{"id":28819,"date":"2016-09-14T07:03:17","date_gmt":"2016-09-14T12:03:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/?p=28819"},"modified":"2025-07-25T13:54:39","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T18:54:39","slug":"puritans-viewed-sex-correctly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/puritans-viewed-sex-correctly\/","title":{"rendered":"The Puritans Viewed Sex Correctly"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Puritans Liked Sex!<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Sex:<\/p>\n

In the last two blog posts of\u00a0our cultural tolerance series, we looked at why God designed sex to be part of marriage. We talked about the sacredness of sex<\/a>, and the emotional, physical, and psychological damage we do to ourselves by engaging in sex outside of marriage<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

But let\u2019s back up just a bit and address\u00a0a question that many\u00a0Christians ask: \u201cIs it okay for Christians to enjoy sex?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

God\u2019s simple answer on that: \u201cYou bet!\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

What is concerning, however, is that some Christians are being taught by their churches that\u00a0sex is \u201csinful.\u201d To view sex as \u201cdirty\u201d or \u201csinful\u201d means that you imprison a part of yourself that God designed to be free and open. <\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not sex itself that is to be limited, dear friend, it’s\u00a0sex outside of the sacred bonds of marriage.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Wrong Doctrine<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Church’s long history includes teachings that condemned sexual desire. One of the pesky parts of our control-loving human nature is to place shame and condemnation\u00a0where God did not intend.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The medieval Roman Catholic church, for example, believed that one could not have sex without sinning. The\u00a0<\/span>church taught that virginity was better than marriage, that sexual contact between a married couple was a \u201cnecessary evil\u201d to continue the human race, and that passion was inherently sinful. <\/span>We\u2019ve all heard stories of monks who repeatedly\u00a0whipped\u00a0themselves for thinking sexual thoughts, as if\u00a0their flowing blood would both adequately punish and redeem them. Though self-punishment, to us, seems to make sense, I think it\u00a0makes God sad.Only God’s grace can cover our sin.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Puritans, English Protestants who lived in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, were among the believers who rejected these teachings. <\/span>Most of us hear the term \u201cPuritan,\u201d and we picture a religious person\u00a0who is\u00a0prudish about sex. Ironically, there\u00a0was\u00a0nothing prudish about the Puritans. They fully embraced the joys of sex!\u00a0<\/span>In fact, the Puritans believed and taught that it was a\u00a0married man\u2019s duty to provide sexual pleasure for his wife. There is at least one case on record in which a husband was excommunicated for \u201cneglecting his wife\u201d by not having sex with her\u00a0<\/span>for two years. And Puritan women\u00a0in New England had the legal right to divorce their husbands if they proved impotent.<\/span><\/p>\n

While that last bit isn’t\u00a0biblical, the Bible does tells us that God designed sex to be fully enjoyed inside a heterosexual\u00a0marriage. The book of Song of Solomon, for example, gives us a peek at the\u00a0sexual delight a\u00a0married man and his wife\u00a0take in each other. <\/span><\/p>\n

This poetic book also reminds us to view our spouse with perfect love, overlooking his or her\u00a0flaws. No one is perfect, of course, but maintaining a commitment to see the best in our spouse goes a long way in overlooking the \u201clittle foxes that spoil the vineyards\u201d (Song of Solomon 2:15) and ruin a marriage. God’s\u00a0grace extends to forgiving us if we do divorce, but God hates the pain, suffering, and disruption that divorce dumps on us.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Some Modern Puritanism, Perhaps?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I wonder; might our society benefit from\u00a0an injection of Puritanical thinking? For as gung-ho as the Puritans were about sex inside of marriage, they were hostile to sex outside of it. Forget about pre-marital sex\u00a0or\u00a0marital affairs. They\u00a0recognized both\u00a0as destructive to individual and societal health.<\/span><\/p>\n

History may have labeled Puritans as \u201cfuddy-duddies\u201d who had no\u00a0fun, but the Puritans got\u00a0this right: the goal of Christ-followers should be to primarily seek the pleasure of pleasing\u00a0God. The Puritans understood\u00a0that the more we seek to live a life in tune with\u00a0God’s heart, the less we will want to sin with our own.<\/span><\/p>\n

As society was significantly\u00a0decadent during the time of the Puritans, they understood all too well the draw of sexual\u00a0temptation. John Flavel, a Puritan pastor who lived in the 1600s, wrote, \u201cMost of those souls that are now in hell, are there upon the account of their indulgence to the flesh; they could not deny the flesh, and now are denied by God.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Thanks to our modern society’s\u00a0love affair with cultural tolerance<\/a>, many Christians tend\u00a0to view God as a benevolent teddy bear. Our sin isn’t that bad, right, because isn\u2019t God in the business of forgiveness? Most of us\u00a0ignore\u00a0what we know deep within our soul: we should\u00a0approach God\u00a0with awe and trembling because He is holy<\/em>. It is only because of Christ’s atonement\u00a0that He can even look at us. We are forgiven because of the huge cost Christ paid to redeem\u00a0us.<\/span><\/p>\n

