The Christian Celibacy

It's  a fact that a believer is expected to marry as an adult. It's also a fact that most people hope to be reunited with their spouses in the Kingdom of Heaven and eventually carry on their family life. However, there is a biblical truth about Christian celibacy that is seldom mentioned.

First and foremost, it is important to define what it means to be a Christian celibate: it is one who does not indulge in DEBAUCHERY, FORNICATION or SEXUAL UNCLEANLINESS, CONTROLS HIS CARNAL DESIRES and walks in FEAR AND RESPECT of the LORD'S LAWS.

The particularity of such a Christian is that he/she is often a virgin and neither desires to marry nor to live as a couple, but is rather interested in a more spiritual life.

The apostle Paul taught there are only two options: Christian celibacy or marriage. but, contrary to popular beliefs he had a much higher regard for Christian celibacy.

• 1 Corinthians 7:8-9 "Now to the unmarried and widows I say this: It is good for them to remain unmarried, as I am. But if they cannot control themselves, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

• 1 Corinthians 7:27 "Are you committed to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you free of commitment? Do not look for a wife."

Paul cautioned those who were married that they would be more susceptible to carnal temptations and would have difficulty fixating all their thoughts on ELOHIM.

• 1 Corinthians 7:1-2 "Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good to abstain from sexual relations. But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband."

• 1 Corinthians 7:28 "But if you do marry, you have not sinned. And if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this."

• 1 Corinthians 7:33-34 "But the married man is concerned about the affairs of this world, how he can please his wife, and his interests are divided. The unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the work of the Lord, how she can be holy in both body and spirit. But the married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world, how she can please her husband.

• 1 Corinthians 7:32 "I want you to be free from concern. The unmarried man is concerned about the work of the Lord, how he can please the Lord."

Here, it must be understood that the message of the apostle Paul is neither a way to discourage people from getting married, nor a contradiction to the decree of YAHWEH who in the beginning declared: "it is not good that the man should be alone; and He created the woman". Recognizing that a marriage which is blessed and ordained by God is a true source of joy, Paul strongly recommended it to those who have a hard time with self control.

• 1 Corinthians 7:9 "But if they cannot control themselves, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion."

However, Paul encouraged the holiness of the body, which facilitates communion with the Holy Spirit. On the same note, YESHUA revealed 2 important things:

1) The resurrection of the dead will not be a continuation of our actual relationships here on earth.

The Sadducees, who were questioning the resurrection of the dead, came to Jesus and asked him: if a man dies and his brother marries the widow, then the brother dies and the widow marries a third man, and so on up to 7 times; which of them will be her husband at the resurrection?

YESHUA replied that they lacked the understanding of the Scriptures and they were greatly in error. He was pointing out how our perspective on death is contrary to YAHWEH's perspective as He is the God of those who are “alive” such as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

• Mark 12:26-27 "But concerning the dead rising, have you not read about the burning bush in the Book of Moses, how God told him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!”

In other words, although we have life and movement in our earthly physical bodies, this is only a mortal vessel because of sin. After physical death, those who during their earthly life became dead to sin and chose to follow God's ways, will be resurrected to eternal life and are henceforth regarded as “alive”.

• 1 Corinthians 15:36-42 "You fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or something else. But God gives it a body as He has designed, and to each kind of seed He gives its own body. Not all flesh is the same: Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another, and fish another. There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. But the splendor of the heavenly bodies is of one degree, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is of another...So will it be with the resurrection of the dead: What is sown is perishable; it is raised imperishable.

2) After the Resurrection, our bodies will remain forever pure and holy like those of the angels.

• Luke 20: 34-36 "And Jesus said to them, "The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage. But those who are considered worthy to share in the age to come and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage. In fact, they can no longer die, because they are like the angels."

• Matthew 22: 29-32 "Jesus answered, “You are mistaken because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. In the resurrection, people will neither marry nor be given in marriage. Instead, they will be like the angels in heaven. But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what God said to you: ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”

Indirectly, YESHUA was conveying the message that in His Kingdom there's no need for marriage that could result in intimate relationships for the purpose of propagating the celestial kingdom. This implies that your earthly wife or husband will not be so in the Kingdom of Heaven or at the resurrection of the dead. As such, all those things that are capable of holding us mentally captive or preventing us from experiencing fulfillment and perpetual mental freedom, will no longer exist.

If you have a child, a family member, a friend or a colleague who is a Christian celibate and intends on remaining that way for the rest of his or her life, please be respectful of that, and do not try to dissuade him or her. Remember that his or her choice is greatly and highly regarded in the Kingdom of Heaven.

• Corinthians 7:36-38 "However, if someone thinks he is acting inappropriately toward his betrothed, and if she is beyond her youth and they ought to marry, let him do as he wishes; he is not sinning; But the man who is firmly established in his heart and under no constraint, with control over his will and resolve in his heart not to marry the virgin, he will do well.they should get married. So then, he who marries the virgin does well, but he who does not marry her does even better."

May the Holy Spirit guide you in the understanding of this message.