FOREWORD

This study in its present form began with an abiding conviction from the Lord that there was needed a definitive Bible study on this most pervasive, most impelling most important, and yes, most blessed of subjects. The Lord put this conviction upon the present writer after he was well into his seventies and so, was mostly beyond all personal practice of the subject. But knowing that almost every individual member of every generation must meet and matriculate and master a course in sex if he or she is to successfully pass through this life, was God’s motivation for this study.

Having made a shorter study on this subject almost twenty-five years before this, shortly after the writer became pastor of Heritage Baptist Church of Salem, Ohio, the extensive data accumulated then was used as a basis for this study. In the preparation of this material it was felt that no authority should be brought in except the Word of God since it is to God alone that we will all one day give an account. And while we have sometimes given brief quotations from men to illustrate a point, it is the inspired Word of Him “that cannot lie,” that is the authority for every point made in this study. Thus, those that reject the truths contained herein, whether from preconceived ideas, parental teachings, preferences for pleasure, or pointless conjectures, must be prepared to answer to God. And while the writer makes no claims of inspiration in this study, he was very aware of the illumination and leading of the Spirit of God in the study and preparation of this material. And almost all of the Scripture texts used in this study are so clear as to their meanings that there is no room left for anyone but an outright rebel to conjecture as to some other possible meaning to them. God’s Word is always a revelation—that which opens up or unveils—never an apocrypha (from the Greek word for “secret” or “hidden”)—something that is hidden as to its meaning. Thus the Scripture always says what it means and means what it says, so that the problem is never with the obscurity of Scripture but always with the obstinacy of the sinner that wants to dictate what Scripture is to mean.
Nor should anyone ever try to ignore this matter out of a false modesty, for sex is a fact of life and it is necessary to the perpetuation of the human race. And a right view of it is necessary, not only to please God, but also to enjoy the great blessings that God has for His human creatures. The fact is that sex cannot be ignored except at the cost of great calamity to those that try to ignore it. And it is because this is not just something that happens in the privacy of the bedroom, but has far-reaching effects in many other areas of life that we have included along with the Biblical view of sex, the Biblical view of the home and family.
With these thoughts in mind this study is commended to the brotherhood at large. And we believe that not only would every pastor be profited in having a copy of this study for his own reference, but that it would profit as a study guide in Young Adults Sunday School classes. And maturing young people would perhaps be kept from falling into sin if a copy of this was placed in their hands for a continuing reference work. Not only so, but the author would wish that copies of this study could be given to every engaged couple to serve as a Marriage Manual throughout their married life. Erroneous ideas about sex are everywhere rampant. It is desired that a Biblical view of sex be propagated as much as possible.

Davis W. Huckabee
Salem, Ohio