What Does the Bible Say About Cohabitation?
Galatians 5:19-21
INTRO:
If you look up the word cohabitation in the bible... you won’t find it there.
You will find what God thinks about it but God does not use the term "cohabitation."
Actually, cohabitation is a rather new term.
In the 50’s it was called sin
In the 60’s it was called living in sin
In the 70’s it was called shacking up
In the 80’s it was called cohabitating.... Notice any negative connotation was removed
In the 90’s it was called "alternate lifestyle" ... a positive spin
In Jesus’ day it was called other things.
Matt 5:27 Jesus called it adultery
In fact, Jesus said it was adultery even to imagine it
Matt 15:19 Jesus called it adultery and fornication
In 1 Cor 5:9 God said that Christian are not to associate with those that indulge in this sin.
In Gal 5 God said that those who practice this behavior would not go to heaven and are not of the Kingdom of God.
1 Tim 1:10 says that the practice of cohabitation is contrary to sound doctrine.
Jude 7 says that Sodom and Gomorrah are God’s object lesson to show us that God will punish all who indulge in this sinful lifestyle.
Rev. 2:20-23 says that God allows time for persons to repent of their adulterous ways, but if they refuse to confess and repent... they will suffer the same judgment as Jezebel.
Can it be much clearer…? What part of "thou shalt not" do you not understand?
God put the cookies on the bottom shelf where we can all reach them. You do not have to be a bible scholar....
COHABITATION IS ADULTERY /FORNICATION
Adultery and fornication are sins that, if not confessed and repented of, will send the practitioner to hell... eternally.
Now, lets stop right there. There is no need to spend more time on that. It is clear. I believe everyone here understands... even if you don’t like it... that cohabitation is wrong... that it is contrary to the will of God and that it is morally wrong.
I want to address this issue from another angle. A positive angle. Not what is wrong.... But WHAT IS RIGHT?
Not what does God hate... but what does God love?
Adultery is definitely not God’s will. WHAT IS????
God has a plan for you. It is a plan that is greater and more wonderful than you could ever imagine.
God wants you to live in a close, intimate, personal relationship with him.
Like he created with Adam and Eve
The scriptures tell us, in Gen. 3:8, that in the cool of the day, as the sun was setting, as the garden was experiencing the cool breeze, as the sun was setting with it’s beautiful colors, as the aromas of the garden permeated the air... God would come and walk with Adam and Eve. They would share their heart with him. He would share his with them. It was the most beautiful time.
God desires to have that degree of intimacy and sharing with you and me.
And we can know God that way.
However, in Adam’s case... something terrible happened. HE SINNED. Not a big, black and terrible sin. Not murder or rape... but he disobeyed God.
As a result... the intimacy was destroyed, the closeness was shattered, the joy was gone.
Adam and Eve were driven from God’s presence.
Sin still does the same thing... it alienates us from God... it destroys our intimacy, it drives a wedge between us.
Not only that... it slams shut the windows of heaven. We are cut off from the blessings that God has for us.
We are stripped of His protection and left vulnerable to Satan and his attacks.
Without God we are without peace, without joy, without power, without hope.
This situation breaks the heart of God.
But God loves us enough to allow us to make our own choices... and mistakes.
Either we say to God.. .."thy will be done." Or God will say to us, "thy will be done."
A couple living together out of marriage is sinning against God, against their body, against their partner, and is out of the will, blessing, and protection of God.
Can you see why I, the shepherd, would be concerned about the wayward sheep?
Just use common sense for a moment.
1. Couples that indulge in adultery produce more
divorces.
In fact, those couples divorce more quickly and with greater frequency than do couples that did not live together.
It makes sense: A couple who indulges in sex before marriage has no regard or commitment to the institution of marriage.
They are concerned more with their temporary pleasure than with any long term commitment.
Now... if that is true before marriage... what in the world would make us think that just because we get married, all of the sudden we will begin to value commitment more than personal, immediate pleasure.
They have already shown that they do not value commitment... and they are more likely to devalue commitment after marriage.
Naturally they are more likely to break off the marriage... they value personal pleasure more than marriage.
2. They are more likely to have an affair.
Why not... the spouse gave them the go ahead. They said sex outside marriage is OK ... by engaging in sex before marriage.
Not being married didn’t mean anything before marriage... why should it now????
3. Adultery destroys trust.
Marriages that start out with cohabitation are built on sand.
Remember the two builders in Jesus’ parable?
One built on sand. He was not willing to pay the price of excavation and building on the rock.
This is the couple who is not willing to pay the price of purity and celibacy.
They just do what is fun, what is easy, what everyone else is doing. They think that is good enough. What happened?
It fell with a great fall”
Great were the ramifications
To the kids, to the church, to the family, to the couple.
A marriage that is built on cohabitation is one that can have no trust.
She knows If he would do it with me he will do it with another He knows If she will do it with me she will do it with another
It destroys your relationship with God.
It destroys your witness/testimony
There are enough wise Christians, those that have not been deceived by the world, who have not bought into Satan’s lies, who have read and learned the truth and will not sell it out
They know cohabitation is SIN
And let me tell you this.... EVEN LOST PEOPLE KNOW IT IS WRONG!!
You will destroy your testimony... you will be a phony and a hypocrite.
Let me close with one last thing.
Those like myself, who stand up and say this is a sin and it is not acceptable... we are branded with the worst of all brands
The scarlet letter of our day... .1.... For INTOLERANCE
We are called legalistic and un-loving.
Imagine that you lived in a place where there were abandoned wells, uncovered.
Your mother tells you you are not allowed to play in the lot where the wells are.
If you do, she will punish you.
The police put up a fence and a sign threatening to prosecute trespassers and they even arrest a few.
Would you say that your mother is un-loving for not allowing you to play there?
Would she be unloving if she punished you?
Are the police being legalistic?
What could be more loving than to see the danger and to warn those who would damage themselves?
God has made it clear.... NO UNREPENTANT SINNER WILL GO TO HEAVEN!!!!!!!
He will punish them in the fires of hell.
Adultery is a sin.
Those who refuse to repent will not go to heaven.
They will not get that message from the world.
They will not get that message from the media... the government... the schools... Planned Parenthood... the guidance counselor... the health professionals...
How is it unloving to see where they are headed, know what God has promised and then to care enough to stand up and be honest with them?
Unloving would be to see someone in trouble or in danger and to walk by without saying or doing anything.
The church is the body of Christ.... We know the truth.... The most loving thing we can do is to shout it from the rooftops, take a stand and not back down from those who would attempt to silence us.
The scripture says,
If we really love the world, we must be willing to face ridicule, rejection, hatred, persecution... even death... in order to do the loving thing....
TELL THEM THE TRUTH
