Human Sexuality in the Christian Life is a study that was commissioned by the Mennonite Church and the General Conference Mennonite Church. During the past four years, the joint committee worked hard at fulfilling the mandate given to it. The committee set the following goals in order to accomplish its task:

1. develop guiding principles which can help persons struggling with a broad range of sexual concerns;

2. speak forthrightly the mind of Christ in the midst of the sexual revolution which has given rise to a new permissiveness in North American society; and

3. clarify our position of God-given sexuality with regard to premarital and extramarital intercourse and homosexual behavior within the larger context of sexuality.

The Mennonite Church General Board stated the following in its mandate to the task force: "In light of the Holy Scriptures, the General Board affirms the historic stance of the church that heterosexual relations outside of marriage and homosexual relations are contrary to the will of God."

The General Board of the General Conference Mennonite Church took action to initiate a study process in the congregations on homosexuality within the context of human sexuality.

There are many questions that need clarification in such a study. In the Anabaptist model, authority is found in the process of dialogue and discussion of all members of the church rather than in a few leaders legislating morality. It is for this reason that our denominations felt the need for such a study process.{12}

0.2.1 Our way of working  [go to Top]  [go to Table of Contents]

You will recall that at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in 1983, we presented a document on the biblical and theological background of human sexuality. During the past two years, we encouraged congregations to study this report and the Scriptures as a way of providing direction for the total report which will deal with the expressions of human sexuality

In general, the committee was able to come to agreement on the issues under discussion. At times, the process has been slow because of the need to hear each other. Many of the issues under discussion are of a sensitive nature. It took us over two years to build trust before we could openly share our convictions and beliefs with one another.

We hope persons in our congregations will not become discouraged with the hesitancy to join such a study that they may find among some persons. It will take time to build the trust needed to discuss these sexual questions. But we hope you will take part in the study and encourage others to participate as well. Sensitivity and humility are important attitudes to bring to this study.

Preparation of this document called for each committee member to study one particular area of the work. Following research, each brought a written summary to the committee which read and critiqued the material after which it was rewritten. All the material has gone through several readings and rewritings.

0.2.2 How to begin your study  [go to Top]  [go to Table of Contents]

We hope that congregations will choose to study this document in its totality. We believe that it could be used as a Sunday school elective or as a study for midweek or Sunday evening groups Pastors may wish to team with several lay persons to lead the study. At the end of each section we have given some questions {13} for study and discussion, suggestions for audio-visual aids, and biblical passages that can be used as part of the study period.

The list of films that we have given is not exhaustive. Most film libraries may be able to suggest other resources. Contact your public library, the National Film Board of Canada, and denominational film libraries such as the Board of Congregational Ministries (Elkhart, Ind.), Faith and Life Press (Newton, Kan.), and the Congregational Resources Board (Winnipeg). Ask for help. Films can be real assets in creating awareness and understanding. But it is most important to preview any film you might select. You may choose to use only a portion of a particular item for your session.

Professional persons in your community may be willing to serve as resource persons. You may wish to invite a resource person or a couple to spend a weekend with your congregation to work through some of the material or to introduce the study. Dramas and debates can also be helpful.

It will be understandable that some persons and groups will read and critique one section first because of a special issue facing their congregation, family, or friends. However, in order to deal with specific sexual problems, we believe, we need first to understand the basic theological and biblical foundation of human sexuality.

This paper is a document for study and dialogue. It is not a reference guide on sexual issues. Rather, it is a study paper to assist the church in looking at our attitudes toward human sexuality. We ask that you not comment on a particular area of concern until you have read and reflected on the total report.

0.2.3 Begin with the Bible  [go to Top]  [go to Table of Contents]

In this study, we consciously chose to begin with the biblical materials and to understand them in their context. We believe that God has guided and {14} communicated truth through the centuries to people through the biblical record, the Scriptures and through that discernment that discovers and interprets direction for humanity on difficult social issues.

The committee also drew from the resources of the social science disciplines. Our goal was to understand such resources in the light of the Christian faith. We believe such witness can also be God's voice for our consideration and direction.

We did not deal with every issue facing us in the human sexual realm. Abortion is one such issue. It was studied by the Mennonite Church in 1975 and the General Conference Mennonite Church in 1980.[1] We believe that these statements can still serve to assist the church on this important issue. There may be other issues that you may wish we would have spoken to. We welcome and request your feedback both on the content of our study and on omissions from the study. Send your suggestions to: Coordinator, Committee on Human Sexuality, Box 1245, Elkhart, Indiana 46515.

