What Does the Bible Say About Sex?

What Does the Bible Say About Sex?

If you bring up a sexual topic among a group of Christian moms, you’re likely to get responses from embarrassment to outright disgust. But these mothers have obviously had their own sexual experiences. Their children are the proof!

So why is sex still such a taboo subject among believers? Does the Bible tell us to feel ashamed of our sexuality, or should Christians be just as proud as other groups about their natural sexual desires? Let’s take a look at what the Bible actually says about sex…

In the book of Genesis, God gave a clear command to Adam and Eve to be fruitful and increase their number on the Earth (Genesis 1: 27-28, NIV). Fortunately for us, God crafted us with innate human desires to follow this commandment.


But sex is not just an act of procreation. Sexual intimacy is also a way to express deep love and caring for your spouse. It’s also a proven method of emotional bonding that is necessary for a strong Christian marriage.

The Bible refers to sexual intimacy in Genesis 2:24 when it says, “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.” So it’s clear that God sanctioned sexual intercourse even in the early scriptures.

What are intimacy problems in a Christian marriage?

Christian marriage intimacy issues are the same intimacy issues in any marriage. Popular problems include unmatched libido, low self-confidence due to bodily insecurities, and unmet sexual desires.

Why do Christian marriages lose intimacy?

The most common cause of intimacy loss is the stress caused by everyday life concerns: kids, work, health, and money issues are the most common reasons that couples lose interest in marital intimacy.

What are the four types of intimacy?

The four types of intimacy are physical intimacy, emotional intimacy, intellectual intimacy, and shared activities.

How often do married couples make love?

In a recent survey, married couples reported making love an average of 98 times per year.

Sex is God’s Gift to Marriage

The Bible does not discourage sex within marriage. In fact, many believers feel that the Bible encourages uninhibited sexual intimacy within marriage in Hebrews 13:4 that says, “Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.”

Clearly, marriage is the key that unlocks the door to God-sanctioned sexual pleasure. Take a look at what the scripture says in Proverbs 5:18-19:

May your fountain be blessed,
    and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.
A loving doe, a graceful deer—
    may her breasts satisfy you always,
    may you ever be intoxicated with her love.

Proverbs 5:18-19 New International Version (NIV)

Does the Bible Limit Sexual Pleasure?

God’s word reserves approval of sexual pleasure for the sanctity of marriage alone. That doesn’t mean that sexual encounters outside of marriage are not pleasurable in a carnal sense. But it does mean that God does not permit sexual activity outside of marriage. Therefore, it is critical for Christians to abstain from sexual encounters until you can earn God’s green light through the marriage covenant.

Is Premarital Sex Wrong?

Yes.

For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:

1 Thessalonians 4:3 King James Version (KJV)

Bible Verses About Sex

I am afraid that when I come again my God will humble me before you, and I will be grieved over many who have sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual sin and debauchery in which they have indulged.

2 Corinthians 12:21 New International Version (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 New International Version (NIV)

However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

Ephesians 5:33 New International Version (NIV)

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;

Galatians 5:19 New International Version (NIV)

That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

Genesis 2:24 New International Version (NIV)

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 New International Version (NIV)

Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men

1 Corinthians 6:9 New International Version (NIV)

Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.

1 Corinthians 6:18 New International Version (NIV)

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9 New International Version (NIV)

But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Matthew 5:28 New International Version (NIV)

22 adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.23 All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”

Mark 7:22-23 New International Version (NIV)

It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God;

1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 New International Version (NIV)

“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 flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

Mark 10:6-9 New International Version (NIV)

15 Drink water from your own cistern,
    running water from your own well.
16 Should your springs overflow in the streets,
    your streams of water in the public squares?
17 Let them be yours alone,
    never to be shared with strangers.
18 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 intoxicated with her love.

Proverbs 5:15-19 New International Version (NIV)

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 New International Version (NIV)

How beautiful you are and how pleasing,
    my love, with your delights!
Your stature is like that of the palm,
    and your breasts like clusters of fruit.
I said, “I will climb the palm tree;
    I will take hold of its fruit.”
May your breasts be like clusters of grapes on the vine,
    the fragrance of your breath like apples,
    and your mouth like the best wine.

May the wine go straight to my beloved,
    flowing gently over lips and teeth.
10 I belong to my beloved,
    and his desire is for me.
11 Come, my beloved, let us go to the countryside,
    let us spend the night in the villages.
12 Let us go early to the vineyards
    to see if the vines have budded,
if their blossoms have opened,
    and if the pomegranates are in bloom—
    there I will give you my love.

Song of Songs 7:6-12 New International Version (NIV)

13 You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. 15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! 16 Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” 17 But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.

18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. 19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

1 Corinthians 6:13-20 New International Version (NIV)

Christian Sex Books

The following titles are a collection of useful resources on the topic of Christian Sex and intimacy. These wonderful books combine a faith-based lifestyle with our natural biological urges in a way that is enriching to a Christian lifestyle.

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