The Christian Arsenal
Exposing the Liberal Lie
Chapter 8: A Spirit of Prostitution Leads Them Astray
Exposing the Liberal Lie:
What the Bible Says About Political Correctness
by Jim Alexander
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All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Bible text from the New King James Version is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000. (see text)
Chapter Eight:
A Spirit Of Prostitution Leads Them Astray
Mark 10:6-9 -- (Jesus speaking) "But from the beginning of the creation, God 'made them male and female.' 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate."
Proverbs 5:1-23 -- My son, pay attention to my wisdom; Lend your ear to my understanding, That you may preserve discretion, And your lips may keep knowledge. For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey, And her mouth is smoother than oil; But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death, Her steps lay hold of hell. Lest you ponder her path of life -- Her ways are unstable; You do not know them. Therefore hear me now, my children, And do not depart from the words of my mouth. Remove your way far from her, And do not go near the door of her house, Lest you give your honor to others, And your years to the cruel one; Lest aliens be filled with your wealth, And your labors go to the house of a foreigner; And you mourn at last, When your flesh and your body are consumed, And say: "How I have hated instruction, And my heart despised correction! I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, Nor inclined my ear to those who instructed me! I was on the verge of total ruin, In the midst of the assembly and congregation." Drink water from your own cistern, And running water from your own well. Should your fountains be dispersed abroad, Streams of water in the streets? Let them be only your own, And not for stranger with you. Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice with the wife of your youth. As a loving deer and a graceful doe, Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; And always be enraptured with her love. For why should you, my son, be enraptured by an immoral woman, And be embraced in the arms of a seductress? For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the LORD, and He ponders all his paths. His own iniquities entrap the wicked man, And he is caught in the cords of his sin. He shall die for lack of instruction, And in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.
Our present age is one for which the motto goes: "Two responsible adults may engage in any and all types of sexual expression they choose." A lie on many fronts, first of all, it isn't limited to two, nor need they be responsible (it could be argued the word irresponsible more fittingly applies to most of the "sexual expression" being referred to here), nor even adults -- as teens are permitted to participate ("They're going to do it anyway."), nor is any mention made of gender (but that's the topic for another chapter). Secondly, one crucial, all-important qualifier is conspicuously missing from this motto which changes the whole concept of sexual relations into a merely recreational activity, with partners as interchangeable as jackets. What is that qualifier, and who has dared to attempt to restrict our free will in any way by applying it? The answers respectively are: marriage and God.
Don't say that too loudly on the streets today, though, or you're likely to be laughed off all the way to a padded room. "Come on! Be serious! We're living in an enlightened age. What two or more people do in their own homes (or anywhere else of their choice, for that matter) is their own business. They're not hurting anyone. Get with the times!"
At the risk of sounding hopelessly outdated, according to God's word, all "sexual expression" outside of marriage is sin -- that includes both adultery and fornication. There are no exceptions. Marriage, as ordained by God, is the only agency through which sexual expression is permissible; it is insoluble while both husband and wife still live; its aggregation is solemnized by oath to God. It is not to be entered into lightly or capriciously. It is so highly regarded by the God who established it that He granted newly married men complete exemption from military service for the first full year of conjugality (chiefly Deuteronomy 24:5). The vow to God, taken at the time of union, is binding for life. Its participants, at its inception, forfeit all future rights regarding the usage of their bodies to their spouse, and their flesh is no longer their own. Its precepts are God-given, its intimacy exclusive. All who violate its integrity are allotted a portion with the wicked, those who ignore its statutes, subject to death. For the LORD God said: "You shall not commit adultery." (Exodus 20:14) "'The man who commits adultery with another man's wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress, shall surely be put to death.'" (Leviticus 20:10)
Hebrews 13:4 -- Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.
How is the bed undefiled? What does the word of God say about the purity of marriage?
Proverbs 18:22 -- He who finds a wife finds a good thing, And obtains favor from the LORD.
Here, the Scripture records that finding a wife is a good thing and a favor from the LORD. As previously mentioned in the preceding chapter, Ephesians 5:22-31 teaches a wife's submission to her husband and a husband's complete and sacrificial love for his wife: For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. (Ephesains 5:31)
Colossians 3:18-19 -- Wives, submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them.
I Corinthians 7:3-5 -- Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
With all the contention today about people's rights to their own bodies, this latter passage, no doubt, meets with anguished renitence, particularly from the feminist quarter where "a woman has a right to do with her own body as she pleases," as "a woman belongs to no one!" Well, not according to the Scriptures, or perhaps they aren't teaching I Corinthians seven at your place of worship? The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.