0.2.4 Sharing your counsel  [go to Top]  [go to Table of Contents]

At the conclusion of this study process, we hope to formulate a summary statement. Therefore, we need the counsel of our congregations on sexual issues such as: What are the appropriate expressions of intimacy?

Note:
1. See Abortion: A Summary Statement, adopted by the Mennonite Church General Assembly, August 5-10, 1975, published by Mennonite Publishing House, Scottdale PA 15683; and Guidelines on Abortion, adopted by the General Conference Mennonite Church at its triennial sessions at Estes Park, Colorado, July 17, 1980, available from Box 347, Newton KS 67114. Also of value for persons wanting to study this issue further is an Abortion Packet available for $2.00 from Faith and Life Press, Box 347, Newton KS 67114.

{15}What is the meaning of marriage as a covenant versus marriage as a contract? What are the issues related to single persons and to heterosexual and homosexual relations?

In order to receive your counsel, each Mennonite Church congregation will receive a list of questions from us within the next year. Please answer the questions and return the form to us. We need your response in order to prepare the summary statement for discussion at the 1987 General Assembly. General Conference congregations will receive a separate letter on how to respond in preparation for their 1986 triennial sessions.

We sensed God's Spirit at work during our study. God was able to use each person in unique ways in building different parts of the document. We hope that this report can be a resource for the teaching ministry of the church, and help us relate with understanding to those who may choose a sexual expression that differs from the historic stance of the church.

THE HUMAN SEXUALITY STUDY COMMITTEE: from the Mennonite Church: Howard Charles, David Helmuth (staff, first two years), Willard Krabill, Naomi Lederach, Enos Martin, Wilmer Martin (co-chair), Wayne North (General Board) Lois Janzen Preheim (secretary), and Lavon Welty (staff, second two years); from the General Conference Mennonite Church: Kenneth Bauman, Sue Flickinger, Sue Goerzen (co-chair), Herta Funk (staff, first two years), Vern Preheim (General Board), Maynard Shelly, and Elsie Steelberg.

April 1985  [go to Top]  [go to Table of Contents]
 

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Sexuality involves all those feelings that come to mind when someone says, either, "I am female," or "I am male."

Sexuality refers to more than sexual organs and to much more than sexual intercourse. It is a way of living in a body as a person with sexual drives that bear on each person's way of thinking, feeling, and acting.

The Bible has much to say about sexuality even though this is certainly not its main concern. While centering in on God's acts and the responses of God's people, the Scriptures do give us keen insights and basic directions to help us shape a wholesome understanding about the meaning of sex.

As we approach the Bible, we must respect the character of the biblical materials. These texts were written over a long span of time. Each document deserves to be interpreted first from within its own period of history. The differing settings in which God's people found themselves gave varying shape to their understandings of how God wanted them to live. And it is not always possible to place all their insights into one uniform code of conduct.

We also know that while the Bible contains in its records reports of incest, adultery, and divorce, this does not mean that God's people accepted these things as proper. They recognized, as do we, that the best{17} ideals are not always reflected in daily life.

In Jesus Christ, God gave the best and final understanding of how we ought to live. The growing ideals for conduct expressed in the old Testament as well as the appropriate response of faith find their fullest and most complete expression in the New Testament.

1.1 Basic Insights from Genesis  [go to Top]  [go to Table of Contents]

We cannot treat all the passages in the Bible that speak of sex and sexuality. But we will try to deal, in this chapter and the one that follows, with the most important passages.

Genesis and 2 is one such text for it gives us a broad understanding of who we are as persons. Here we have two accounts of the creation of humankind, one in Genesis 1:1--2:4a, and the second in 2:4b-25. Both, in different ways, show that human beings were the most important work of the Creator. In Genesis 1, the human race came as the climax of the Creation (1:26-31). In Genesis 2, all through the account, the main attention is focused on the human being (2:7-24), with only slight attention given to other forms of life.

1.1.1 Linked to earth and God  [go to Top]  [go to Table of Contents]

God formed the human creature from the dust of the ground (2:7). Thus, people have a kinship with the animals (1:24-25; 2:19). So, in our physical form, we should expect to find that the human body has things in common with the higher forms of animal life.

