Marriage is an institution created and defined by God. Jesus said in Matthew 19:4-6, "Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder." Marriage is God joining together a man and a woman making them one.

It is only within this relationship that God-approved sexual relationships can occur. Hebrews 13:4 states, "Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge." Outside of marriage the participants are labeled whoremongers (fornicators) and adulterers. In 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 we are told that fornicators and adulterers will not inherit the Kingdom of God. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 7:2, "Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband." It thus follows that outside of marriage sexual immorality is found.

Finally, the church of Corinth had written to Paul concerning the marriage relationship. They had questions that were driven by the present distress (what that distress is we do not know). Paul states in 1 Corinthians 7:8, "I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I." However, in the next verse he tells them, "But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn." As we can see from the above, God considers sexual relationships outside of marriage (before, during, and after) to be wrong. As noted, those who participate in such cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.

Charles Royal, Decatur AL