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28 pages

English

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This concise book provides some guidelines and advice for people wanting to live a life according to Christian principles. Since immorality has become commonplace in modern society, the focus is on avoiding sin. The author encourages people to either get married or to be celibate, since those are the options considered acceptable by God's standards.

Sujets

Religion

Christianisme

Christian

Philosophie et théologie

Christian Living

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Publié par	Xlibris US
Date de parution	12 septembre 2022
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781669845614
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0200€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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CELIBACY OR MARRIAGE
The only acceptable options for a Christian
C. Evans

Copyright © 2022 by C. Evans.

ISBN:
Softcover
978-1-6698-4562-1

eBook
978-1-6698-4561-4

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James Version (Authorized Version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic Reference Bible, Copyright © 1983 by The Zondervan Corporation.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 09/06/2022

Xlibris
844-714-8691
www.Xlibris.com
846513
CONTENTS
Introduction

Chapter 1 The Problem
Chapter 2 Common Excuses
Chapter 3 Can you fornicate or live in immorality and still be a Christian?
Chapter 4 What about adultery?
Chapter 5 What about homosexuality?
Chapter 6 Never married and no kids – but not a virgin
Chapter 7 What if getting married would interfere with school and/or a career?
Chapter 8 How to know if you are called to lifelong celibacy or marriage
Chapter 9 Benefits of Marriage
Chapter 10 Benefits of lifelong celibacy

Epilogue
References
Introduction
It seems to be everywhere. The lady you work with had her kids outside of marriage, and now her daughter has a baby outside of marriage. One of the supervisors at your job is living with her boyfriend – but oh yes, they “might” still get married eventually. Another supervisor brought his boyfriend to work with him one day. It’s not a secret that he is involved in a gay lifestyle. It seems to be common in the workplace.
Your friend at church was raised in a Christian home, in fact, her father was a pastor. But as soon as she left home to go to college, she got involved in drugs and in sleeping around outside of marriage with a number of different guys. Oh yes, she eventually repented, and almost immediately afterwards she got married and from then on only had sex appropriately within her marriage. Now she tries to convert others to live life as she does and is fairly critical of anyone who chooses a different path. Another lady claiming to be a Christian went to church for many years, all the time while living with her boyfriend in a sexual relationship outside of marriage. It ended, not because she first repented of her own free will, but because her boyfriend got killed. It happens in churches as well.
One of your unmarried professors in graduate school got pregnant by her boyfriend and had a baby. Another professor who was married and had young children cheated on his wife. Eventually, he left her for a younger woman. A PhD student whom you met also had a baby outside of marriage. Another girl you had classes with mentioned that she’d lived with one boyfriend outside of marriage and she did not think she would do that again, as it had been disastrous. However, a few months later she admitted she had a new boyfriend and they were living together (in a sexual relationship). She went on to get a PhD and before too long was working as an assistant professor at another university. It happens among the highly educated as well.
You wonder whatever happened to some of your friends from the past, ones who were also the “good girl” type. Some, like you, planned to stay virgins until marriage. By this time, you are in your thirties. Thanks to the internet and social media, you find out that one former friend is living together with her boyfriend outside of marriage. You hear that another one gave up her virginity outside of marriage. It can happen to former good girls too.
There are frequently stories in the media about yet another person who sinned morally. Sometimes they are Hollywood stars whose character may have been sketchy to begin with. At other times, it is leaders who are well-educated and who, it seems, should know better. Sometimes it is in autobiographical books. You can read about females who describe themselves as having been goody-two shoes types, but then they have sex outside of marriage and make it sound as if it’s not even that big of a deal. Sadly, they do not view fornication as a huge failure in adulthood, even if at one point they would have been devastated at not making the honor roll in high school. It is not unusual even to hear about famous religious leaders who have sex outside of marriage. It happens among famous people too.
You can look in other places and can find similar stories. It is discouraging. Sometimes you can feel like the only one who tries to live a truly pure life, yet you know there are others out there. You are just part of a minority. The trend towards immorality has been increasing over the past several decades to the point that it can practically seem like the norm these days.
It shouldn’t be that way. God’s values have not changed. His standards have not been lowered. What used to be considered sin is still considered sin. For someone wanting to live life His way, the only acceptable options are still the same – either staying a virgin until marriage (and indeed getting married), or being a lifelong celibate.
Chapter One The Problem
It is not difficult to identify the problem. We live in a society where immorality is very common. It is so common, in fact, that many people now view it as being very normal, even expected. Often, people do not find it horrifying; instead, they make excuses for it. They seek to justify it.
Let us pause for a moment though. Since this book is about living a godly life and avoiding sexual immorality, it makes sense to define and clarify some terms. Sexual immorality can be described as being sexual intercourse outside of God’s design. As some of you may know, God’s design is for sexual intercourse to take place only between one man and one woman who are married to each other. Other forms of sexual activity, particularly intercourse, is considered sexual immorality.
There are different types of sexual immorality, but in this writing, we will focus on the primary ones such as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 6:9 (KJV). This verse focuses specifically on immorality. It warns us that fornicators, adulterers, and effeminates (people who practice homosexuality) will not inherit the kingdom of heaven. Those three acts of sexual immorality – fornication, adultery, and homosexual behavior – are mentioned at other times in the bible as well.
This is not to mean that other types of sexual sin, such as bestiality, are okay. Obviously, that is a sin as well. But because this writing is intended to be fairly concise and to the point, the focus will be on the “big three.”
Fornication is considered to be sexual intercourse between two people who are not married to each other. Adultery can be defined as being sexual intercourse between two people who are not married to each other when at least one of them is married to someone else. (Merriam-Webster, 2022). Homosexuality is a noun. It might be important to point out that temptation is not the same as sin. Someone can let the birds fly overhead without them nesting there, as the saying goes. Some people with homosexual feelings choose not to act on those temptations so as not to sin. Someone who engages in homosexual behavior and activities, however, would be considered to be sinning. These types of sin were common in bible times, and are still common modernl
Young people looking for a role model might not find it difficult to find someone who has achieved an education and a career. They might have a harder time finding someone who has lived a pure life. What kind of message does it send to them if the older person they look up to has gotten through college and graduate school, is now working at a great job, but is sleeping with her boyfriend outside of marriage? More likely than not, they will conclude that getting an education and a career is great, something to aspire to. That , in general, is still highly thought of. But purity? Does anyone really care about that anymore? The message that young people are getting is that purity is not important, and in some cases, is even something to be scoffed at. At that rate, the problem of immorality is likely to be perpetuated over the years and decades, not eliminated or even reduced.
The ages for first marriages have increased over the years.