But we also know that the human and animal orders do differ. Though both were made from the ground, God breathed into the human body "the breath of life" and the creature "became a living being" (2:7). Even if this implied no more than the gift of life, the way in which this life was given suggests that God had a {18} special regard for this being. This defines the difference between the animal orders and human life.

This is made plain in other ways. Only humankind, both female and male, is said to be made "in the image of God" (1:27). We are truly personal--creatures who exist with a nature like God. And in being like God, we are unlike the animals. Humankind ranks above the animals for they are given dominion over the lower orders of creation (1:26, 28) and are given the task of assigning names to birds and beasts (2:19-20).[2]

Clearly, as persons, we are more than animals. Like the animals, we have sex organs, sexual urges, and the ability to reproduce. Yet our sexuality is more than the sum of our sexual parts. Sexuality defines the way we live as persons and how we relate to others. Sexuality becomes a part of our way of living: we are creatures who have been given a link to God and our lives hold special dignity and purpose.

1.1.2 Beings of unity  [go to Top]  [go to Table of Contents]

Under the influence of Greek thought, later writers came to make a sharp division between soul and body. They thought the so-called spiritual nature of the soul made it more godlike than the body with its physical character. The body, in fact, was seen by the Greeks as a prison that kept the true self or the soul from reaching its goal of true spirituality.

But in the biblical view, the human creature is a being of unity (Gen. 2:7). Certainly, we do not see the soul separate from the body. Nor are we to see the soul as the real self and a form higher than the body. God's inbreathing formed a living being.

Note:
2. For further exposition on Genesis 1-2, see "Beings Male and Female" in the section on "Femaleness and Maleness" in Chapter 2, page 47.

Of course, the Old Testament does take account of {19} the two-sidedness of our existence with an inner spiritual nature and an outer physical form. But the two are fully knit together. The parts express themselves as a single being.

1.1.3 A one-flesh union  [go to Top]  [go to Table of Contents]

The union of male and female in marriage is mentioned only briefly in the creation account, but a great deal of meaning can be drawn from the symbol of "one flesh" (Gen. 2:24). It implies a real and intimate partnership at all levels of married life. This condition does not come automatically at the beginning of a marriage. It is a relationship that grows and matures through the years.

Note that marriage is but one way in which we may relate as female and male. It is not the first or even a necessary way in which the sexes can or must relate "All persons, whether married or unmarried, are in relationship by virtue of their creation; some choose to become related as husband and wife."[3]

Marriage does provide for the birth and nurture of children in order that humankind might continue to live on earth. This is made clear in the first account of creation (1:28). Genesis 2 gives no attention to reproduction, focusing instead on the partnership between wife and husband. The marriage bond that is strong and deep provides the most favorable home for the raising of children.

Note:
3. Ross T. Bender, "Coming to Terms with Sexuality," Builder, May 1985.

1.1.4 Life at its best in God  [go to Top]  [go to Table of Contents]

These two chapters do more than describe the creation {20} of sexual beings.

They put these persons into the larger world of relationships in which women and men live and express their sexuality. The human pair was not completely free to order its own course. God called them to live in response to their Creator's design (2:15-17). Their future well-being depended on their obedience and response to God.

The biblical story shows how people found wholeness in their sexuality when they lived within God's framework. But they also discovered the pain that came to them when God's intentions were ignored.

Genesis 3 describes in stark terms the coming of sin. The consequences were grave. It upset the relations between the man and the woman and between them and God. The temptation to sin and the events that followed involved the total person--bodily senses, the inner life of the spirit, and the power of the will to choose (Gen. 3:6-7). Far from being an impersonal event, sin was a personal act by the human creature choosing to live apart from the Creator. Once out of touch with God, the human being is drawn into patterns of living that widen the separation between people and lead to ever greater disharmony. The decline was reflected in the relationship between the sexes. Before the Fall, Adam and Eve lived without shame (2:25). When shame was absent, it meant that all was well within the relationship between woman and man and between them and God. They reflected the good design of their Creator. Sin marred this condition and left them with a sense of shame (Gen. 3:7), a shame whose coming meant a failure to live in tune with God and with other persons.

How profound are the insights into human sexuality that we glean from even a brief study of Genesis 1-31. Here are the foundations for understanding sexuality in the remainder of the Old Testament and the whole New Testament as well. Other passages will expand on these insights, but none will depart from them.

