Why is Virginity Important According to the Bible?

Purity Part 2

Hello my adorable Thinkers!

Today’s topic might step on some toes so please keep in mind that these are my opinions and not what I think everyone should do. If God has led you in a different direction or to a different conclusion, that is between you and Him.

There is no specific command in scripture to not have sex before marriage. What scripture does speak against is sexual immorality. To understand what sexual immorality is, we need to see how it is defined in scripture. In Leviticus 18:6-23 We are told that nobody may lie with any family member, relative, someone else’s wife, man with man, or an animal. Nor should you lie with a woman who is on her period. This is sexual immorality.  Leviticus 18:29 “For everyone who does any of these abominations, the persons who do them shall be cut off from among their people.”  Then we have Exodus 20:14 and Deuteronomy 5:18 “You shall not commit adultery.” Which as is seen in Matthew 5:27-28 means you should not even look at a woman lustfully.

This brings up the question, if having sex outside of marriage is not unlawful, is it wrong? Genesis 2:24 “For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become as one flesh.” To become one flesh is to become as if you are married physically and mentally. Paul goes into more depth on this verse in 1 Corinthians 6:12-20,

“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”

This is speaking of prostituting yourself or the idea of having “casual sex”.  But the act of becoming one flesh is not the same as the act of joining in marriage. Otherwise there would be no distinction in scripture between a wife and a concubine such as seen in Genesis 25:5-6. The difference is in the spiritual aspect of marriage. Spiritual purity has to do with the authority of the father over the daughter, and the authority of the husband over the wife. The thing that makes “casual” sex wrong, is that it is a joining as in marriage without the transference of authority from the father to the husband. (In the topic of spiritual authority I will go into more depth about what it means to be under a father’s or husband’s authority.)

If you would like more information on the purpose and place of sex in a relationship, here is an article about the Jewish perspective on sex. As I have said before, I do not necessarily agree with everything in the article, but I found it very informative. Here is a link to the first part of this series.

That is all for today. Until next time! ~The Pondering Panda