Is Premarital Sex a Sin?

I thank my God every time I remember you.
-Philippians 1:3


I'm pretty disturbed by the ways many young people are living nowadays, from the conversations I had with some people I happened to know randomly. If you think I must be some not open-minded elderly person, then you're wrong. For your info, I'm only 22 this year!

Here are some questions asked concerning premarital sex:

"Is it okay to have sex if you're totally in love with each other, and you're totally certain that you're going to marry each other and spend the rest of your lives together (especially if you're engaged to be married)? What if you're over 30 (or 40), or what if you had previously been married before? Is premarital sex okay at that point?"

Notice that after you are married, then sex is appropriate between you and your spouse. But before you are married it is still premarital sex (fornication). So if premarital sex is a sin, then it is a sin up until the moment you are married. The New Testament never says that if you're totally in love with each other and you're committed to each other and you're certain that you will get married and spend the rest of your lives together, then premarital sex is okay. The New Testament also never says that premarital sex is okay if you're over a certain age limit, or if you had previously been married before, or anything like that. Sorry, but there are no "loopholes"!

Also, consider that there are many people who were engaged to be married, and who expected to spend the rest of their lives together, but then they broke up. Some of them gave their virginity to each other because they were certain that they were going to get married, and they ended up regretting that they gave up their virginity to the wrong person. Life is full of uncertainties, and you're not married until you're married!


"Is oral sex okay? Is "petting" okay? Is it okay to see each other naked?"

It is human nature to want to know how far we can go without "crossing the line," but remember what the New Testament says:
1 Corinthians 6:18: "Flee from sexual immorality."
In the above passage we are told to run away from sexual immorality. Therefore, the best thing to do is not to get anywhere near "crossing the line." Our analytical minds want to know if it is safe for us to fondle and touch each other sexually (even fully clothed), or to have oral sex instead of intercourse, or to see each other naked, etc., but notice that those are not the attitudes that the Bible describes. All of those things will increase our desire and temptation to have sex, but the Bible says to run away from those temptations. Therefore, it's best to avoid any situations which will cause sexual temptation, such as touching each other sexually, being naked (or near naked) with each other, or sometimes even just being alone together. This can sometimes be difficult to do when our emotions (and hormones) are flying high for that special person, but try to keep in mind that when we follow God's plan then everything always works out for the best, in amazing ways!