{21}
1.1.5 For study and discussion  [go to Top]  [go to Table of Contents]

1. What is your definition of sexuality? Check the references in the index for "sexuality defined."

2. Read the following Scriptures and write a short statement for each on the teaching about sexuality that you find: Genesis 1:1-2:4a; 2:4b-25; 3:1-7.

3. What does the term one flesh mean?

4. What Scriptures have shaped your understanding of sexuality?

5. Genesis expects a mature and responsible relationship between man and woman, between husband and wife. What are the marks of such a mature and responsible relationship?

6. Sin destroys human relationships. In what way can the church offer the redeeming word of forgiveness to its members?

Films: Male and Female--God Created Us by Ralph and Mary Cline Detrick (a series of three films).

1.2 The Rest of the Old Testament  [go to Top]  [go to Table of Contents]

The Old Testament reflects positive attitudes about the body. The Hebrew word for flesh is used for human beings as persons made by God. They are weak and perishable (Isa. 40:6-7). And they are prone to sin (Ps. 78:32-39). This word for flesh is also applied to the physical part of a person and is often translated body in the Revised Standard Version (Job 14:22; Ps. 16:9; Isa. 10:18).

The Old Testament never hints that the body is sinful because of its physical nature. A trace of this idea turns up only later in the Apocrypha when Greek thought began to influence Jewish understandings:
 

{22}
... a perishable body weighs down the soul, and this earthy tent burdens the thoughtful mind.

Sexual discharges--semen and the menstrual flow--were linked with divine power. Such bodily functions, unless strictly regulated, rendered a person ritually unclean, that is, unfit to take part in the worship of God. This uncleanness was not, in our sense, a moral fault related to the inner life, but one of an outer uncleanness which could be remedied by ceremonial washing with water (Lev. 12; 15).

Nakedness and the exposure of the sex organs was another taboo for Israel as well as for other Semitic groups. It meant humiliation and great shame (Gen. 9:20-27; 2 Sam. 6:16-23; 10:1-5). Prisoners of war were exposed unclothed (Isa. 20:1-6). The shame of Babylon's defeat is described as like that of a virgin daughter whose nakedness was displayed to all (Isa. 47:1-4).

Deformed sex organs were regarded with horror and no priest who was so maimed could serve before the altar (Lev. 21:16-24; Deut. 23:1).

On the other hand, a pleasing physical appearance did not go unnoticed by the biblical writers. The beauty of both men and women in height, complexion, hair, hands, and strength received favorable comment (Rebekah, Gen. 24:16; Saul, 1 Sam. 10:23; David, 1 Sam. 16:12; Bathsheba, 2 Sam. 11:2).

Nor did the pleasures associated with sexual contact pass without comment. Note was taken of "Isaac fondling Rebekah" (Gen. 26:8). The sages extolled the joys of marriage:

Worthy of note is the leading role taken by the woman in these love affairs. She speaks more often than the man, and she is free to make advances to her lover. The woman does not dominate the man, nor does the man exploit the woman. No one sex rules over the other as in the curse after the Fall (Gen. 3:16). Here is the mutual exchange of love between female and male who together form "one flesh" (Gen. 2:24).

Here in the Song of Songs, free expression is given to an appreciation of the bodily beauty of the loved one and to the yearning for sexual intimacy. Taste, smell, touch, sight, and hearing increase the pleasures of the lovers in their mutual surrender to each other. The prudish view that sex is something nasty receives no nod in the Song of Songs except as it is denied in the full approval given to the

Notes:
4. Phyllis Trible, God and the Rhetoric of Sexuality, Chaps. 4 and 5.
5. For further discussion of Old Testament texts, see Chapter 2, "Marriage in Man's World," page 82; "Marriage as Covenant," page 84; and "Penalty for Fornication," page 85, in the section on "Marriage"; and "Dialogue About People," page 107 in the section on "Homosexuality."

{24} wholesome expression of physical love. [5]

1.2.1 Standards for conduct  [go to Top]  [go to Table of Contents]

The Old Testament recognized the power of the sexual drive for male and female and carefully limited such expressions with a number of rules and regulations. Most instructions deal with improper conduct. Standards varied over the ages and the reasons for certain restrictions are not always clear.

