Scripture:
Genesis 2:24-25
That is why
a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they
become one flesh.
25 Adam and his wife were both naked, and
they felt no shame.
In Genesis 2, the Scripture says that when a
man and woman get married, they become one flesh. In 1st Corinthians 6:16,
it says that when a man has sex with a prostitute, he becomes one with her in
flesh. Well, what does that mean? What does it mean to become one flesh with
someone?
First, let's think about this very literally. What
does a man do with his wife that he can also do with a prostitute? Have sex,
right? When a man and a woman have sex, whether they're married or not, a part
of the man's body enters the woman's body. They're joined. He is inside her.
They are one flesh for as long as penetration lasts.
When Paul tells us not to become one flesh with
prostitutes, he's telling us not to defile our bodies because our bodies, being
inhabited by God's Holy Spirit, being members of Christ's Body as part of the
body of believers, are holy themselves.
So, we need to exercise discretion. We only want
our bodies to be one in flesh with someone who is also a member of Christ's
Body, who is also holy themselves. That's part of why Paul tells us not to be
unequally yoked as well. As holy beings, even in body - not just in spirit - we
need to be joining ourselves to, or becoming one flesh, only with a partner who
is also holy. God has created us as whole beings - spirit, mind, and body - and
He cares about our whole being, not just our spirits. God is very concerned
with how we treat, and what we do with, our bodies.
It's important to remember that Adam and Eve felt
no shame of being naked with each other because they were both holy. When we
should feel shame is when are naked with someone who is not holy. And part of
this being holy or not being holy is not simply the idea of uniting yourself to
other Christians in sex but uniting yourself in the way that God has commanded
us to. That means following the example of Adam and Eve in this first part of
Genesis - one man and one woman being solely committed to each other.
That is the model that God has given us for marriage
and for sex, and it's what Paul and the rest of Scripture warn us to maintain.
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