Sometimes, an event happens in your own corner of the world, and it’s a big deal where you work and engage. But then you find out later that no one outside your circle knew or cared about it. I feel that way a bit about today’s topic, which is a recent article shared on The Gospel Coalition (TGC) website titled “Sex Won’t Save You (But It Points to the One Who Will).” Its author took the stance that “sex is an icon of salvation” and went on to describe how he believed that was true in wording that proved disturbing for many who read it. In short, very quickly “Christian Twitter” blew up. Since then, TGC has taken the article down and asked for forgiveness, while still supporting the work of this prominent pastor/author, Joshua Butler.
If you don’t care about this and instead come to Hot, Holy & Humorous for tips on having better sex in your marriage, I invite you to skip this post. Instead, go read something more directly applicable to your life, such as:
Or simply scroll down to the bottom of my website, look for Blog Topics, and then click the How To Tips category to find a LOT of great ideas!
For those still with me, I had problems with the article too. I mentioned it briefly on my Facebook page and suggested people instead go listen to our recent Sex Chat for Christian Wives podcast episode with Dr. Juli Slattery on her book, “God, Sex, and Your Marriage.” Since then, I have downloaded and read the first chapter of Joshua Butler’s upcoming book, from which the TGC article was excerpted, and thought more deeply about why it bothered me. What exactly do I object to, and are my concerns a difference of opinion or valid challenges?
Isn’t Sex a Metaphor?
Let’s start here. Some pushing back against the article were bothered by the comparison of husband and wife engaging in sex to Christ and His church. Spiritualizing this act of physical pleasure feels like an over-reach for many. And I get that. But it’s not where I diverged from the article.
Rather, I don’t see how any can read Scripture honestly and not see the parallels God Himself makes between husband and wife and their intimate union. It isn’t simply Ephesians 5:32, the verse Butler points to first: “‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.”
Other scriptures draw this comparison:
And then, there’s the whole book of Hosea that dwells on this comparison in depth!
I’ve said it before, and I will continue to say it: When the physical union with your spouse is healthy, holy, and mutually beneficial, it reflects the kind of intimacy God longs to have with us.
When the physical union with your spouse is healthy, holy, and mutually beneficial, it reflects the kind of intimacy God longs to have with us.
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No, God doesn’t want to have sex with us. That’s creepy. But that sense of being seen, known, loved, cherished, and connected that can happen in a good marriage with quality sexual intimacy gives us a glimpse of how God wants to draw close to us and have him draw close to Him.
Is Sex as a Metaphor of Salvation?
The TGC article’s author went further, in professing that “sex is an icon of salvation.” That gave me pause.
Although I’ve been certain that marital intimacy—of various kinds, not just sexual—is a representation of our relationship with God, how was sex like salvation itself? Butler’s explanation runs longer, but rather than summarize it all, I’d like to give a taste of what he said:
And now, I’m starting to cringe. Maybe you are too. Maybe you’re not. But I personally think this is where the metaphor of marital intimacy—”one flesh” expressed physically—jumps the shark, so to speak.
Butler rightly says that sex should never be an idol, but rather an icon. That is, something that is not to be worshipped but a symbol of something more reverent. However, the language he uses to describes sex as representative of salvation itself elevates sex beyond what I see in Scripture.
If God entering into a marital union with us was sufficient to save us, then wouldn’t the act of Christ’s salvation involve something more like a wedding than death on a cross?
When Revelation speaks of the eventual wedding feast, it refers to Christ as the lamb, a reference to his sacrificial death.
This Lamb is the once-for-all Passover lamb slain for our sins. He took our place and the suffering we deserved for our rebellion against God.
Referring to the husband’s entering and ejaculating inside his wife as “the sacrificial offering he bestows” doesn’t capture what Jesus did for us. That is a pleasurable moment, not an excruciating death at the hands of cruel torturers. That doesn’t strike me—and many others—as the right parallel.
Not to mention that what my husband does in the bedroom with me doesn’t save me. It’s connecting and beautiful in many ways, but it doesn’t represent salvation to me.
Do the Male-Female Roles Hold Up?
While we’re at it, let’s discuss another objection many have raised—the portrayal of men as givers/sacrificers and women as receivers/altars.
Some challenge this framing because they are egalitarian and believe distinct male-female roles is a misreading of Scripture at best and horribly abusive at worst. I understand that, but one doesn’t have to go there (if you don’t want to) to scratch your head a bit at this depiction.
In fact, I have as much or more frustration at Butler’s adoption of the typical male-female sexual roles. Again, here’s an excerpt from the first chapter of his book:
He then goes on to talk about Emily Nagowski’s excellent research that resulted in a shift of our understanding of women’s sexual response, noting that men tend to have a more spontaneous sex drive while women tend to have a more responsive sex drive. I appreciate all that. But when you frame the husband as the pursuer and the wife as the pursued and say that represents Christ our pursuer and us the pursued, you miss on both sides.
For one thing, this is an incredibly disheartening message to higher desire wives! If husbands are supposed to be the pursuer in order to represent Christ, then it follows that something must be wrong if a husband doesn’t pursue his wife.
But also, that’s not how the sex between husband and wife is described in the Bible. Go read Song of Songs, and you’ll see how often the wife pursues her husband!
And even in marriages where the husband is indeed the higher desire spouse, I hear again and again how much those men would love to be pursued by their wife.
But let’s look at the Jesus-Us side of that equation. Isn’t God the pursuer, and we the pursued? Sort of.
We know that “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8) and Christ compares Himself to the shepherd who “[leaves] the ninety-nine in the open country and [goes] after the lost sheep until he finds it” (Luke 15:4). But we also have many, many verses about seeking (i.e., pursuing) God. Examples:
- “But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deuteronomy 4:29).
- “God looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God” (Psalm 53:2).
- “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).
- “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33).
While one spouse may be more interested than the other, our goal is a marriage in which pursuit happens on both sides. And that’s true of our relationship with God as well. Perhaps Isaiah 55:6 summarizes it best: “Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near.”
What Does God Really Say About Sex’s Spiritual Meaning?
Good question. I haven’t read all of Joshua Butler’s book—it doesn’t release until April, I’m not currently inclined to give him profit (even though, trust me, an author gets pennies on the dollar with a traditionally published book), and I have many other titles in my To Be Read pile—but I’m currently a bigger fan of Dr. Juli Slattery’s God, Sex, and Your Marriage. Dr. Slattery, of Authentic Intimacy, does an excellent job of noting the clearly biblical parallels between marriage and God’s relationship to us.
I’ve also written about how sex matters to God in each of my books, but especially Intimacy Revealed: 52 Devotions to Enhance Sex in Marriage.
And it’s something I definitely cover when I speak to wives and couples about sexual intimacy in marriage.
Next week, I’ll have a post with several book reviews and recommendations. I pray that together we can seek out God’s wisdom and practice discernment as we look for quality resources that enlighten us on how to have a better relationship with our spouse…and especially with our God.
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