Variety: 1 Corinthians 6v13

The body is meant not for sexual immorality but for the Lord and the Lord for the body.  1 Corinthians 6:13

The Old and New Testaments affirm that sexual intercourse belongs exclusively within the covenant of marriage. For many today, this approach to sex is a big reason for rejecting the Bible, even though many of the values our culture insists on – individual rights, gender equality, consent for intimacy – have come from the Bible and were revolutionary in their time.

In his letters, Paul draws a sharp contrast between the values of the prevailing culture and those found in Scripture. While avoiding a judgmental stance based on prejudice, Paul is still prepared to judge between true and false ideas. We also must walk this tightrope. God loves our world and everyone in it, but he does not endorse practices that are contrary to his pattern.

An overly romantic view of sex assumes that if two people ‘love each other’, intercourse is a legitimate next step. Of course, sex includes romance and passion, but it must be based on more than that. The marriage ceremony doesn’t ask, ‘Do you love this person?’ but, ‘Will you love this person?’ The promise transcends how you feel. It’s a decision of the will, come what may, ‘for better for worse, in sickness and in health, until death do us part’. Romance and passion may be the icing, but the cake is commitment.

The Bible does not root our ‘authentic self’ in identity politics or sexual preference. Sex is an activity or behaviour in the Bible, something you do rather than who you are. Body image, straight or gay desires, experiences of gender dysphoria: these are very real challenges. But they do not define our identity in the way that modern society suggests.

That’s why we need to root our identity in something more stable than our sexuality. Ultimately, our true worth is derived from being created in God’s image and redeemed by Christ’s blood.

For the sake of the world, a Christian view of sex must not conform to any cultural pressures which go against God’s plan, but remain graciously countercultural. In the light of modern challenges such as pornography and casual sex, which bring emptiness and pain, the biblical values that bring peace and wholeness are still needed today.

Andrew Ollerton