Is Sex Before Marriage A Sin!

Does that sound like a loaded question to you?

Loaded or not, this is a question that more and more young believers are asking — and in all seriousness.

There seems to be a growing belief among some Christians that sex BEFORE marriage is NOT a sin.

They can quote to you all of the biblical passages that talk about adultery, and give there rational for why they believe those passages only apply to married and divorced individuals.

They can also likely quote to you the biblical passages that talk about sexual immorality, with justification as to how sex BEFORE marriage does not fit within that context either.

They make a good case.  But I’m not quite sure who they’re trying to convince…

It seems to me that there are a growing number of young Christians that are crafting, or being taught, a working theology for why they SHOULD have sex BEFORE marriage.

I must admit, while I’ve become quite good at not getting rattled when students share with me some of their thoughts, struggles and/or questions, this is one that always seems to catch me off guard.

And if I’m honest, there’s a part of me that gets it.

Most college students have hormones that are absolutely raging… and they’re trying to believe that God’s got a plan for both the long-term, AND the short-term, when it comes to their sexual desires.  But they struggle to see the short-term plan.  They feel weak in the knees and shaky, at best, in their faith.

So, I believe, these young Christians set out on a quest.  A quest to find a short-term plan for their sexual desires that gives them a ‘God-sanctioned’ way of dealing with all of their sexual urges.

They ask: Does the bible REALLY say that sex before marriage is a sin?

Well, no.  At least not in those exact words.

And from there they begin to build there case… their theology… for why sex before marriage is not really a sin.

There’s little, if any, attention given to the notion that maybe — just maybe — their ‘present suffering’ is meant to produce something in them — something much more than sexual angst and frustration.  Things like:

Purity

Endurance

Patience

Integrity

Loyalty

Faithfulness

Strength

Holiness

And the list could go on.  But I think you see what I’m getting at.

The question is, how do we get our students to see this?

How do we get them to value these things above fulfilling their immediate sexual desires?

What do you think?  Is sex before marriage REALLY a sin?