know EVERYTHING about their partner before marriage in order to make a good decision in choosing a lifelong parter. |
Bible Answer: To properly answer your question, one would first need to define "sin" and then give a definition of "sexual act", one with which most of us could agree. Here is a brief answer to your question. . . . First, according to the Uniform Code of Military Justice, any penetration, however slight, is considered a sexual act. In the workplace and where minors are concerned, to remark upon a woman even in her absence or to look upon her is considered sexual in nature, i.e., it is considered "sexual harassment." . . . I realize we are not primarily concerned here with the world's definition of "sexual act", which changes every time we change presidents. We want to answer the question in light of the Bible teaching on the subject. Having said that, I would also like to say: . . . A primary concern of the believer is not to sin against God at all. (We do, but our desire is not to -- see Rom 7 and 1 John 1). We achieve the goal of remaining sexually pure, not by seeing how far we can go without breaking the letter of the Law, but by staying as far away from the sin as possible. Foreplay eventually leads to the real thing, and THAT is what we must avoid. One way of putting it would be to say: If you don't want to start a fire, resist the temptation to play with matches. . . . Much more could be said in answer to your question and I trust that someone on this Forum will say more. . . . Thank you for posting a very serious and relevant question. I'm sure that if you wanted an answer to this question, there are many others out there who also want to know, although they have not asked. . . . P.S. Certain others may guide you "by saying that one should know EVERYTHING about their partner before marriage in order to make a good decision in choosing a lifelong parter". This is the wisdom of the world, not the wisdom that is from above. |