Song of Solomon 2:16 -- My beloved is mine, and I am his. He feeds his flock among the lilies.
Song of Solomon 6:3 -- I am my beloved's, And my beloved is mine. He feeds his flock among the lilies.
Song of Solomon 7:10 -- I am my beloved's, And his desire is toward me.
Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. (NIV) The Bible dissuades any sexual depravation between husband and wife, except for brief periods of spiritual revival through prayer, lest they be tempted because of their lack of self- control.
Another common misconception about marriage today is that it's a "union of convenience" -- that when it is found to have become inconvenient, either or both parties may opt out at their own discretion, free to select a more suitable vintage, make or model. How do I know that such an enlightened view of marriage is not to be found within the word of God?
Malachi 2:16 -- "For the LORD God of Israel says That He hates divorce, For it covers one's garment with violence," Says the LORD of hosts.
"Okay, so God hates divorce. But people make "mistakes". Aren't people who marry someone in good faith, and only later find out that person isn't the person they thought they married, permitted a second chance?
Matthew 19:8-9 -- He [Jesus] said to them, "Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery."
Matthew 5:32 -- (Jesus speaking) "But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery."
Luke 16:18 -- (Jesus speaking) "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery."
Mark 10:11-12 -- So He [Jesus] said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery."
According to these four recorded prohibitions of divorce found in the gospels, divorce is permitted only under the condition that a wife's been "sexually immoral" (chiefly Matthew 5:32 and 19:9). The phrase here translated as "sexually immoral" is the Greek word porneia, meaning harlotry, adultery or fornication. Even though God hates divorce, He allows it under this circumstance, and this circumstance only (see also: I Corinthians 7:10-16).
And, contrary to what even many Bible-believing churches and organizations are teaching today, remarriage is never permitted after divorce. Never! I know many well-meaning, Bible-reading Christians will disagree with me on this, but it's what the word of God says -- again, these are not my words, but the Lord's. And, as in all aspects of Bible study, we must accept what the word of God says, not what we'd like it to say. Nowhere in God's word am I aware of God saying, "This is My word. Feel free to pick out the parts you like and discard the rest." I think this is a hard matter to accept, myself; nonetheless, it is God's way that counts, not mine or yours.
Also, let's not forget that the marriage vow is a vow before God like any other, and should anyone have any doubts as to how seriously God feels about vows made to Him, and as to whether or not they may be broken -- even under the most burdensome and vicissitudinous circumstances -- perhaps a consultation of the following passages might be in order.
Deuteronomy 23:23 -- Whatever your lips utter you must be sure to do, because you made your vow freely to the LORD your God with your own mouth. (NIV)
Numbers 30:1-2 -- (Moses speaking) "This is what the LORD commands: When a man makes a vow to the LORD or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said." (NIV)
"Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery." (Mark 10:11-12)(NIV) Today, with the institution of marriage meaning less and less, with interchangeable mates and a liberated society, it's difficult to really take words like "adultery" or "fornication" seriously -- particularly as both are endlessly glorified and exalted throughout popular culture via the media. People are shocked today when they go to a movie or purchase reading material that doesn't contain at least one portrayal of sexual activity -- generally graphic, and almost always supererogatory and nonmarital. But what does God's word say about adultery and fornication? As we've most recently deliberated marriage, perhaps a look at adultery would more appropriately antecede any scrutiny of fornication.
Leviticus 18:20, 24-30 -- (the LORD speaking) "'Do not have sexual relations with your neighbor's wife and defile yourself with her.'" "'Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out before you became defiled. Even the land was defiled; so I punished it for its sin, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. But you must keep My decrees and My laws. The native-born and the aliens living among you must not do any of these detestable things, for all these things were done by the people who lived in the land before you, and the land became defiled. And if you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it vomited out the nations that were before you.'" "'Everyone who does any of these detestable things -- such persons must be cut off from their people. Keep My requirements and do not follow any of the detestable customs that were practiced before you came and do not defile yourselves with them. I am the LORD your God.'" (NIV)
Exodus 20:14 -- (the LORD speaking) (paralleled in Deuteronomy 5:18) "You shall not commit adultery."
Deuteronomy 22:22 --- "If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then both of them shall die -- the man that he lay with the woman, and the woman; so you shall put away the evil from Israel!"
