There is a religious teaching about sex in marriage that says that the only purpose of sex in
marriage is for procreation - for bringing forth children - and that all other uses of this gift of God are sinful
and not to be practiced by the Christian.  We take exception with this teaching.  We oppose its teaching on
the basis of the Bible.  We believe that this teaching harms God's people to whom He has given a spouse.
In this article, we would like to explain why.

 For solid, Christian marriages, it is important to understand the bible's teaching regarding sex; and
not only regarding the Bible's prohibition of sex outside of marriage, but the Bible's teaching on sex within
marriage.  The Bible has important and specific instruction concerning this part of a husband's and wife's
behavior.

 Both the Old and New Testaments have something to say about sex in marriage.  In Proverbs, King
Solomon instructs his son about sex.  In the first letter to the Corinthians, Paul answers questions put to him
by a young, serious-minded church, about problems in marriage - questions about fornication, about
marriage and divorce, about fathers giving away their daughters in marriage and, yes, questions about sex in
marriage.  The church ought to give this instruction to her members.

 (This says something practical, by the way, to Christians today:  If we have questions about any
aspect of marriage, we should not go first to all kinds of books, but to God's Word, and to God's appointed
servants who are given by God for help in these matters.)

 The apostle Paul gives instruction in I Corinthians 7 about sex in marriage, and points out that is it
Necessary, Blessed, and God-Glorifying.

 Sex in marriage is NECESSARY "to avoid fornication."  This is a very realistic approach to sex
and marriage.  Realism demands that we acknowledge the very powerful desire created in man and woman
by God, a lesson the child of God forgets to his harm.

 The Bible teaches this in two ways.  First, the apostle Paul says, "to avoid fornication, let every
man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband" (verse 2).  This itself overthrows the
teaching that sex in marriage is only for producing children.  Second, he says, "it is better to marry than to
burn" (verse 9).  Paul is not teaching that one will burn in hell (although if one gives in to his sexual urges
outside of marriage without repenting, he will).  Paul ,means that it is better to marry than burn in one's
lusts.  Marriage is the remedy for that.

 Sex in marriage is also necessary because it is a "debt" one spouse owes to the other.  I Corinthians
7:3 says, "Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence:  and likewise also the wife unto the
husband."  "Due benevolence" is a careful way of referring to the sexual obligation of the one spouse to the
other.  Christian husbands and Christian wives owe it to their spouse to give themselves to each other
physically.  And because this is Jesus' command, you owe it to Jesus to give yourself to your spouse.

 The reason this is a debt Paul gives in the next verse.  "The wife has not power (really "authority")
of her own body, but the husband:  and likewise also the husband hath not power ("authority") of his own
body, but the wife."  Husbands and wives have "authority" over their spouse's body.  They "own" the other.
This does not mean that the husband may say, "You have a debt to be paid" for this debt is not demanded.
Each spouse must look at it from the viewpoint:  "What do I owe my spouse?"

 If Christian couples do not live in this way, Satan will tempt them for their abstinence.  This is the
teaching of I Corinthians 7 in verse 5.  When a husband does not give himself to his wife, or the wife to her
husband, the devil seizes the opportunity to tempt the other, and lead them to be unfaithful.  And then the
fault belongs as much to the one who withheld as the one who was unfaithful.  Jesus confirms this when He
said, in Matthew 5, that the one who puts away his wife for unbiblical grounds, causes her to commit
adultery.

 Sex in marriage is not only necessary; it is BLESSED.  We do not stop with saying that it is
necessary, as though that's the only reason couples engage in this act.  Hebrews 13:4 says, "Marriage is
honorable in all, and the bed undefiled."  All by itself, sex in marriage is a blessed and sanctified gift of
God.

 Genesis 2:24 shows that sex is not the result of sin, but was blessed by God before the fall.  "God
blessed them and God said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth."  And they had no
shame, as verse 25 shows:  "And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and they were not ashamed."
For us, the grace of Jesus Christ restores us to the right attitude and the right use of this gift of God.

 The Song of Solomon is unashamed in its description of this gift (chapter 1:3).  Or, read how a
wise father describes the blessedness of married life in Proverbs 5:15-19.

 But sex is blessed only when we keep in mind the Christian view of it.  In the thinking of
non-Christians, the marriage partner is only a tool for self-gratification.  The Christian perspective is
different, because it flows out of a Christian definition of love.  the Christian does not ask, "How can my
wife please me?"  He asks, "How can I please my wife?"  Not:  "What does my husband owe me?" but:
"What do I owe my husband?"  This is the uniquely Christian perspective of love that gives instead of takes.

 If this is the Christian perspective, then Christian parents ought to be ready and willing, yes, even
jealous, to teach this to their children.  Are parents concerned only to warn their children about the sin of
misuse of this gift, but never to teach its good and blessed use in marriage?  This is wrong and will result in
warped thinking and undue distress in the children's marriages.

 How should they be taught?  Not in school. This subject is too sacred, too private, too important to
be taught in public where the children are all herded into a room and the boys snicker behind their hands out
of embarrassment.  This is the parents' duty and privilege.  And if parents let television and the movie
theater educate their children about this gift, it will ruin them for their future marriages.  We have a
responsibility toward our children to teach them this part of good family life, too.  Good parents want to do
this.  Good parents are not ashamed of this.

 But sex is not everything.  It is the icing on the cake.  Young people (and married adults) ought to
be reminded of that, too.  A cake with only frosting is no cake at all.

 The main thing is the spiritual union between the husband and wife - their love for God, their love
for each other in Christ, their commitment to good, solid family life under Jesus Christ.  This must be
worked on - by prayer, by family worship, by good fellowship with other Christians, by dealing carefully
with sin and sin's influence in our lives.

 And the spiritual union can be served by the physical!  Married couples ought to be counseled to
have a bible by their bedside opened to the Song of Solomon, for bedtime devotions.  We must be so
spiritually minded that when we think of marriage, we think of Christ and the church.  For our love for our
spouse - our physical love - reflects our passionate love for Jesus Christ, and His powerful, saving love for
us.

 Remembering this, sex in marriage will be sanctified, truly pleasurable, and GOD GLORIFYING.