Background for discussing "sex outside marriage."

How do we answer those who claim,  “The Bible doesn’t say we can’t do it.”  One of the Ten Commandments says “You shall not commit adultery.”  Since the word  adultery means that married people should not have sex with someone else, they feel that God does not prohibit sex between unmarried people.  But the Bible does not limit its commands about sex only to people who are married. 

 Consider the experience of Joseph, the great-grandson of Abraham, the one who was sold as a slave into Egypt.  This quote is from Geneses chapter 39:

 Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, ⁷ and after a while his master's wife took notice of Joseph and said, "Come to bed with me!"
⁸ But he refused. "With me in charge," he told her, "my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. ⁹ No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?" ¹⁰ And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.

 Though the woman was married, Joseph was unmarried, and already at that early stage of history God’s people knew that sex outside marriage was against God’s will.

 In the New Testament, the Greek language is used.  In the quotes below, the phrase “sexual immorality” does not translate the Greek word for adultery, but translates a different Greek word that means all sex outside of marriage:

 1 Corinthians 6:18 says:  “Flee sexual immorality.   All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.  Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you?”

 It is legitimate to ask what the meaning of that term “sexual immorality” is.  Fortunately, we can find the answer, because this term is used 53 times in the New Testament.  In all cases, it is presented as something God does not want.  A few of these times, the actual action is described, and so we can know what is included in the term.  It is clear that it is not just a command to married people.  Here are some of the places:

 1 Corinthians 6:13.  The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. ¹⁴By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. ¹⁵Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never!

 1 Corinthians 5:1.  ¹It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father's wife. ²And you are proud! Shouldn't you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this?

 1 Thessalonians 4:3.  ³It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; ⁴that each of you should learn to control his own body^[1] in a way that is holy and honorable, ⁵not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; ⁶and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you

 Following are Small group discussion questions:

1.  What are some reasons people use to say that sex should be saved for marriage?

2.  What are some reasons people use to say that it is OK to have sex outside of marriage?

3.  Does the Bible have input on this issue?  From the Bible standpoint, is it moral or immoral to have sex outside of marriage?  What is clear and what is unclear about the Bible input?

4.  Are there people who call themselves Christians who also have sex outside of marriage?  What might be their reasons?

5.  What can be done to help our culture become more moral in this area?

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