In the Old Testament book of Leviticus, a distinction is made between that which is sacred and that which is common. The sacred belonged to the LORD. It was to be treated with reverence (think about the vessels of the tabernacle courts or the altar outside of the tent). If the people of God weren’t careful, through their sin they could profane that which was sacred. If they treated God’s worship lightly or introduced idolatry into the pure worship of God, they would defile that which God had set apart.
In Scripture, sex is depicted as a gift from God to be enjoyed within the covenant of marriage. This is very different from how many people today understand sex, especially since the sexual revolution of the 1960s. Many assume that the Bible treats sex as a taboo subject. They conclude that the Bible has a low view of sex, while the world embraces it for all it has to offer. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. The Bible has the highest view of sex, because it treats it as a gift to be enjoyed in its proper context. Did you know that there’s even an entire book in the Old Testament called the Song of Songs that consists of erotic love poetry? Scripture celebrates the goodness of sex, and it calls us not to defile God’s good gift by treating it lightly.
In the book of Hebrews we read, “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous” (Heb. 13:4). The word undefiled means to be pure or spotless. In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, known as the Septuagint, the word was used in the context of the sacred worship of the Israelites. This doesn’t mean that Christians should view sex as a kind of ritual worship, but that the author to the Hebrews wanted to communicate to us a sense of its sacredness. Like the objects of the temple and the worship of God, the marriage bed should not be defiled through fornication or adultery.
There’s an ancient second-century letter written to a man named Diognetus that describes the conduct of the early followers of Jesus. The letter was meant to highlight the beauty of the Christian life and to demonstrate how distinctly the Christians lived from the rest of society. In this letter we read, “They marry, as do all [others]; they beget children, but they do not destroy their offspring. They have a common table, but not a common bed. They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh.” In Greco-Roman society where sexual promiscuity was rampant, Christians stood out as those who would share their table (they were hospitable) but not their beds! They viewed marriage and sex as something to be protected. Not because it was taboo, but because it was precious.
Today, Christians can stand out in society by treating sex as a gift given to us by God. It isn’t something we need to fear talking about, and we shouldn’t believe the lie that the Bible’s view of sex is rigid or austere. We ought to have the highest view of sex and treat it with dignity and respect, rather than in a crass or flippant manner. This distinction will make the church and individual Christians shine brightly in a world drowning in sexual perversion.
If you are a Christian who has not kept the marriage bed undefiled but have allowed fornication or adultery to creep into your life, confess your sin and turn from it. Look to Jesus, the spotless and undefiled Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Our sexual failures aren’t beyond his forgiveness. After King David committed adultery and murder and came to repentance, he knew he could pray to the Lord, “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow” (Ps. 51:7). The truth is that none of us are perfectly spotless. We’ve all defiled ourselves with sexual sin (Matt. 5:28), but the spotless Lamb can wash away your stains and dress you in his robe of righteousness.
Footnotes
Epistle to Diognetus, chapter 5.