The main Old Testament passages that set forth regulations related to sexual conduct appear in Leviticus 18--20 and in Deuteronomy 22:13-30. Other texts specifically forbade sexual intercourse for an unmarried woman (Gen. 38:24; Lev. 19:29; Deut. 22:20-21). Prostitution existed (Gen. 38:1-26; Lev. 21:7-9; Josh. 2:3-4), but not everyone approved of it (Prov. 7:4-27; 29:3).

Adultery with a married woman was a serious crime for both persons (Deut. 22:22). It was an offense against the woman's husband who had lost the sole rights of sexual possession to his wife and to legitimate offspring.

David was sternly rebuked by Nathan the prophet for his adultery with Bathsheba, a deed which was followed by his plot to destroy her husband, Uriah (2 Sam. 11--12). Both the actual act of adultery as well as lustful desire were forbidden by the Ten Commandments (Exod. 20:14, 17; Deut. 5:18, 21).

Incest--sexual intercourse between closely related family members--was forbidden in the Old Testament law because it doomed the family to destruction. The limits were strictly drawn (Lev. 18:6-18) and all who committed this offense were cursed (Deut. 27:20, 22-23).

The rape of a married woman or a woman engaged to be married called for the death of the man who had committed the offense unless the woman failed to cry for help (Deut. 22:23-27). If the woman was unmarried, then the man, whether married or not, was obliged to {25} marry her if her father consented, and the man was not allowed to divorce her later (Exod. 22:16-17; Deut. 22:28-29).

Sexual intercourse with an animal was forbidden as a perverted and unnatural act. A penalty of death was prescribed for such a crime (Lev. 18:23; Exod. 22:19).

1.2.2 For study and discussion  [go to Top]  [go to Table of Contents]

1. What is adultery? Check the index for references on "adultery."

2. Standards for the way that people should live together were made quite clear by the regulations given in Leviticus 18-20 and Deuteronomy 22:13-30. What value do you see in the making of such a code of conduct for a community? If you were asked to prepare a code of conduct, how would you develop it and what would you include in it?

1.3 Sexuality in Judaism  [go to Top]  [go to Table of Contents]

The link between the Old Testament and the New was the Judaism that developed after the return of the Jewish exiles from Babylon to Judea. During this period, new attitudes began to take shape and grow until the time of the New Testament and beyond. These trends appear in the writings that came both from Palestine and from the communities outside the Jewish homeland.

The rabbis saw a person both as soul/spirit and as body, closely related to each other. These Jewish teachers were mainly concerned with the spiritual side of human nature, but they did not regard the body as tainted by evil. Both body and soul were equally valued.

But when Jewish scholars turned to a study of Greek {26} philosophy, they lost this positive attitude toward the body. Philo, a Jew who lived in the Egyptian city of Alexandria, a center of Greek learning, spoke of the body as the prison or tomb of the spirit. For these personal life after death meant immortality rather than the resurrection of the body.

1.3.1 For study and discussion  [go to Top]  [go to Table of Contents]

1. Why did the Jews lose their positive attitude toward the body?

2. What evidence can you give that Christians have returned to the early Hebrew respect for the body? Where do you find the attitudes of later Judaism reflected in modern life?

1.4 New Light and Life from Jesus  [go to Top]  [go to Table of Contents]

Christians have always affirmed the true humanity of Jesus. Ever since New Testament times, it was regarded as heresy to hold that Jesus was not truly human (1 John 4:1-3). But if we believe that Jesus was human, we also affirm that he was a sexual being.

The full meaning of sexuality for Jesus has been slow to dawn on us. The Gospels, which are really not biographies of Jesus, contain few sexual references. They were written for purposes other than to portray the sexual nature of Jesus' life. The evangelists may have intentionally passed over such matters in order to avoid any hint that Jesus might be compared to pagan cults whose savior figures championed sexual renewal or sought to subdue sexual forces.

{27}
1.4.1 Tempted in every way  [go to Top]  [go to Table of Contents]

But we have for so long thought about Jesus as a unique person, so different from ourselves, that we have had trouble remembering that to be fully human he was also a sexual being. We have allowed his maleness to recede into the background and we have found it easy to think and speak about Jesus as though he moved in a nonsexual world.

He was not immune to the ordinary range of human temptations. The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews shows that he was a true partaker in human nature, tempted in every way as we are (Heb. 2:14-18; 4:15). The temptation accounts in the gospels do not supply a full account of all the temptations that Jesus experienced. There were other such experiences (Luke 4:13; 22:28).