Not only does God forbid adultery and call it "evil", but as shown in the passage above, He decreed it to be a capital offense. "'Even the land was defiled; so I punished it for its sin, and the land vomited out its inhabitants.'" (Leviticus 18:25)(NIV) >From this passage, no one can claim the laws regarding sexual impurity were applicable only to Israel as the covenant community. The people who inhabited the land before them defiled the land with these sins, and were declared guilty even before the law had been issued -- "'for all these things were done by the people who lived in the land before you, and the land became defiled. And if you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it vomited out the nations that were before you.'" (Leviticus 18:27-28)(NIV)
These days, when even murderers are seldom executed, and more criminal offenders set free than properly punished, it is virtually impossible to imagine a society in which adulterers are deemed capital offenders and summarily executed for this sin. Just the same, the word of God declares that such is the prescribed punishment for both the adulterer and the adulteress; in this matter there is no distinction between the sexes -- both are to be put to death. So serious is the infraction of adultery that in the twentieth chapter of Genesis (where Abimelech, king of Gerar, "takes" Sarah, Abraham's wife, misconstruing her to be Abraham's sister), God comes to Abimelech in a dream and says to him: "Indeed you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man's wife." (Genesis 20:3)
Now, in case anyone missed it the first time around, Abimelech didn't know Sarah was a married woman; God's law prohibiting adultery had not yet been established; Abimelech was not part of the covenant community accountable to the law -- nonetheless, God claimed the penalty for adultery was to be the death of the offender. Of course, having been informed of this, Abimelech duly pleads ignorance, to which God responds that He already knew that, and that's the only reason Abimelech is still around, and that Abimelech had better get his act together really soon, or he and all that were his would soon be spoken of in the past tense.
And how did the king of Gerar react to all this? (see Genesis 20:8-18.) It would seem that even this pagan, godless ruler -- who broke God's commandment before God even disclosed there was such a commandment (The issuance of the Law did not come until more than six hundred years after the events recorded here in Genesis twenty) -- knew better than most of the enlightened people of our day, who, had they found themselves in a similar situation, probably would've ignored any castigation from God altogether. What does this tell us about how low we've sunk, how far we've fallen as a society, that even pagans predating the issuance of the law of God, living a full four thousand years before the advent of something as integral to human development, refinement and culture as television, knew that it was wrong to take another man's wife? Perhaps that's what Abimelech had going in his favor: He had no television or major media satiation to voluminously gorge his mind with repeated and damnable lies. When he was confronted with his wrongdoing, he did not claim it was his right to express himself sexually in the manner of his choice -- he was ready to do back-flips and handstands, if necessary, to rectify the situation. How unlike today's society this is, where those censured for wrongdoing, more likely than not, would persist that it's their accuser who has the problem for daring to infer that their "perfectly normal behavior" is in any way improper.
Proverbs 30:20 -- This is the way of an adulterous woman: She eats and wipes her mouth, And says, "I have done no wickedness."
Curiously, Isaac hadn't learned from Abraham's error, and pulled the same stunt himself with Rebekah a few decades later on a similarly-named king of the Philistines (see Genesis 26:1-11).
The word of God contains several key warnings against the folly of adultery, most remarkable of which are those found in the book of Proverbs. Among them is a wise father's advice to his son in chapter six, warning him of the snare of the adulteress.
Proverbs 6:25-29 -- Do not lust after her beauty in your heart, Nor let her allure you with her eyelids. For by means of a harlot A man is reduced to a crust of bread; And an adulteress will prey upon his precious life. Can a man take fire to his bosom, And his clothes not be burned? Can one walk on hot coals, And his feet not be seared? So is he who goes in to his neighbor's wife; Whoever touches her shall not be innocent.
The verses which immediately follow, concluding the sixth chapter of Proverbs, relate how the jealous husband's fury will show no mercy when he takes revenge. (Proverbs 6:34)(NIV)
Proverbs 6:35 -- He will accept no recompense, Nor will he be appeased though you give many gifts.
Adultery is a crime that robs a spouse of that which, by right, is exclusively theirs. Fornication is a crime that robs both oneself and one's future spouse of the exclusivity, sacrificing tomorrow's perennial treasures for the voluptuous dissipation of today.
The Greek word the NKJV frequently translates as sexual immorality is porneia, meaning harlotry, fornication or adultery. It is the same word used in both Matthew 5:32 and 19:19 (as previously indicated in this chapter) as the only qualifier for which a man could divorce his wife. Translated into the English as fornication, it denotes any and all sexual activity outside marriage. In the seventh chapter of Mark, it is one of the thirteen "evils" Christ mentions that make a man "unclean" or "defiled". (The other twelve "evils", which include moicheia or adultery, are: dialogismoi oi kakoi, klopai, phonoi, pleonexial, poneriai, dolos, aselgeia, ophthalmos poneros, blasphemia, huperephania and aphrosune.)
1 Thessalonians 4:3-8 -- For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit.
Colossians 3:5-6 -- Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience...
