What is “holy sexuality”?

Holy sexuality is a term used by Christopher Yuan in his book Holy Sexuality and the Gospel: Sex, Desire, and Relationships Shaped by God’s Grand Story (Multnomah Books, 2018).

Yuan arrived at the term as he was struggling to describe God’s standard for sexuality. According to Scripture, God’s standard is not homosexuality, and it’s not bisexuality. But, Yuan argues, neither is it heterosexuality, in and of itself, given the many heterosexual sins condemned in the Bible. Simply saying, “God wants you to be heterosexual,” is not enough.

Yuan wanted a term that would faithfully reflect God’s standard for sexuality for every person in every stage of life, whether one is single or married. He chose holy sexuality as the best expression of that standard. God calls people to holiness in every area, including their sexuality.

Holy sexuality is expressed in two and only two ways. For the unmarried person, the path of holy sexuality requires that individual “to be faithful to God by being sexually abstinent” (Yuan, C., in an interview with Sean McDowell, “Think Biblically” podcast, 3/22/19, www.biola.edu/blogs/think-biblically/2019/holy-sexuality, accessed 7/16/26). Sex before marriage—even heterosexual sex—is sin. God’s plan is sexual abstinence before marriage; thus, the practice of abstinence when unmarried is an expression of holy sexuality.

For the married person, the path of holy sexuality requires that individual to “be faithful to God by being faithful to [his or her] spouse of the opposite sex” (ibid.). Adultery is sin in every case. God’s design is that sexual activity occur within the bounds of a biblical marriage; thus, sex between a man and woman married to each other is a valid expression of holy sexuality.

The very notion of holiness being linked to sexuality may seem strange to some, but there is nothing “unholy” about sex, per se. God created mankind “male and female” (Genesis 1:27). God’s first command to the couple was accompanied by a blessing: “God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number’” (Genesis 1:28)—a command that required sexual activity. The sex that Adam and Eve had was blessed by God. Marriage is a state in which a man and woman become “one flesh” (Genesis 2:24).

In their state of innocence, “Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame” (Genesis 2:25). Even after the fall, marriage (and sex within marriage) is to be held in high esteem and valued: “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled” (Hebrews 13:4, ESV). In the context of sexual activity, a husband is bound to “fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband” (1 Corinthians 7:3). God blesses a married man’s delight in his wife: “May her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be intoxicated with her love” (Proverbs 5:19).

Sex, with all its physical, emotional, and spiritual intricacies, was God’s invention. Sex does not equal sin; the sin is immorality—sex outside of marriage as defined by God. So, sexual behavior can be either holy or not. Exclusive sexual activity between a man and woman married to each other is holy, right, and blessed by God. It is holy sexuality. A single person who abstains from sex is also doing what is holy, right, and blessed by God. That is holy sexuality, too.

In short, holy sexuality is chastity in singleness and faithfulness in marriage.