So, I am currently in a relationship. She is 22, I am 23. We have never kissed or held hands, and we plan on getting married someday. That is in the future, nowhere near now.
We both do not date to just "date", and we both have made it clear that we want to be with each other. Our relationship is amazing, with God as the focus. We read our Bible's daily, pray together, and we go doorknocking and soulwinning together. God is #1 in both of our lives.
My question, however, stems from this verse:
"Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: it is good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let ever man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband." 1 Corinthians 7:1-2
Paul tells the church in Corinth that it's GOOD for a man NOT to touch a woman. But what does this mean? Is this a baseline, blanket statement regarding any physical contact whatsoever?
If this is so; have you ever shaken hands with a pastors wife? Every helped a woman not fall by bracing her back? Ever given your mother a hug? I mean, if the verse means a man can NOT touch a woman EVER, isn't that kind of absurd? Why is that a sin?
If it doesn't mean ALL contact, where is the line drawn? Me and my girlfriend hug. We do not hold hands, we do not kiss (we plan on kissing for the first time at our wedding day) and we honestly have ZERO conviction regarding our hugs. They aren't 10 minute hugs, but they are embracing hugs. It's not a side hug. But my question is, why would that be a sin?
We have never done anything remotely sexual. We have chose to abstain from that from the beginning of our relationship. We think holding hands is a little too "intimate" for two people who are not married to do, and I think that's fine. Kissing as well. But the Bible says "It is good for a man not to touch a woman."
Where is the line drawn? What is Paul saying?
We both do not date to just "date", and we both have made it clear that we want to be with each other. Our relationship is amazing, with God as the focus. We read our Bible's daily, pray together, and we go doorknocking and soulwinning together. God is #1 in both of our lives.
My question, however, stems from this verse:
"Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: it is good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let ever man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband." 1 Corinthians 7:1-2
Paul tells the church in Corinth that it's GOOD for a man NOT to touch a woman. But what does this mean? Is this a baseline, blanket statement regarding any physical contact whatsoever?
If this is so; have you ever shaken hands with a pastors wife? Every helped a woman not fall by bracing her back? Ever given your mother a hug? I mean, if the verse means a man can NOT touch a woman EVER, isn't that kind of absurd? Why is that a sin?
If it doesn't mean ALL contact, where is the line drawn? Me and my girlfriend hug. We do not hold hands, we do not kiss (we plan on kissing for the first time at our wedding day) and we honestly have ZERO conviction regarding our hugs. They aren't 10 minute hugs, but they are embracing hugs. It's not a side hug. But my question is, why would that be a sin?
We have never done anything remotely sexual. We have chose to abstain from that from the beginning of our relationship. We think holding hands is a little too "intimate" for two people who are not married to do, and I think that's fine. Kissing as well. But the Bible says "It is good for a man not to touch a woman."
Where is the line drawn? What is Paul saying?