Galatians 5:19-21 -- Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
God's word does not pass off fornication as some "mere weakness" to be curbed. It not only regards it as sin, but it's the sin that heads the list of acts of the flesh in both Galatians five and Colossians three. Paul writes that those who partake in these acts of the sinful nature will not inherit the kingdom of God and because of these, the wrath of God is coming. In I Corinthians six he writes: Now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. (I Corinthians 6:13)
I Corinthians 6:18 -- Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.
So we've established that the word of God clearly characterizes fornication as sin. As all sex outside of marriage is fornication, all sex outside of marriage is sin. It's difficult today, in a world that has trouble frowning upon sex with another person's spouse, imagining anyone ever actually envisaging something as "frivolous" as fornication as serious, reprehensible sin. "There's absolutely nothing wrong with two consenting adults choosing to express their feelings for one another through sexual relations." "As long as people conduct themselves responsibly, they should be free to express their sexuality any way they choose." In other words: "If you lust after it and it lusts after you, go for it." They'd like to call it "love", but nothing is further from true, unselfish, unconditional love than what these people do in the name of "expressing their sexuality". Two dogs procreating in the street are less repulsive than "sexual expression" between unmarried persons. At least with the dogs, they're not behaving in arrogant defiance toward God. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.
So important is the idea of chastity before marriage that Deuteronomy 22:20-21 calls for a man's bride who is found not be a virgin to be brought to the door of her father's house and there the men of her town shall stone her to death. She has done a disgraceful thing in Israel by being promiscuous while still in her father's house. You must purge the evil from among you. (Deuteronomy 22:21) (NIV) Note the words disgraceful, promiscuous, evil and particularly stone her to death. This isn't viewed as some "frivolous weakness" or means of "responsible, sexual expression". It is sin, punishable by death.
And, in case anyone thinks this is being unfair to women, note it was the woman who had been the fornicator in Deuteronomy twenty-two, not her husband. If anyone thinks any man who sleeps around before marriage is let off the hook by God's word, turn to the twenty-second chapter of Exodus, where the LORD God says: "If a man entices a virgin who is not betrothed, and lies with her, he shall surely pay the bride-price for her to be his wife. If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay the money according to the bride-price of virgins." (Exodus 22:16-17)
"Whoah! Wait a minute! What's this 'pay the bride-price of virgins' and 'be his wife' stuff?!? What ever happened to 'purge the evil from among you'? The woman in Deuteronomy twenty-two gets stoned to death, and this guy from Exodus twenty-two gets off without so much as a pebble being tossed his way!!" Obviously, had the woman in Deuteronomy twenty-two had any integrity (i.e. not been guilty of sin), she'd have gone to her father and made the lecher who'd seduced her pay the bride price for virgins and marry her. As she didn't, it can be inferred that she was either already pledged to be married -- in which case the penalty of death still applied (see below) -- or the man she had sex with was married -- in which case we're talking about adultery, and the death penalty was also still applicable (to the woman and the man)(see above). Also, had the man mentioned in Exodus twenty-two been already married, he'd have committed adultery, as well, and been properly stoned, too -- thus unable to pay any bride price for virgins, and subsequently marry the girl.
Deuteronomy 22:28-29 -- If a man finds a young woman who is a virgin, who is not betrothed, and he seizes her and lies with her, and they are found out, then the man who lay with her shall give to the young woman's father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife because he has humbled her; he shall not be permitted to divorce her all his days.
Another key element of this passage from Deuteronomy twenty-two which behooves further disquisition is that this virgin (as well as the virgin from the twenty-second chapter of Exodus) was not pledged to be married/not betrothed. What significance does this have on the whole scheme of things?
Deuteronomy 22:23-24 -- If a young woman who is a virgin is betrothed to a husband, and a man finds her in the city and lies with her, then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones, the young woman because she did not cry out in the city, and the man because he humbled his neighbor's wife; so you shall put away the evil from among you.
Here, two key elements differ from the passages of Deuteronomy 22:28-29 and Exodus 22:16-17. In this passage, the virgin is betroth to a husband (or pledged to be married in the NIV), and both of them are to be stoned to death. Why? Because the man had humbled his neighbor's wife (or violated another man's wife in the NIV). According to God's word, a woman who is betroth or pledged to be married is already considered that man's wife -- at least as far as sexual activity with anyone else is concerned.
There is also another interesting distinction between the passage quoted above in Deuteronomy 22:23-24, and the passage which immediately follows it.