As theologian R.C. Sproul writes in his book, The Holiness of God<\/a><\/em>, \u201cGod\u2019s grace is not infinite. God is infinite, and God is gracious. We experience the grace of an infinite God, but grace is not infinite. God sets limits to His patience and forbearance. He warns us over and over again that some day the ax will fall and His judgment will be poured out.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, God love us fiercely. Yes, He\u00a0gives us free will to make lifestyle choices. But those choices come with a price. Will you\u00a0let your sexual conduct be an area that causes you shame when you stand before Him? Society may view sex as “no big deal,” but to God it is. Every part of us is a big deal, actually, which is why God continues to woo each of us to submit\u00a0our heart, mind, and body fully to Him.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sin Doesn’t Birth\u00a0Happiness<\/strong><\/p>\n

As Sproul writes, \u201cMy sins have not brought me happiness. But my sins have brought me pleasure. I like pleasure. I\u2019m still very attracted to pleasure. Pleasure can be great fun. And not all pleasures are sins. There is much pleasure to be found in righteousness. But the difference is still there. Sin can be pleasurable, but it can never bring happiness.\u201d He adds, \u201cIt seems utterly stupid for a person to do something he knows will rob him of his happiness. Yet we do it. They mystery of sin is not only that it is wicked and destructive but also that it is so downright stupid.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It’s a struggle, isn’t it, to stop being stupid? Because our choices feel<\/em> so right in the moment.<\/p>\n

We want to feel loved, content, liked, even powerful. Sometimes we make choices simply because we’re trying to fill the\u00a0hole in ourselves that we should be filling with God. It feels just so much easier to grab a burger\u00a0and\u00a0a beer, sometimes, than it is to hunger after\u00a0God. It feels so much easier, sometimes, to take comfort in the arms of a lover, than it does\u00a0to find comfort in a God we can neither see\u00a0nor hear.<\/p>\n

The problem with following our\u00a0feelings\u00a0is that they so easily\u00a0lead us to sin. We must be diligent in committing to following God’s moral teachings, especially in the area of sex. Its pull to pleasure is simply too strong to not take mastery over it.<\/p>\n

So, back to my earlier\u00a0question: \u201cIs it okay for Christians to enjoy sex?\u201d\u00a0In t<\/span>he words of the Puritans, married couples can\u00a0dive into sex \u201cwillingly, readily, and cheerfully.\u201d\u00a0There’s nothing “dirty” or “sinful” about that!\u00a0<\/span>Marriage, of course, is so much more than a sexual union. But it is only within marriage that sex can fully be fun and wholesome. No baggage from past lovers. No insecurities. No sexually transmitted diseases. Just two blank slates who get to come together to become one flesh.<\/span><\/p>\n

I bet\u00a0the Puritans would laugh at how modern society views them. You can laugh, too, if someone ever labels\u00a0you a \u201cPuritan.\u201d What they likely mean as an insult, is a supreme\u00a0compliment!<\/span><\/p>\n

Thought to Ponder<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

This week, give serious thought to your views on sex. On the one hand, you have society telling you that sex outside of marriage is fine. Heck, it asserts, even affairs are fine, if you\u2019re feeling bored or unappreciated. On the other hand, you have God\u2019s word telling you to live a life that honors Him. R.C. Sprout says sin can make us feel pleasure, but it doesn\u2019t bring us happiness. Do you agree? It\u2019s tough to put our selfish desires ahead of what God wants, but when we do, He blesses us. Will you commit to\u00a0knowing, loving, and following God’s ways? Can God count on you to live for Him?<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"TheThis blog post has been adapted from the book The Beauty of Intolerance<\/i><\/a>, by Josh and Sean McDowell. To purchase a copy of this \u00a0and other helpful resources, please visit our Store<\/a> page.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Puritans Liked Sex! In the last two blog posts of\u00a0our cultural tolerance series, we looked at why God designed sex to be part of marriage. We talked about the sacredness of sex, and the emotional, physical, and psychological damage we do to ourselves by engaging in sex outside of marriage. But let\u2019s back up […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23327,"featured_media":28393,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"The Puritans View on Sex: Enjoy it Inside Marriage","_seopress_titles_desc":"The Puritans would laugh at how modern society views them. To be labeled a \"Puritan\" these days is actually quite a compliment.","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[372,203,373,204,374,266],"translator":[],"blog-author":[78],"class_list":["post-28819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-relationships","tag-judgment","tag-marriage","tag-puritans","tag-sex","tag-sexy","tag-sin","blog-author-josh-mcdowell-ministry-team"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/607\/2016\/08\/Two-young-beautiful-girls-000068946803_Medium.jpg","meta_box":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23327"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28819"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28819\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":92542,"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28819\/revisions\/92542"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28819"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/translator?post=28819"},{"taxonomy":"blog-author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog-author?post=28819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}