Fornication! God is love - fact! What I would like to know as a new Christian is where does a formal marriage ceremony appear in the Bible plz. Does it teach about tying together in the law of the land? Also, if two people are deeply in love and committed, is this still fornication if they are close in spirit with a joint faith? Is it wrong to live together and be in love? And, if so, where in the Bible can I learn this part? I need all the formalities straight in my mind as I have never had a Christian relationship before and only got baptised in August, so it's all new.
The Samaritian Women at the Well is a great Example of how Jesus see's the Sin of Fornication...He hates the SIN but Loves the Sinner...Here is some verses KJV John 4:13-18 but its best when ya read the whole chapter...
13~ Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
14~ But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
15~ The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.
*** 16~ Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.
*** 17~ The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband:
*** 18~ For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.
"Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge" (Hebrews 13:4 NASB).
Here is information on the Greek word for marriage: http://www.studylight.org/lex/grk/frequency.cgi?number=1062&book=mt&translation=nsn. If you click on the links under "Verse Count," you can see where that same word is used elsewhere in the NT. In so doing, it can give you more information on what exactly is meant by marriage. Essentially, the same word was used interchangeably with "wedding" and "wedding feast." What we can take away from that is that the initial ceremony and celebration are both part of marriage. If they were distinctly different and not associated with each other, than there would have been separate words to describe them. So, when we try to define at what point a marriage begins, we can known that it starts with some kind ceremony and celebration. We should not separate the elements and decide to use one without the others. As to the exact nature of the ceremony and celebration, that will depend upon the laws and culture in one's country. As I think someone else already pointed out, the Bible instructs us to obey our governing authorities. Within the bounds of Scripture and the bounds of local laws, you then need to ask yourself how to carry out the beginning of your marriage in a way that honors the institution as God established it.
You can do the same with various other words in the verse; click on the word and then click through on the subsequent page to other verses. Here is Hebrews 13:4 with its links: http://www.studylight.org/isb/bible.cgi?query=hebrews+13%3A4§ion=0&it=nas&ot=bhs&nt=na&Enter=Perform+Search. One of the significant words in the verse is "undefiled." If you click on it, you can see that it is also used in Hebrews 7:26 in describing the perfect, unblemished character of Christ. That's a very high standard for our future marriage beds! There should be nothing in the marriage bed that taints the glorious union between husband and wife. Anything that could get in the way of the two truly becoming one has no place in the bedroom. This includes things such as memories of past sexual activity, body image issues, use of pornography... Something important to keep in mind here is the Bible uses the same word for describing oneness in marriage as it does to describe the oneness of the Trinity. In other words, a husband and wife should be as close to one another as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are with each other. The line should be so blurred between the two that there are, in fact, one. We can then ask ourselves in a daily lives, as we decide whether or not to do something, "Is this something that is going to make it difficult for me to become one with my future spouse? Is it going to get in the way of me of me giving myself over fully to him?"
Another word to look at is "honor." What does it mean for the Christian and society to honor marriage? I think that when we truly honor something, we focus on it every day. With my relationship with God, for example, for me to honor Him, He must be a part of my everyday life. Christianity isn't something where we can do our own thing all week long, and then Sunday morning spend some time in prayer that we'll appear godly at church, and then go find our modest church clothes that are buried beneath what we normally wear. In the same way, I don't think that we honor marriage when we don't think about it until the last minute. Preparing ourselves for marriage is something that we should do our entire season of singleness. We can ask ourselves everyday: "Am I doing anything in my life that is going to hinder my ability to be a godly wife and to be a part of a God-honouring marriage? Is there something I should be doing that will prepare me and my heart?" If we wait until we're already dating or engaged to ask ourselves those things, then we've waited too long. If we truly honor marriage, then we will prepare now, and that includes preparing ourselves sexually by keeping ourselves pure and dealing with any existing issues of purity.
I'm very proud of you hearing and lsitening to the voice of God in all of this. Also, know that, I was unsure as to fi you were thinking about lviing with some guy, or if you were seeking answers because some guy has tried to convience you to live with him. Some of hyour answers kinda reflected that maybe you were thinking about doing this, and/or that you are doing this, living with a guy, and having sex outside of marriage now that you have bee born again.
Also, when I use the word "YOU", I'm not always necessary speakign about You, but in term of the usages of the word in generci terms meaning for anyone isis a YOU...lol
But you are doing the proper thing, going in search for answers and everyone has provided some great counsel and scriptures to back up their spiritual views according to what God has to say, and not based their own personal opinions.:applause:
Sweetheart, you hang in there and know that any man who tries to intimidate you into having sex or living with him BEFORE marriage, you have power through Jesus Christ to tell the dude to hit the road, because he is NOT the one has for you.
WE ALL once were lost, but now we're found. And soem who profess and confess Christ are stuill lost, and think sex outside of marriage proves love. SOME OF US HAD TO FIND OUT GOD'S WAY, THE HARD WAY THORUGH MANY DANGEROUS SITIUATIONS, BUT TODAY, WE PRAISE GOD FOR HIS PERFECT LOVE, GRACE AND MERCY ON US, AND FOR HIS DELIVERANCE AND PROTECTION.
Always remember, sex ain't nothing but a 2minute thang, and this too shall pass:ROFL:.. but true love and commitment is everlasting in a godlt relationship:glow::yay:
As the old saying goes, if you must test drive a new car before you buy it.. most likely you can't afford it to be begin with. And if it is a used car, everybody has tested driven, then its already been on the road, and handled by many who have not brought it, still doesnt means its a good buy.
So, keep yourself pure, and safe from those things God has delivered you from, and do not any man test drive your car under the pretenses that he must forst drive it before he buys... know thathe can't afford it:yay:. .:glow::hearts:
Also, did you not know that the things you use to do before you were saved, and have turn away from doing when you became a born again Christian, are not held to your charge? Meaning, if you use to live with guys or sleep around with a guy who was your boyfriend, and you no longer do such since you have given your life to the lord... this means you are a virgin all over again.
Your sins of the past are no longe, because God has put them as far as the east is to the west into the sea of forgetfulness to rememberthem no more. I didn't write this , this Scripture.
