Let's Talk about Biblical Sex

Deuteronomy 22 has a lot to say about sex and death. When there was adultery in Israel, people were to die. When a woman "whored in her father's house" she was to die. When a man raped a woman, he was to die. When a man slept with a virgin to whom he was not married, his singlehood was to die - that woman became his wife for life.

All in all, this is a fun bit of text!

First, we learn, sex is a matter of life and death to God. In our culture, we couldn't be further away from God on this very point. Sex in the minds of many in the West is a "non-issue". Though we still take rape very seriously, sex outside of marriage is basically considered a right of passage for many young people in America. How very different than what we hear from God on these matters from the Law. Sex is serious. God says illicit sex can cost you your life and bring shame upon your whole family. The question the West is grappling with belligerently today is this: On the matter of sexual morality, who is right?

The interesting fact about this chapter in Deuteronomy is the number of times it is alluded to in the New Testament, often in disobedience. For instance:

Jesus is born to a virgin and when news of her pregnancy reaches Joseph, he doesn't follow the protocol of this chapter but rather seeks an alternate route:

The law said:
Deuteronomy 22:14 (ESV) and accuses her of misconduct and brings a bad name upon her, saying, ‘I took this woman, and when I came near her, I did not find in her evidence of virginity,’...
Deuteronomy 22:20–21 (ESV) ... if the thing is true, that evidence of virginity was not found in the young woman, 21 then they shall bring out the young woman to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones, because she has done an outrageous thing in Israel by whoring in her father’s house. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.

Matthew tells us this is what Joseph did:

Matthew 1:18–19 (ESV) Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.

Joseph is described as a "just" man. Here he takes a far more compassionate route concerning the letter of the law. What is this telling us? Wouldn't we consider being "just" to follow the law specifically laid out? Did Israel soften the law by the time of Christ? Are we to do the same?

The second time Deuteronomy 22 is referenced in the New Testament has to do with Jesus and a woman brought to him having been caught in the act of adultery from John 8.

The law said:

Deuteronomy 22:22 (ESV) “If a man is found lying with the wife of another man, both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman. So you shall purge the evil from Israel.

In John 8, the religious leaders, in an effort trap Jesus bring only the woman they "caught" in the act, strangely leaving the man behind. Jesus bends down and writes with his finger on the ground. It reads:

John 8:7 (ESV) And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”

Her accusers leave, Jesus refuses to condemn her and she is spared. Deuteronomy's letter was once again not followed.

What are we to make of this blatant ignoring of the Law concerning sex? 

In both cases, the guilty person is a woman (Mary and the unnamed adulteress). In both cases, the woman not being put to death brings Jesus one step further to His death on the cross. In both cases, the guilty go free and Christ is moved toward the judgment of sinners. 

Illicit sex can kill you. This is true. But Jesus took your punishment and died in your place. 

Now, this doesn't mean you can go around having sex with anyone you want! The Law is still in place and sexual immorality carries spiritual, emotional and physical consequences unlike any other deviation from God's law. But God's grace is greater than your mistakes. We come away from Deuteronomy 22 realizing that this Law was not abandoned but rather leveraged to move along our salvation in Christ. He died so that we could move on from sin and into salvation and enjoy the sweeter presence of His grace.

Who would ever want to go on sinning?