What does the Bible say about sex outside of marriage?

Answer: Sex is a gift that God gave to a husband and wife, a man and a woman who have committed themselves to one another for life. In Genesis 2, the first marriage, God reminded us, "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame." Genesis 2:24-25 (NIV)
Any sex outside of this marriage relationship is a sin – whether it be adultery or premarital sex or pornography or homosexuality. This is one of those sins where many think they know better than God. They know it’s wrong, “but what could it hurt.” God made us, He knows us better than anyone, and we need to trust Him!

You may (with an emphasis on the may) be able to protect yourself from sexually transmitted diseases, but you cannot protect yourself from the emotional and spiritual harm that comes to us from sexual sin. Sex binds us to another person at the level of our soul.

If you have sex before marriage and that relationship breaks up, it tears at your soul!
If you have sex before marriage, thinking that certainly you’re going to marry that person, it forms an emotional and spiritual bond before the marriage that God tells us is to be saved until we make that life commitment to each other.
What if you’ve already sinned, possibly even far in the past?

The GREAT news is that God is a God of forgiveness and grace. He will forgive you and restore you!! This does not mean that you will not face the physical consequences that result from your sin – consequences such as STDs or the hurt of a soul that is torn apart. It does mean that God’s grace will empower you to deal with those consequences, and that His grace will restore you in ways beyond your imagination.

Ian