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What Is Eros Love In The Bible? A Bible Study

What Is Eros Love In The Bible? A Bible Study

Last updated on: May 20, 2015 at 2:18 pm by Jack Wellman

What Is Eros Love In The Bible? A Bible Study 2015-05-20T14:18:56-05:00 Jack Wellman

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What is eros love that’s mentioned in the Bible? What Scriptures speak about it?

What is Eros Love?

The Greeks had four words for the word love and one of those words was “eros” from which we get the English word “erotic” and it means a romantic or intimate love and typically involves the physical, sensual love found between a husband and a wife. Eros comes from the mythological Greek god Eros and was the god of love, the god of sexual desire, physical attraction, and physical love. Eros was thought to be the son ofAphrodite who was said to have interfered between the affairs of the gods and mankind causing the erotically mutual bonds of love at the sexually arousal level.

The Misuse of Eros

Jesus once said that whoever looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery in their heart and specifically said “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matt 5:27-28) and if your hand or your eye causes you to stumble, as in lusting in the heart, “it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell” (Matt 5:30). Naturally, if anyone looks at a man with the same lustful intent, the very same thing applies at it would if a man were lusting after a woman and committing adultery with her in his heart.

Slaying Lust

Believers are said to be new creations or creatures in Christ as Paul wrote in 2nd Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” and so we are to “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Col 3:5) because it is “On account of these the wrath of God is coming” (Col 3:6) and “In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away” (Col 3:7-8) since “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Gal 5:1).

The Fate of the Sexually Immoral

There is bad news for those who refuse to repent of their sins, particularly sexual sins which is called sexual immorality and covers adultery, fornication, and even lusting in the heart. Paul indicates that “the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality” (Gal 5:19) for which Paul says “I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal 5:21) for “those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Gal 5:24). Paul also warned that “sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints” (Eph 5:3) and “you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God” (Eph 5:5) and “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret” (Eph 5:11-12).

God’s Judgment

Everyone will die and after that, they will face the judgment of God (Heb 9:27) but for those who have repented and placed their trust in Christ, they have no fear of condemnation (Rom 8:1) “since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom 5:1) but for those who have never trusted in Christ, their fate is almost beyond description (Rev 20:12-15) and for those who have lived lives of sexual immorality all of their lives “their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death” (Rev 21:8). That is why we are warned to “Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body” (1 Cor 6:18)

The Undefiled Marriage Bed

Eros love is completely allowed within the confines of marriage as the author of Hebrews says “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous” (Heb 13:4) but “Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men…will not inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor 6:9) so “See that no one is sexually immoral” (Heb 12:16). This is why married couples should “not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control” (1 Cor 7:5) which is why “The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields it to her husband. In the same way, the husband does not have authority over his own body but yields it to his wife” (1 Cor 7:4).

Conclusion

Sex is a creation of God and not just intended for procreation but for enjoyment which is what Solomon meant when he wrote “Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth, a lovely deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight; be intoxicated always in her love” (Prov 5:18-19) so “why be intoxicated with another man’s wife? Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman” (Prov 5:20) because “an adulterous woman is a deep pit, and a wayward wife is a narrow well” (Prov 23:27) and of course what applies to the adulterous woman also applies to an adulterous man. For those who refuse to repent of sexual immorality, the time of judgment is all that they can expect in the end (Rev 21:8).

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Blind Chance or Intelligent Design available on Amazon.

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