When Jesus spoke about the thoughts and feelings that arise when a person is in the presence of a member of the opposite sex, we dare imagine that his observations were informed by his own personal experiences (Matt. 5:27-30). In giving his disciples a standard for sexual morality that called for resistance to temptation, Jesus could also have been showing where he had drawn the line for himself.

1.4.2 Sin in heart, not body  [go to Top]  [go to Table of Contents]

Jesus held the body in the same high regard as did the Old Testament. He did not see the body as evil by nature. Rather, he reached out to heal the broken and ailing bodies around him and to restore them to health.

His healing ministry proved that God intended eventually to redeem the body totally. At the present time, the body may be blighted by sin. But the cause of sin is not the body. Rather, it is from the heart that lust, hate, and other sins arise (Mark 7:15, {p.28} 21-23; Matt. 5:22, 28).

1.4.3 Pleasures of the body  [go to Top]  [go to Table of Contents]

Jesus did not live the lifestyle of an ascetic. His critics accused him of being "a glutton and a drunkard" (Luke 7:34). While we do not need to take the charge seriously, it does give us grounds to believe that Jesus was a person who valued the normal joys of food and drink. Added to this was his refusal to follow a schedule of fasting as did the Pharisees (Mark 2:18-20), choosing rather to accept invitations to eat with those who wanted to enjoy his company (Mark 2:15; Luke 7:36, 49; 14:1; 15:1-2).[6]

1.4.4 Purity taken for granted  [go to Top]  [go to Table of Contents]

Personal purity was taken for granted in Jewish society. The rabbis sternly condemned all sexual intercourse outside of marriage. The Greeks were more free and accepting of sexual activity, seeing it as a response to nature with no moral wrong involved.

Jesus had little to say directly about sex and sexual sins Rather he moved to inspire people with a passion for the kingdom of God which overruled all other desires.

{29}
1.4.5 For study and discussion  [go to Top]  [go to Table of Contents]

1. Review what Hebrews 2:14, 17; 4:15 say about how Jesus was tempted in ways in which we are tempted. Do you agree? How do you understand these verses? Does Matthew 5:27-30 add any further information to the verses from Hebrews? How does the life of Jesus help us in our resistance to temptation?

2. What is the cause of sin in the body?

6. For further discussion on the teachings of Jesus, see "Marriage--A Divine Gift," page 85, in the section on "Marriage"; and "Jesus and a New Day," page 48, in the section on "Femaleness and Maleness" in Chapter 2.

1.5 Paul's View of the Body  [go to Top]  [go to Table of Contents]

In explaining his attitude toward the body, Paul builds on the foundation of the Old Testament understanding. He is aware that soul/spirit and body define a person. But he refined the definition of the body and applied two different words to it from his Greek vocabulary: body (soma) and flesh (sarx). For him, "body" meant the physical form and "flesh" applied to the religious or ethical meaning of the body.

The body is weak and mortal (Rom. 8:11; 2 Cor. 4:11). It can become the instrument of sin (Rom. 6:12) and, for this reason, the misdeeds of the body must be put to death (Rom. 8:13). But the body itself is not evil just because of its physical nature. Paul continues to agree with the Old Testament view. Bodily urges, although proper and good, need to be kept in proper control Discipline is necessary lest these forces frustrate spiritual goals (1 Cor. 9:24-27). The discipline of the body that will provide the best self-control is its dedication to God as a "living sacrifice" (Rom. 12:1).

The Christian's body is a "member of Christ" (1 Cor. 6:15) and a temple of the spirit (1 Cor. 6:19). {30} The body of the Christian will be redeemed in the age to come (Rom. 8:23; Phil. 3:21). The nature of the resurrection body is celebrated in 1 Corinthians 15.

While flesh is also applied by us to our physical bodies, Paul used the word in a more specialized way even though it sometimes overlapped with the meaning he gave to the body (Col. 2:5, KJV; compare 1 Cor. 5:3; 2 Cor. 4:10-11). But most often, flesh had a religious or ethical meaning, and carried a negative tone. It was linked with sin. Flesh was human nature uncontrolled by the spirit and thus was oriented toward sin. Even after a person became a Christian, the flesh remained as a problem and a threat to right living (Rom. 8:3-14; Gal. 5:16-25).

