6) CELIBACY
There are many verses in the Bible stating that one should be
chaste and celibate. The entire chapter of I Corinthians,
chapter 7 deals with this subject comprehensively. Here are the
highlights of that chapter:
1) "Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me (Paul):
it is good for a man not to touch a woman."
2) " Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his
own wife, and let every woman have her own husband."
3) "Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence; and
likewise also the wife unto the husband."
5) "Defraud ye not one the other (i.e. have sex), except it be
with consent for a time, that ye may give yourself to fasting
and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not
for your incontinency."
6) "But I speak this by permission, and not by commandment."
7) "For I would that all men were even as I myself (celibate).
But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this
manner, and another after that."
8) "I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, it is good for
them if they abide even as I."
9) "But if they cannot contain, let them marry; for it is
better to marry than to burn."
10) "And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord,
let not the wife depart from her husband:"
11) "But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be
reconciled to her husband; and let not the husband put away his
wife."
25) "Now, concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord:
yet I give my judgement, as one that hath obtained the mercy of
the Lord to be faithful."
26) "I suppose therefore that this is good for the present
distress, I say, that it is good for a man so to be."
27) "Art thou bound unto a wife? Seek not to be loosed. Art
thou loosed from a wife? Seek not a wife."
28) "But and if thou marry, thou hast not sinned: and if a
virgin marry, she hath not sinned. Nevertheless such shall have
trouble in the flesh: but I spare you."
32) "He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to
the Lord, how he may please the Lord:"
33) "But he that is married careth for things that are of the
world, how he may please his wife."
34) "There is a difference also between a wife and a virgin.
The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she
may be holy in body and in spirit: but she that is married
careth for the things of the world, how she may please her
husband."
37) "He that standeth steadfast in his heart, having no
necessity, but hath power over his own will, and hath so
decreed in his heart that he will keep his virgin, doeth well."
38) "So he that giveth her in marriage doeth well, but he that
giveth her not in marriage doeth better."
I Corinthians, Chapter 7
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"This I say then, walk in the spirit, and ye shall not fulfill
the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the
Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are
contrary he one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things
that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under
the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are
these; adultery, fornication, uncleanliness, lasciviousness,
idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath,
strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkeness,
revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before as I
have told you in time past, that they which do such things
shall not inherit the kingdom of God."
Galatians 5:16-21
Compare to BG [Bhagavad Gita] 3.37, where Krishna [God] says
that it is lust only that drives a person to perform sinful
acts.
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"But fornication, and all uncleanliness, or covetousness, let
it not be once named among you, as becometh saints."
Ephesians 5:3
Note how fornication is linked with uncleanliness, and is
considered an unsaintly quality
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"Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth;
fornication; uncleanliness, inordinate affection, evil
concupiscence (bad desires), and covetousness, which is
idolatry;"
Colossians 3:5
Here also fornication, linked with uncleanliness, is condemned,
and also plain old inordinate affection.
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"For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye
should abstain from fornication: that every one of you should
know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor."
I Thessalonians 4:3-4
This is a good verse. It shows that the method of sanctifying
the body is to abstain from sex life; it also shows that the
body is just a vessel for the spirit.
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(Paul speaking to disciples) "For I am jealous over you with
godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I
may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ."
II Corinthians 11:2
Note the implications here that Paul arranged the marriages of
his disciples.
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"I (Jesus) say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman to
lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his
heart."
Matthew 5:32
Shows even subtle sex life is to be considered as adultery.
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"It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you,
and such fornication as is not so much named among the
Gentiles, that should have his father's wife. And ye are puffed
up, and have not rather mourned, that he hath done this deed
might be taken away from among you."
I Corinthians 5:1-2
This shows that Paul felt that if one of the followers
committed fornication, he should be kicked out of the
***ociation of other disciples.
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"Flee fornication. Every sin that a man dieth is without the
body; but he that committeh fornication sinneth against his own
body."
I Corinthians 6:18
Very clear verse. Fornication is considered to be the main
cause of material life. Note that the word used here is
porneiana [meaning] fornication, not moicheian, or [meaning]
adultery. The purport is that any sex life, not just illicit
sex life, causes material consciousness.
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"Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats, but the Lord
shall destroy both it and them. Now that the body is not for
fornication, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body."
I Corinthians 6:13
The words used here are both broma, food. Also note the
statement about the body not being for sex life. The word used
here is porneia, [meaning] fornication, not moicheia, [meaning]
adultery.
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THE ADVANTAGE OF CELIBACY
"It is my opinion, then, that in a time of stress like the
present this is the best way for a man to live--it is best for
a man to be as he is (celibate)...If, however, you do marry,
there is nothing wrong in it; and if a virgin marries, she has
done no wrong. But those who marry will have pain and grief in
this bodily life, and my aim is to spare you...I want you to be
free from anxious care. The unmarried man cares for the Lord's
business; His aim is to please the Lord. But the married man
cares for worldly things; his aim is to please his wife; and he
has a divided mind. The unmarried or celibate woman cares for
the Lord's business; her aim is to be dedicated to Him in body
as in spirit; but the married woman cares for worldly things;
her aim is to please her husband."
"In saying this I have no wish to keep you on a tight rein. I
am thinking simply of your own good, of what is seemly, and of
your freedom to wait upon the Lord without distraction."
I Corinthians 7:25-26,28,32,35
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CHAS***Y
"...The disciples said to him, 'If that is the position with
husband and wife, it is better not to marry.' To this he
replied, 'That is something which not everyone can accept, but
only those for whom God has appointed it. For a while some are
incapable of marriage because they were born so, or were made
so by men, there are others who have themselves renounced
marriage for the sake of the kingdom of Heaven. Let those
accept it who can.'"
Matthew 19:10-12
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LUSTY OR GREEDY PERSONS HAVE NO SHARE IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD
"Fornication and indecency of any kind, or ruthless greed, must
not be so much as mentioned among you, as befits the people of
God...no one given to fornication or indecency, or the greed
which makes an idol of gain, has any share in the kingdom of
Christ and of God."
Eph. 5:3,5
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ONE MUST LIVE A PURE LIFE, FREE FROM EARTHLY THINGS
"Agree together, my friend, to follow my example. You have us
for a model; watch those whose way of life conforms to it. For,
as I have often told you, and now tell you with tears in my
eyes, there are many whose way of life makes them enemies of
the cross of Christ. They are heading for destruction, appe***e
is their god, and they glory in their shame. Their minds are
set on earthly things."
Phil. 3:17-19
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