17 May 2023
The biblical model for sex is not a mystery: one man, one woman, for life.
The challenge is how we get there, and what happens for the duration. If we could just get church people to understand Paul's message in 1 Corinthians 7:1-7, it would destroy the current social system. With so very much of what mainstream churches do resting on the dominance of feminism, it would break a lot of things to actually teach and enforce by church discipline what Paul actually depicts.
It's an ancient principle of the Hebrew nation: A woman is not her own sexual gatekeeper. During her youth, her father decides who will be her mate, generally with the support of the rest of the clan. The family can consult her, but it's not required. After marriage, she does not say "no" to her husband's desires. Period. The radical thing the Law of Moses did was give her titular ownership of her husband's sexual energies. He was never supposed to wander from her -- "drink from your own cistern". That wandering did happen in the Old Testament record, and it was always wrong. That's some of what Jesus meant by suggesting the Moses was too easy on the men of Israel.
Paul encapsulates that ancient standard in just a few verses: When it comes to sexual intercourse, spouses must not deny each other. Given the nature of our modern situation in the declining years of American Empire, the emphasis is on the problem with women choosing their sex partners, and then choosing when to have sex. We take it for granted, and yet this is so utterly wrong that there are simply no words. Paul flatly says that a married couple's bodies are each other's property. "Stop depriving one another" -- when was the last time a church taught that?
You cannot cover this crime against God by adding this passage as an afterthought, having first splashed out the full feminist agenda of social control over men. Nor can you pretend to obey this point of Christ's Law by promoting the pagan Anglo-American image of what men once got away with back when Western Civilization was still forming. Paul is very specifically promoting the Hebrew attitude about sex here; it's a very big overlap with the Covenant of Moses.
The message to our society today: Under no circumstances should any woman be allowed to decide with whom and when she has sex. The tribe decides for her, and their decision follows very stringent restrictions. Shocking, no? It just demonstrates how very far we have to go.
In the previous chapter Paul warns how very dangerous sexual sins are. It is self-defilement, and it cannot be reversed. Once you take the wrong path, you can never back out of it. That defilement lasts the rest of your life. It will cripple you morally and spiritually, giving Satan a permanent advantage. The Lord can be merciful, but it's not guaranteed. This is why Paul says at the end of the passage cited above that it would be a whole lot better if everyone abstained from any kind of sexual interaction at all. Still, that decision is a matter of conviction whether you do or don't.
If you do, make sure you do it right.
This document is public domain; spread the message.