Paul did not regard the body as the source of evil. But a person might choose to disregard and defy God. Such a way of life is living after the flesh. And such conduct will be expressed in and through the physical body. So the body can be caught up in sin without itself being sinful.[7]

1.5.1 For Study and discussion  [go to Top]  [go to Table of Contents]

1. Paul said that even after a person became a Christian, the flesh remained a problem? Why is this so?

2. How can some of Paul's statements about the roles of men and women be made to square with the attitudes of Jesus?

7. For further discussion on the Pauline texts, see "Women and Men as Equal," page 49, in the section on "Femaleness and Maleness"; "Sex Within the Marriage," page 86 in the section on "Marriage"; "Vocation for Paul," page 63, "Great New Creation," page 64, and "Celibacy--A Gift," page 66, in the section on "Singleness"; and "Dialogue About People," page 107, in the section on "Homosexuality" in Chapter 2.

{31}
1.6 New Testament Guidelines  [go to Top]  [go to Table of Contents]

Having looked at materials dealing with sexuality in the teachings of Jesus and Paul, we must try to gather together what we have learned. In doing this, we must remember that the main focus of the Bible is not on sexual conduct. But we can expect that the New Testament will lay down some broad principles for us.

1.6.1 Sex and personhood  [go to Top]  [go to Table of Contents]

In both the New Testament and in the Old, personhood was always something more than biological. We are not just animals. We do not live by biological drives alone. We are creatures with dignity and destiny. We are called to live meaningful lives in obedience to God's will.

As we discover what it means to be human, we find that our sexuality adds to our growth in both specific and general ways. Whether female or male, we should not devalue our sexuality, but accept it as a gift to be used for our good and the good of others. While sexual drives are a real part of our lives, they are not all that life is about and the satisfaction of these drives is not the chief good in life.

Sexual activity must find its true meaning as part of life under God in the human community. Sex, therefore, is neither a god nor a demon. It is an opportunity and a challenge on the way to a more mature personhood.

1.6.2 Two loves in one word  [go to Top]  [go to Table of Contents]

Two words were used by the Greeks for love: eros and {32} agape. It has long been the practice of interpreters to make a sharp distinction between the two words, identifying eros as sensual and sexual love, a word that has passed Into English usage as "erotic" with similar sexual overtones. Agape has been called Christian love because it carries the note of self-giving.

But this sharp separation between these words is not supported by the Bible. Eros does not appear either in the New Testament or in the Greek version of the Old Testament. Agape is the common word for love in both parts of the Bible and it is applied to the full range of human love.

Jesus and Paul grounded their understanding of agape as used in the Old Testament where it can express love for God (Deut. 6:5) and love for neighbor (Lev. 19:18). It also describes passionate sexual desire outside marriage (2 Sam. 13:1), the marital love of wife and husband (Gen. 24:67), and even the love play of a married couple (Gen. 26:8). It is the word used in the lyrics of the Song of Songs to give vent to the intense erotic feelings of the two lovers (3:4; 8:6-7).

The New Testament understanding of God’s love for us, a love which also needs to be reflected in our relationship with others, is enlarged and deepened by the example of Christ, the supreme expression of divine and human love. Paul did not make a distinction between Christ's love for the church and a husband's love for his wife. Christ's love is a model for a husband's love (Eph. 5:28-29; cf. Col. 3:19). Sexual love and family love are only heightened and fulfilled when they flow into the stream of Christian love.

1.6.3 Coitus and covenant  [go to Top]  [go to Table of Contents]

The best statement about marriage comes from Jesus' expansion of Genesis 2:24 to refer to a permanent one-flesh union between a woman and a man (Mark 10:6-9 {33} and parallels). Neither Jesus nor Genesis explains the meaning of "one flesh," but throughout the years it has been understood to have implied a shared life based on covenant and involving coitus (sexual intercourse).

Love as a basis for marriage does not appear either in the Creation story or in the words of Jesus. Romantic love and free courtship appeared a long time after the biblical period. Until then, marriages were always arranged by the parents of the young couple. But once the marriage contract was made, Jesus' teaching on love as the supreme obligation in interpersonal relations would apply. Paul finds the standard for such love in Christ's love for the church.

From these signs, we can sketch a framework for marriage founded on covenant which is consummated by coitus and which begins an interpersonal relationship between a man and a woman which includes every area of their lives.

Both Jesus and Paul intended marriage to be permanent. They regarded sexual faithfulness as an obligation for both husband and wife. Marriage was a covenant regarded as permanent. It involves an ongoing shared life between a woman and a man in which sexual intercourse has a place both as an expression of the marital union and as a means of making that union complete. The sexual act in such a setting should gain new dimensions of emotional and spiritual meaning as the bonds of the interpersonal relationship multiply and grow stronger.

