Sexual Life. The sexual tendency, the inclination which causes the normal adult person of either sex to seek the society of persons of the opposite sex, is normally and naturally to find its outlet and expression in the state of marriage, or holy matrimony. The relation in which one man and one woman, living together in sanctification and honor, 1 Thess. 4:4, and in which either spouse renders to the other due benevolence, 1 Cor. 7:3, is not only in full accord with the will of God, but it has also been shown by history to be the most conducive to a normal, healthy life and to the full development of the best powers of service. If the Lord, for reasons best known to Him, denies to a person such a life partner or takes him away before the full measure of life has been filled, then such a person will practise the proper continence by keeping his or her members in subjection and by overcoming every form of sexual lust and depravity by the approved means of work and prayer. Celibacy, such as practised in the Roman Catholic Church, is abnormal, unnatural, and out of harmony with the will of God, as clearly expressed in 1 Tim. 3:2, 12. It is a matter of historical record that men who misunderstood the exhortation to chastity or believed themselves. bound by the so-called vows of chastity (that is, of celibacy) rendered themselves impotent, incapable of contracting marriage, thereby hoping to keep the natural desires in subjection. Such a course is not in agreement with the will of God.—On the other hand, every use and abuse of either the primary or secondary organs of sex outside of their decent, sanctified use in holy matrimony conflicts with that chastity and decency which God expects from all men, according to the Sixth Commandment. Thus fornication, the cohabitation of people who are not married, is named as a work of the flesh. Acts 15:10; Gal. 5:19. Adultery, the cohabitation of two people, either of them or both being married, is likewise most emphatically condemned in Holy Scriptures. Mark 10:11; Gal. 5:19. By the same token all undue familiarity of adult persons outside the married estate, such as dallying, hugging, petting, and kissing, is not permitted. Even close relatives, in whose case exhibitions of tenderness are permissible, will be careful not to carry such expressions to excess. Prov. 5:20; 6:27-28 ; Ezek. 23: 3, 8, 21. The sin of masturbation, or self-abuse, is mentioned in the Bible only with extreme loathing. Rom. 1:24. The same is true of other sex perversions, such as were practised by the heathen at the time when Christianity was first proclaimed, such as pederasty, Rom. 1:26-27, and sodomy, chiefly in the nature of cohabitation with beasts, Lev. 18:23.—Over against these perversions the Bible clearly teaches that the normal sex life of men and women should be that of holy wedlock, the purpose of which is the procreation of children and cohabitation for mutual care and protection.