A Critique of TGC’s Article Titled “Sex Won’t Save You (But it Points to the One Who Will)”
TGC’s Keller Center for Apologetics recently published an article by Josh Butler titled “Sex Won’t Save You (But it Points to the One Who Will)”. Any discerning evangelical should have alarms go off in their mind with this title alone. While ignoring the sheer glibness within this entire article, I wish to point out the poor exegetical work he uses to support his entire premise.
In his section titled “Union With Christ,” Butler appeals to Ephesians 5:31-32 connecting the words “leave and cleave” and “two becoming one flesh” as what he calls “consummation language.” His last thought is that when a man and a woman get married, they consummate the marriage bed together. He portrays this concept as a picture of Christ and the church, and "sex is an icon of salvation."
I agree with Josh that marriage is the union of man and woman. However, biblically speaking, the purpose of intimate relations between husband and wife is what God commands His creatures in Genesis 1:28 to “be fruitful and multiply.” Why? God tells them to multiply to have dominion (1:26,28) and subdue (1:28). This is done through the marital bed and sexual union of husband and wife for the purposes of reproduction and having dominion and subduing the earth.
Moving on to the next section of his article, he compares the nature of reproduction to hospitality and generosity. Here is where the most grotesque comparison is made using the phrase “within.” I do not wish to repeat his exact phrasing, but you can read it yourself; however, the most significant blunder (despite everything else) is the liberty he takes in translating the phrase “he went into her” in Genesis 29:30. HE makes a vague appeal of generality to the phrase as being the “acceptable” translation for the Hebrew word as he states,
“The most frequent Hebrew phrase for sex is, literally, ‘he went into her’ (wayyabo eleha).”
However, this translation is incorrect. Here are the different English translations used for this phrase as found in Genesis 29:21;22;30:
NIV: “lay with”
NASB: “went in”
ESV: “went in”
NET: “slept with”
NLT: “slept with”
NKJV: “went in”
So, with his assertion of what this literally means, he is incorrect. The Hebrew phrase is a euphemism, and when literally translated it means “approaching or towards” using the verb בּוֹא (boʾ) and then connecting it with the preposition אֶל (ʾel) means “come to” or “approach,” which gives us the literal meaning “Jacob approached and came to her,” Yes, for the purposes of sexual intimacy, however, Butler is mistaken in his assertion that this phrase is the modern English equivalent of the word sex. The difference is that this is a cohortative verb that expresses the desire or intention of an individual but not the action. The function of this type of verb is one that is understood to be a request, or granting permission to perform the action indicated. Genesis 29:21 demonstrates this:
NIV: “I want to lie with her”
NASB: “That I may go in to her” (To clarify, this is like saying “I want to go in to her presence.”)
ESV: “I may go in to her”
NET: “I want to sleep with her”
This provides a clear understanding of the phrase Butler attempts to use as he equivocates the English translation from the original to meet the intent of his article.
From here, he springboards into comparing the human sexual union to a spiritual union asserting that Christ performs the same action as Jacob within His church and the members thereof. The comparison he makes in the second paragraph of “Sexual Union with the Gospel” is extremely repulsive given the perverse nature of how he places human sexual action as analogous to that of God’s Divine mercy that He imparts on those who believe and who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit.
Butler both spiritualizes and makes a poor connection to the gospel, dampening his glibness with “Christenese” when he states:
“Christ penetrates his church with the generative seed of his Word and the life-giving presence of his Spirit, which takes root within her and grows to bring new life into the world.”
Christ does not “penetrate the church,” rather, He indwells and inhabits the church's life. Paul states in 2 Corinthians 6:16 (LSB):
Or what agreement has a sanctuary of God with idols? For we are a sanctuary of the living God; just as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk among them; And I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”
Paul is quoting from Leviticus 26:11- 12, which speaks of God dwelling in the midst of His people and not that of a temple. Paul uses the Greek preposition (en autois), which means “in them” or “among or with,” indicating the Spirit is living and indwelling His people, since our bodies are the sanctuary of the living God. Notice the distinct difference between penetrate and indwell.
Pastors must exercise extreme caution in their word usage, specifically, sexual words in consideration of a culture steeped in sexual immorality. Pastors must take a clear stand and bear a holy witness even through word usage like how one describes his Creator, how He has created us, and how He indwells us.
Christian, steer clear of this article, always be discerning, compare what you read to Scripture, and be a good Berean as demonstrated in Acts 17:11.