What does the Bible say about sex?

Let's talk about sex. Yes, the word "S". As young Christians, we have probably been warned not to have sex before the wedding. You may have had the impression that God thinks sex is bad, but the Bible says something completely contrary. When viewed from a divine perspective, sex in the Bible is an excellent thing.

What does the Bible say about sex?
Wait. What? Is sex a good thing? God created sex. Not only did God design sex for reproduction - for us to make children - He created sexual intimacy for our pleasure. The Bible says that sex is a way for husband and wife to express their mutual love. God created sex to be a beautiful and pleasant expression of love:

Then God created man in his image, in the image of God he created him; male and female created them. God blessed them and said to them: "Be fruitful and increase in number." (Genesis 1: 27-28, NIV)
For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and join his wife, and they will become one flesh. (Genesis 2:24, NIV)
May your source be blessed and rejoice in the wife of your youth. A loving doe, a graceful deer: that your breasts will always satisfy you, that you will never be fascinated by his love. (Proverbs 5: 18-19, NIV)
"How beautiful you are and how pleasant it is, o love, with your delights!" (Song of Songs 7: 6, NIV)
The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord and the Lord for the body. (1 Corinthians 6:13, NIV)

The husband should satisfy the wife's sexual needs and the wife should satisfy the husband's needs. The wife gives authority over her body to her husband and the husband gives authority over his body to his wife. (1 Corinthians 7: 3-5, NLT)
Quite right. There is a lot of talk about sex around us. We read it in almost all magazines and newspapers, we see it in TV shows and films. It is in the music we listen to. Our culture is saturated with sex, making it seem that sex before marriage is going well because it feels good.

But the Bible disagrees. God calls all of us to control our passions and wait for marriage:

But since there is so much immorality, every man should have his wife and every woman his husband. The husband should fulfill his conjugal duty towards his wife and likewise the wife towards her husband. (1 Corinthians 7: 2-3, NIV)
Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed must be pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all that is sexually immoral. (Hebrews 13: 4, NIV)

It is God's will that you be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your body in a holy and honorable way, (1 Thessalonians 4: 3-4, NIV)
What if I already had sex?
If you had sex before becoming a Christian, remember, God forgives our past sins. Our transgressions are covered by the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross.

If you were already a believer but fell into sexual sin, there is still hope for you. While you cannot go back to being a virgin again in a physical sense, you can obtain God's forgiveness. Simply ask God to forgive you and then make a sincere commitment not to continue sinning that way.

True repentance means turning away from sin. What angers God is an intentional sin, when you know you are sinning, but continue to participate in that sin. While giving up on sex can be difficult, God calls us to remain sexually pure until marriage.

Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed through Jesus. Through him all those who believe are justified by all that the law of Moses could not be justified. (Acts 13: 38-39, NIV)
It is necessary to refrain from eating food offered to idols, from consuming blood or meat from strangled animals and from sexual immorality. If you do, you will do well. Goodbye. (Acts 15:29, NLT)
Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity or greed between you. Such sins have no place among God's people. (Ephesians 5: 3, NLT)
God's will is that you are holy, so stay away from all sexual sins. Therefore each of you will control your own body and live in holiness and honor, not in lustful passion like the pagans who do not know God and his ways. Never harm or cheat a Christian brother in this matter by violating his wife, for the Lord avenges all these sins, as we solemnly warned you previously. God called us to live holy lives, not impure lives. (1 Thessalonians 4: 3–7, NLT)
Here's the good news: if you truly repent of sexual sin, God will make you new and clean again, restoring your purity in a spiritual sense.

How can I resist?
As believers, we must fight temptation every day. Being tempted is not sin. Only when we give in to temptation do we sin. So how can we resist the temptation to have sex outside of marriage?

The desire for sexual intimacy can be very strong, especially if you've already had sex. Only by relying on God for strength can we truly overcome temptation.

No temptation has caught you, except what is common to man. And God is faithful; will not let you tempt beyond what you can bear. But when you're tempted, it will also provide you with a way out to allow yourself to resist. (1 Corinthians 10:13 - NIV)