Cohabitation is one sensitive topic that some Christians still questions while some shy away from it. But today, we will be looking at what is God’s view on living with a partner before marriage. Marriage is such a beautiful thing, having someone you can truly call your own is one feeling that is out of this world. When it comes to marriage, the Bible have provided us with wisdom to guide us on how to live and enjoy a fulfilled and harmonized marriage life. The Bible says so many things concerning marriage, but one thing the Bible doesn’t support is living together as husband and wife before actually becoming one. The Bible foresees the dangers that are embedded in cohabitation and warns us to stay away from anything that will stain our marital beds. In this article, we will be searching through some powerful Bible verses to see God’s design for relationship and marriage.
As followers of Christ, we have been called to stand and appear different before the world, separating ourselves from the standards of this world. It is a no longer a new deal that intending couples now live together before they are pronounced man and wife. They give various reasons why they cohabit, some say it is important for them to stay together before marriage so as to check their compatibility rate. While this kind of reason seem relevant to them, it is important we understand that it is not part of God’s design for marriage. God is the founder of marriage and he instituted it for the bed to be undefiled before marriage. Let us follow God’s leadings concerning the institution of marriage so as to enjoy good marriage union here on earth.
SEE ALSO: 40 Guiding Bible Verses About Finding Your Soulmate
What Does The Bible Say About Leaving Together before?
Understanding what the Bible says about marriage and cohabitation will help us live a honorable life. Let us see the book of;
Hebrews 13:4 “Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral”. This verse of the scripture emphasized on chastity, and punishment for those who defile their beds of marriage, stating clearly that marriage should be honored by all and the bed of marriage must be kept pure. The Bible already knows that it is impossible for intending couples to stay together without wanting to having carnal knowledge of each other, that is why God recommends we stay chaste and avoid anything that will lead to the defilement of our bodies before marriage.
1 Thessalonians 13:3-5 “It is God’s will that you should be sanctified, that you should avoid sexual immorality, that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God”. The Bible once again admonishing us to stay away from sexual immorality, encouraging us to learn to control our own body in a way that is pleasing to God. This passage of the scripture brings to our knowledge that is God’s will for us to be sanctified.
Here are some Bible verses that highlights on the essence and blessings that are attached to staying chaste before marriage, as well as the punishment that are therein for those who engage in sexual immorality.
Bible Verses About Living Together Before Marriage
- But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband. – 1 Corinthians 7:2
- Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. – Hebrews 13:4
- It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God. – 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5
- Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. – 1 Corinthians 6:18
- And said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? – Matthew 19:5
- The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. – Galatians 5:19-21
- Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. – 1 Corinthians 6:9-10
- May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. A loving doe, a graceful deer— may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be intoxicated with her love. – Proverbs 5:18-19
- If a man seduces a virgin who is not pledged to be married and sleeps with her, he must pay the bride-price, and she shall be his wife. – Exodus 22:16
- But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate. – Mark 10:6-9
- Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. – Colossians 3:5
- Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh. – Romans 13:13-14
- Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. – 1 Peter 2:11
- For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. – 1 John 2:16
- But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. – Ephesians 5:3
- But a man who commits adultery has no sense; whoever does so destroys himself. – Proverbs 6:32
- But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. – Matthew 5:28
- Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. – 2 Timothy 2:22
- No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. – 1 Corinthians 10:13
- But each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. – James 1:14-15
- Whoever pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor. – Proverbs 21:21
- Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do. But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion. – 1 Corinthians 7:8-9
- Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? – 2 Corinthians 6:14
- Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. – Romans 12:1-2
- If anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. – Titus 1:6
- But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. In such cases the brother or sister is not enslaved. God has called you to peace. – 1 Corinthians 7:15
- It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s wife. – 1 Corinthians 5:1
- Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach. – 1 Timothy 3:2
- Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh. – 1 Corinthians 6:16
- Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. – 1 Corinthians 6:13
- And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. – Acts 2:38
- He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate. – Matthew 19:4-6
- For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. – Ephesians 5:5
- Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true. – John 4:16-18
- For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person. – Mark 7:21-23
- Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? – 1 Corinthians 3:16
- How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. – Psalm 119
- Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered. – 1 Peter 3:7
- Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern. – Romans 12:2
- There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. – Proverbs 14:12
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