1.6.4 Hazards of no covenant  [go to Top]  [go to Table of Contents]

What about sexual intercourse outside the bonds of marriage? The New Testament firmly condemns adultery and marital infidelity. These strike a mortal blow to the marriage relationship, an insight preserved for us in Matthew 5:32; 19:9. The bond of marriage may not be completely broken by adultery, but if the union is to {34} be restored as a moral and spiritual relationship, repentance and forgiveness must be applied.

We have seen from Paul's words that even irresponsible and promiscuous sexual intercourse develop a kind of one-flesh union (1 Cor. 6:15-16), but it is a relationship inconsistent with the Christian's relationship with Christ. The sexual act within marriage is not so regarded.

In order for sexual intercourse to develop a genuine unity, a couple needs the commitment of marriage, the ongoing shared life, mutual respect, and love. Apart from this kind of commitment, the sexual act is contrary to the New Testament frame of reference.

Does the New Testament condemnation of fornication extend to premarital sex on the part of the engaged couple who sincerely love each other but who for certain reasons must postpone marriage for a short time? The New Testament does not deal with such a case. But the understanding of sexual intercourse as related to covenant does provide some guidance.

1.6.5 Newness in the kingdom  [go to Top]  [go to Table of Contents]

The Gospels promise change for the way in which men and women relate to each other. Jesus made it clear that marriage will no longer be a part of human relationship in the resurrection (Mark 12:25). The patriarchal family pattern so common to Jewish society was a part of the present age but not of the age to come. In the resurrection, the burden placed on woman as the result of the Fall (Gen. 3:16) will finally be lifted. And the New Testament knows that in the Christ-event the new age is already breaking in upon the old.

Paul says that now in Christ, neither male nor female exist (Gal. 3:28). He did not mean to ignore the continuing biological differences between woman and man. The Christian is not a sexual hybrid. But Paul wanted to remind us that the usual female and male roles established by society do not have the last {35} word for Christians. Something of the equality of the new age is already available to us in the present.

The thrust of the gospel, in this regard, is toward a new freedom for women and toward a partnership with men in the home and in the church. The exact form which this relationship may take will vary according to personality, ability, and situation. Society tends to stereotype roles for men and for women. Paul and the church were not prepared to ignore these roles completely. The roles of women and men will never be identical. Account will need to be taken of biological differences. Some form of organization is needed if life in home and society is to run smoothly.

But the genius of the gospel must be brought to bear upon these patterns in the home and in the church, altering not only the quality of interpersonal relationships but modifying the form itself.

1.6.6 For study and discussion  [go to Top]  [go to Table of Contents]

1. Why should the church take the lead in supporting the equality of women with men?

2. How do you describe the covenant of marriage? What things go into the making of a marriage covenant? What are some of the things that destroy this covenant? Review the references in the index on "covenant" and "marriage as covenant."

1.7 Freedom and Forgiveness  [go to Top]  [go to Table of Contents]

The gospel has special resources for the new life in Christ. We must keep the truth of Christian freedom in view. The gospel is not a new legal code; it does not major in negatives.

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The gospel is a call to liberty. But liberty is not license to do as we please. If freedom had no boundaries, a good life would not be possible. The framework for freedom has been set by the Creator, and with this reality we must come to terms. But it is a reality that is concerned about more than biological drives and the usual conventions of society. For us as Christians, reality means coming to terms with the fact of Christ.

In Christ, the truth that is at the heart of the universe has been plainly shown. We shape our lives to this truth by the word which Christ has spoken. That shaping calls for maturity, devotion, discernment, and discipline. We may discover that our search for truth will not bring us to easy answers. But this is the price of freedom.

We may find comfort in the assurance that forgiveness awaits us when we fail. In the sensitive area of our sexuality, failure can bring us to deep personal suffering, even to tragedy. But the last word need not be failure and guilt. Good news has been given to us.

Jesus was interested in redeeming sexual offenders. While not condoning their sin, he always extended the hand of friendship. From his lips came words of forgiveness and the invitation to a new life.

The church has the opportunity to bring this word of forgiveness into every situation, within or without its fellowship, wherever there has been failure in relationship. The church can incarnate that redeeming word for all persons.