4. What does it mean to be “one flesh?”

The covenant vow that a man and woman make to each other in marriage culminates in sexual intimacy, which the Bible refers to as becoming one flesh. God’s purpose is that the married couple experience an intimate bond of mind and emotions that would be the foundation of sexual oneness, making married love filled with warmth, joy, and delight. JTL14 3.5

Contemporary culture often portrays sex in a crude, debased, dehumanizing and even brutal way. God intended married sexual relations to be honorable and undefiled. He never designed marriage to be full of lust, shameful, and sinful (Hebrews 13:4). JTL14 3.6

Married couples who cannot experience sexual intercourse because of physical limitations can nonetheless find joy and bonding in other expressions of physical affection. All married couples should continue to seek through God’s grace to love the other with the biblical agape love or unconditional, affectionate, and selfless love. JTL14 3.7

To be one flesh, two people must be completely loyal to each other and stand with their mates against anything that might mar their unity. To be one flesh requires an active, pursuing love that will not give up in the face of deep obstacles to marital harmony. JTL14 3.8