Deuteronomy 22:25-27 -- But if a man finds a betrothed young woman in the countryside, and the man forces her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her shall die. But you shall do nothing to the young woman; there is in the young woman no sin deserving of death, for just as when a man rises against his neighbor and kills him, even so is this matter. For he found her in the countryside, and the betrothed young woman cried out, but there was no one to save her.
In the former passage both of them are to be stoned. In the latter passage, only the man who lay with her shall die. But you shall do nothing to the young woman; there is in the young woman no sin deserving of death.... What differentiates one from the other? In the former passage the sexual activity was in a public place where, had the girl cried out for help, she might've been rescued. The sexual activity from the latter passage takes place in a remote, isolated location where, even had the girl cried out for help, it was unlikely anyone would've heard and rescued her. The first instance implies consent and the second does not. Consent denotes sin.
It is also interesting to note the phrase sin deserving of death, for those who, today, somehow think that -- as Christians are no longer under the law as given by Moses to Israel in the covenant community -- God somehow thinks differently about fornication and adultery in the present day and age, as it is no longer as serious as He once thought it to be, and that to even think about death and fornication in the same sentence is legalistic and not-at-all-Christian. I disagree. "He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man, that He should change His mind." (I Samuel 15:29)(NIV) If God thought fornication was a sin deserving of death three thousand years ago, you can be sure He still feels that way today.
So what, if anything, should we derive from all of this? If, as human beings, we're so desirous of sex that we simply must engage in it or burn with an unfulfillable prurience, what are we to do? The Apostle Paul had the answer, and he gave it to us through his first epistle to the believers in Corinth.
I Corinthians 7:1-2 -- Now concerning the things of which you wrote to me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband.
Here, I must reluctantly point out that the NIV translators have inappropriately translated the word marry in verse one, from the Greek words haptomai (meaning touch) and gune (meaning woman). It is obvious from the context, however, that had Paul meant marry, verse two would've been a complete contradiction of verse one: i.e. It is good for a man not to marry, but...each man should have his own wife. (The NIV did footnote this verse for alternate translation as It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.) An ingression of the more appropriately translated touch a woman (as above in the NKJV and the NASB, as well) allows for consistent translation, and clearly makes sense when the entire passage is read: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. But since there is so much immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband. (The NASB translates this passage: ...it is good for a man not to touch a woman. But because of immoralities, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband.)
Here, the Apostle Paul is expounding that if any are unable to restrain from fornication (the Greek porneia), they should marry and each have their own spouses. Under these conditions, and these conditions only, is sexual activity permitted in God's word. All other avenues of sexual expression are considered sinful, and strictly prohibited. Additionally, Leviticus, chapter eighteen, lists sixteen restrictions against specific sexual contact with close relations, women during their menstruation, animals or persons of the same sex. The required penalties for violations of such are indicated in Leviticus, chapter twenty.
It is clear, not only from the passages quoted throughout this brief chapter, but from throughout the whole word of God, that any and all sexual activity outside of marriage is regarded as evil, and was generally punishable by death. In an age when even deviant homosexuality, adultery, open promiscuity and rampant teenage procreation are viewed as "completely normal and acceptable lifestyle choices", is isn't easy to resist giving in to the ever-present, sinful cravings of the flesh. Nevertheless, God's word stands firm: All sex, except for that between a husband and his wife, is sin. It is not "acceptable behavior" and those who persist in such blatant disregard for God and the established precepts for sex and marriage He constituted will not inherit the kingdom of God.
To those, as yet, unmarried, the way is clear: Obey the LORD! What is done now can never, never, never be undone. The exclusivity of that gift God intended for you to share with one, and one alone, can never be retaken once it is spent. No amount of regret nor sorrow nor agonizing tears will ever return the special, intimate oneness you may be throwing away today.
For those who are married I offer the advice of the fifth and sixth chapters of the book of Proverbs, whose words -- written nearly three millennia ago -- are as applicable today as they were then, and will be tomorrow.
Proverbs 5:20 -- For why should you, my son, be enraptured by an immoral woman, And be embraced in the arms of a seductress?
Proverbs 6:27-29 -- Can a man take fire to his bosom, And his clothes not be burned? Can one walk on hot coals, And his feet not be seared? So is he who goes in to his neighbor's wife; Whoever touches her shall not be innocent.
Proverbs 5:15-19 -- Drink water from you own cistern, running water from your own well. Should your springs overflow in the streets, your steams of water in the public squares? Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers. May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. A loving doe, a graceful deer -- may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be captivated by her love. (NIV)
Proverbs 5:21-23 -- For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the LORD, and He ponders all his paths. His own iniquities entrap the wicked man, And he is caught in the cords of his sin. He shall die for lack of instruction, And in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.