Is Cohabitation Before Marriage Ever Acceptable For Christians?

couple-on-sofaWhen it comes to Christianity, there’s a lot of argument about what is and is not appropriate. When one thinks about it, it makes a lot of sense. Even if the Bible is the inspired word of God and not just the words of men trying to understand God and the world around them, it was still written by men. And humans are notorious for presuming they’re right, and not actually listening when they’re wrong. It’s no different when the speaker is God Himself!

Because of that, there’s a lot of argument in some of the social situations. One such argument is cohabitation and premarital sex. To some, the Bible is 100% against premarital sex, and absolutely against cohabitation. To others, that’s an old fashioned idea that was used to keep people in line or to ensure the purity of bloodlines and judgement of heirs. So what’s the real truth?

Is It Okay For Christians To Cohabitate Before Marriage?

First, we have to understand that the Bible, even if it is the inspired word of God Himself, is still a book written thousands of years ago. What’s more, it’s not even one book, but two. The Old Testament is a book of history and laws for the Hebrew tribe as they survived in the ancient world. The New Testament is a book of spiritual understanding and encouragement to a sect of the Hebrew tribe within the Roman empire.

This means that even within the Bible itself, there is recognition that times and situations change. A good example of this is the kosher dietary laws, which were abolished in the book of Acts when God said “Let nothing I have created be called unclean”. Some people take this to be specific to the dietary laws, while others take this to mean everything under God’s creation. After all, God said let “nothing” He has created be called unclean, right?

This is all to say that the answer to “is it ever acceptable for Christians to do something” is “it’s complicated”. In the case of cohabitation, you need to search your soul, pray, and talk to your priest or pastor. If you are personally having doubts, then it may be better to not cohabitate. However, if you feel secure in your faith, if you feel that God is not concerned with this kind of thing, or that your relationship is as faithful and holy as marriage even without the legal bindings, then is it appropriate?

I say NO. But it is definitely an interesting topic to debate!