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A number
of scriptural principles apply. This, of course, comes from an
understanding that there are many passages that speak of sex as only
being between a man and a woman, being married to each other,
exclusive from all others...
Mark
10:5b-9 Jesus replied. 6 "But at the beginning of creation God
'made them male and female.' 'For this reason a man will leave his
father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become
one flesh.' So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God
has joined together, let man not separate." (NIV)
The
example of Scriptures is not only that sex is for procreation, but
also as something pleasurable for both.
Proverbs
5:18-19 May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife
of your youth. 19 A loving doe, a graceful deer — may her
breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be captivated by her love. (NIV)
Song of
Solomon 7:5-10 Your hair is like royal tapestry; the king is held
captive by its tresses. 6 How beautiful you are and how pleasing, O
love, with your delights! 7 Your stature is like that of the palm,
and your breasts like clusters of fruit. 8 I said, "I will climb
the palm tree; I will take hold of its fruit." May your breasts
be like the clusters of the vine, the fragrance of your breath like
apples, 9 and your mouth like the best wine. May the wine go straight
to my lover, flowing gently over lips and teeth. 10 I belong to my
lover, and his desire is for me. (NIV)
Song of
Solomon 8:10 I am a wall, and my breasts are like towers. Thus I have
become in his eyes like one bringing contentment. (NIV)
A few more
passages help set additional principles for both husbands and wives...
1
Corinthians 7:33, 34b But a married man is concerned about the
affairs of this world — how he can please his wife — ... a
married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world — how
she can please her husband. (NIV)
Ephesians
5:28-33 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their
own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one
ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as
Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body. 31
"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be
united to his wife , and the two will become one flesh." 32 This
is a profound mystery — but I am talking about Christ and the
church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he
loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. (NIV)
1
Corinthians 7:3-5a The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his
wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. 4 The wife's body does
not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the
husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife . 5
Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent... (NIV)
In quick
summary, this leaves all sexual acts between a husband and wife as:
-
Something
that is by the consent of both
-
Something
that is seeking to please each other
-
Something
that would not harm the other
-
Something
that encourages respect
-
Something
that shouldn't be withheld from the other (except by mutual consent)
Scriptures
does point out an area that should be guarded against in a marital relationship...
Ephesians
5:3 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. (NIV)
The word
translated into English as "sexual immorality" is the Greek
word "porneia". While it has broad meaning including
adultery, incest, etc., it is also the root of our modern word
"pornography". Pornography, brought into the marriage
relationship, is equivalent to bringing another individual into the
marriage -- something that is not permitted by God and is, in fact, a
form of adultery. Any fantasy of the husband or wife should involve
only the other.
1
Corinthians 6:18, 7:2 Flee from sexual immorality [porneia]. All
other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins
sexually sins against his own body. ... since there is so much
immorality [porneia], each man should have his own wife, and each
woman her own husband. (NIV) |
