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Sexual Freedom

by Rev. Alan R. Wolcott

According to the Bible, sexual purity is more than just another social viewpoint—it is “God’s will.” Sex outside of marriage is much more than a physical or romantic act—it is a violation of the laws of God. Society has changed its mind about sex; the Creator has not. He does not determine what’s right by opinion polls.
—Ron Hutchcraft

Unfortunately there is a vicious lie about sexuality parading around in Freedom’s clothing these days. It is the fallacy that as long as sex is between consenting adults/adolescents (They want in on the action, too!) it is nobody’s business except the participants’. Baldly, sexual freedom is the right to personal satisfaction. But ominous statistics call into question the smugness of those who preach this gospel. Various demographic and medical studies in the 1990s show that following the adoption of Title X in 1970—a bill guaranteeing teens access to contraceptives at federally funded clinics across the nation—the number of teen births out of wedlock did not diminish, it escalated. The cost of this to society ran to billions of dollars annually. Other studies confirm that of the 1.4 million of so women who have abortions annually in America, over 80% are to women who are unmarried or separated. Medical costs for the treatment of STDs have run in the range of $10 billion annually, because there are over 50 million of us with these illnesses.

Nobody else’s business indeed!

Of course, statistics do not report the broken hearts, ruined homes, child abuse, sexual addictions, despair and hurt of individuals—innocent and otherwise—caught in the tangled web of a bungled “sexual revolution.” None can deny that American attitudes and sexual behavior today are different than a generation or two ago. We have sown our wild oats, only to reap the whirlwind personally and as a society.

Is this freedom?

God is blunt in the Bible about his expectations for human sexual behavior. “Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral” (Hebrews 13.4 NIV). “But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people” (Ephesians 5.3 NIV). “‘I hate divorce,’ says the LORD God of Israel, ‘and I hate man’s covering himself with violence as well as with his garment,’ says the LORD Almighty” (Malachi 3.16 NIV).

At the dawn of biblical history, when God brought Eve to Adam, the Divine intention was that the two share an exclusive, mutually satisfying marriage partnership. Adam said, “’This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called “woman,” for she was taken out of man.’ For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh” (Genesis 2.23,24 NIV). Without citing further texts, it can be affirmed that the consistent message of Holy Scripture about human sexuality is that intercourse is to be practiced exclusively within the covenant of marriage by consent between heterosexual partners—with God’s blessing! That’s the intent of the Creator. He invented sex, and planned for it to be protected by the security of marriage and bounded all around with love.

Doesn’t this stifle freedom?

One might similarly ask, “Doesn’t restricting the football game to the designated playing field limit the quarterback’s freedom?” Sure it does. But it’s playing on the field, with the rules handed down by the creator(s) that make it football and not “Calvinball.” Within the boundaries every team is free to create and play as simply or with whatever sophistication they desire.

Sexual freedom as God intends it includes his blessing, a clear conscience and complete confidence in one’s partner. Lest any suppose that this imposes a bothersome bridle or precludes personal fulfillment, consider the opening lines to the Bible ballad of love, “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—for your love is more delightful than wine. Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes; your name is like perfume poured out. No wonder the maidens love you! Take me away with you—let us hurry! Let the king bring me into his chambers” (Song of Songs 1.2-4). Never tawdry, the text is blushingly erotic, and in everyone’s Bible.

God is not surprised that we find sex so intriguing, so wrenching, so compelling and so prone to misuse. That’s why there are rules. Sexual abstinence before marriage and sexual exclusiveness with marriage are his unchanging standards for purity. Doing it his way is both safe and satisfying—as every descendant of Adam and Eve knows, who’s raised a little cain!