Davesnotslave - I think you are confusing the issue here.
Lets call Sex > physical acts - touching intimate sexual places, sexual acts between adults etc.
You may want to say that you find touching someone's hand sexually charged. This is not really the issue. That issue is more with yourself. The issue being raised is....
Is it biblically OK for me to have a sexual relationship ( i.e. naked and involving the chest area and genitals) before a wedding ceremony fitting to the country and culture you currently live in.
Biblical answer - NO.
As i said before - Marriage between man and women is designed to resemble the relationship between God and Mankind. A VERY intermit relationship - inside that relationship only.
You could try and argue "Oh we are going to get married soon, so its OK to have sex now" but you dont know u will get married for sure. By friend's engagement was broken off 3 days before the wedding. U just dont know.
As I also said before, if you have already fallen into this, there is grace. You haven't blown your only chance with God, or for lifelong happiness.
However, Wesley was Armenian because of the unholy attitude of the Calvinists of the day, using God's sovereignty as an excuse not to evangelise.
I prefer the Armenian view point (that all have the choice to be saved, therefore no-one is instantly condemned to hell) and i know there are scriptures that back this viewpoint up.
I know that there are more scriptures backing up Calvinism, and that it is probably the truest viewpoint.
HOWEVER, I KNOW ARGUING ABOUT THE TWO POINTS TAKES US AWAY FROM MORE IMPORTANT POINTS LIKE EVANGELISM.
In the end it doesnt seem to affect how amazing God is. He still saved me, a wretched sinner.
first things first - if you have had sex before marriage, don't feel condemned, or that you have blown your chances with God.
To answer this question you need to look at what sex was designed to be before sin came into the world and mucked things up.
Sex is a practical illustration of what our relationship with God should be. Intimate, loving, pleasurable. Male and female as a picture of God and mankind. And originally between 1 man and 1 woman in a convernant relationship (marriage)
So we move to today. God still wants sex to mean the same. He hasnt changed his mind. But the sinful world has forgotten what sex was designed to be, and so use it wrongly.
God would want us to use what he designed the way he designed it.
Story example - a deaf boy creates his own sign language to communicate with the world. he makes a sign with his hands to show "love". the people the boy knows also start using that hand sign to say "love'. But then others see the sign, and dont know what it means.
so they start using it for anything they want. Soon the hand sign is a rude sign and used instead of swearing.
The boy is heartbroken, his sign of love now broken. So the boy's friends agree to only use the sign again to mean "love", and they tell anyone who asks what the true meaning of the sign is.
Im sorry Bush256, but are you trying to make us doubt the leaders God has put for us?
Hebrews 13v17 - Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.
1 Timothy 5:17
The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.
Finally - Romans 13 v1,2
Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
Please don't try to encourage people to doubt and disrespect the authorities God has given them.
Both. Im a competitive guy, and I want a girl who challenges me in my faith, rather than trying to drag her up to my level if that makes sense.
GIRL 1 - a person who says they are a christian but doesn't read the bible, is like a person who says they support a football team but dont know the game scores, own any of the kits, doesnt know the player names and is hard pressed to even know where their home ground is! Yes, they may be a supported, but their not invited to my house to watch the game. They will be asking "what's that mean?" and "Who's that?" the whole way through.
GIRL 2 - a person with poor theology suggests strongly they have poor foundations. The waters have already come and their house has moved away with the water. They have already moved away, and will move again.
BOTH can be helped with many hours, but they would want to change, and God has to be in it.
You would do better trying to find a wise girl who doesnt need fixing.
seriously, I love that there are lots of Christian book reviews here, but this is not one of them. Im not going to pretend im super spiritual and only read theology. Im not even going to pretend i read more theology than non-Christian. Im on about 1 Christian book to every 10 non-Christian.
