One Thing About Sex...

I want to clarify something from the previous post entitled "This Night" as well as add a new thought or two...

Of all the sins in the world, sex outside of a marriage tends to be one of the most frowned upon. While I freely admit I don't know what I'm talking about, I'll just say this. WHY? When people get tangled up in this, it is usually because of love - or something they honestly think is love - or something they're trying to make love.

But, for example, when people gossip, the root of that sin is hatred or envy or malice. Or when people lie, the root is perhaps cowardice or manipulation or laziness. I could go on here, but I think you should begin to see the point. SOMETIMES people who "sin" might be truly loving...

Which leads me to my next thought. Where EXACTLY does it say a person should not have sex until they're married? (I'm only asking the question - I'm not proposing an action!) I mean, I know there were rules that allowed new husbands to get rid of their wives if they were not virgins in the Old Testament. I know that Paul discourages "sexual immorality" in the New Testament.

But, what if the point of the OT rules was the bloodlines. I mean, two whole books of the Bible, plus plenty of other chapters are devoted to "so-and-so begot so-and-so begot so-and-so..." I'm not saying I'm an Old Testament scholar, but apparently it was a big deal "who yo' daddy wuz".

And just about everyone knows that when Paul started in on the sexual immorality thing, he was discussing Greco-Roman practices concerning temple prostitution. The point being this. Paul never said specifically "sex before marriage". The term was just "sexual immorality". It's only convenient for us to decide that he meant "sex before marriage."

Maybe he did. I don't know. But I do know this. We have got some serious hang-ups with sex. And, there are a lot of people out there carrying guilt and shame because we're too scaredy-cat to talk about the issue.

Here's what I think. God loves you, dang it, and I don't think he's so doggone hung up on sex like we are! Your sins and mine and all the mean people in the world who gossip are taken care of right up there on the cross. I choose to trust God when he says we're forgiven - I believe that he MEANT IT!!!

I believe.

posted by Headless-in-GR @ 4/28/2004 08:25:00 AM