Bible in General

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Bible Question: I'm going through alot right now, I'm 15, and I'm basically trying to figure out what's right and wrong..And I guess honestly what I can get away with feeling morally ok. Temptation is getting the best of me and I've done alot of research, and I've come to the conclusion that cussing like saying oh sh.. or saying a cuss word for a joke is ok, bc I found in my research that it just says you shouldn't use words that diminish others and only use words to bring others up basically.. So wouldn't saying "bad words" be ok if you weren't bringing some one down or just doing bad with the words?
Another thing is premarital sex. I've read some where it's right and some where it's wrong and it's complicated to me. Can some one please explain it to me how it's wrong or right.
Thank you so much for your time and helping me become closer to God

Bible Answer: Greetings,

Have you heard of the biblical scholar T. W. Hunt?

If you haven't, I'd encourage you to look him up, and specifically his study called "The Mind of Christ". Taken from Philippians 2:5 where Paul tells the Philippian church to have the same attitude that Christ had. He also says elsewhere to "conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ". Think upon those two concepts a moment.

There was a popular phrase when I was in High School. Now I'm probably giving my age out when I say this, but I was in High School when the "WWJD" movement began. WWJD was an acronym that stood for "what would Jesus do?". It was intended to be a question to ask yourself when you face with a troubling situation. It had Paul's words to the Philippians in mind. So ask yourself, would Jesus cuss like a sailor? No, he wouldn't. He would, as Paul says in Philippians 2:14, "do all things without grumbling or disputing".

So, my advice to you is to sit down and read Philippians all the way through. In fact, don't just read it once, but study it. Try to read it once a day for two weeks straight. When you read it, be sure to read the epistle in one sitting. Now, why am I recommending this? Because when you read something over and over, it has a greater chance of being retained to memory. Also, each time you read it, there is a greater chance that you'll understand it a little better than the time before. So, reading it over and over is a good practice to get into.

Now for your other concern about premarital sex. Personally, it is my advice to wait until marriage. Here's why.

In the Old Testament, especially in the King James, sex was referred to as "knowing" your mate. It carried the symbolism of sharing intimate knowledge with each other. When you think of sex in that perspective, it becomes clear, at least to me, why it is best to wait until marriage. The Love that a husband and a wife share is to be unique only between them. That's why the Bible is so harsh on adultery and homosexuality and other sexual perversions. Sex was intended to be intimate, a secret, if you will. How would you feel if your secrets were known to everyone around you? Think of sex in the same terms.

There's another concern that waiting until marriage solves. In today's world where STDs are rampant, who are the ones you can nearly guarantee won't have one? The ones who haven't had sex. Paul, in Romans 1, refers to STDs and describes it "as the due penalty for their error" when he describes the sexual depravity of sinful man.

This links into what I was saying about the Mind of Christ. Do you read of Christ going around and sleeping with every woman that came along? No. He treated women with respect and elevated them, but he wasn't sexually active or married as far as we know. Given how the Church is referred to as his "bride", I seriously doubt he was married. So, again, what would Jesus do when it comes to sex? He'd be careful and respectful to his future spouse, and wait.

Jalek