We recently received the following email:
My question is about the phrase “born again virgin”. I have and continue to counsel lots of high school and college students that have given and in some cases have been robbed of their purity before God’s timing in the bounds of marriage. I want to give them biblical hope of how the Lord can restore but i also want people to know the cost of sin. Have you guys heard of a woman being physically restored to virginity? And what are some good verses to confirm the the restoration of our Jesus?
As we discussed this question we wondered if it was referring to a miracle whereby the Lord Jesus physically reconnects the hymen. If that is the question, I would answer that although I haven’t heard of that particular miracle, I do know that He has done many other creative miracles and it is not out of the bounds of reason to presume that he might do something like this. Having said that, the bigger issue is that His character and history show that He is unlikely to do something like this and leave a person in a poor spiritual condition.
Jesus cares a great deal about the state of our soul and if we have experienced wounding I have most often seen any physical healing come out of first being healed emotionally. So if a young, unmarried person gave away more than they wished to (or it was taken), the Lord’s history shows that He would be most likely to first walk with the person through repentance (in the case of promiscuity) and forgiveness, and free them from the chains of sin. At that point He may or may not reconnect the hymen.
If you are referring to the practice that I am familiar with where an unmarried person repents of their sexual sin and then recommits themselves to a higher standard of sexual integrity, I know that it is common for young women and men to renew their commitment to purity after having been promiscuous. There is no direct scripture reference about it so we can only take the wisdom from the Word as a whole and apply it.
So for example, we know that when we confess our sin he forgives us and then goes on to purify us (1 John 1:9) and He removes the sin completely from us (Psalm 103:12). We specifically know that he addressed people who had a sexually promiscuous past and said things like He is a God who restores to us “the years that the locusts have eaten” (Joel 2:25). He is a God who restored His people back to His service after they had failed and upon repentance (David, Peter, Me, You).
In researching for this article I also came across this parable of Jesus taken from Matthew 21. Interestingly, I have read over the Bible (specifically Matthew) many times and studied it at length and I truly did not know this was in here…. God shows us what we need when we need it.
28“What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ 29” ‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. 30“Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go. 31“Which of the two did what his father wanted?” “The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.
Jesus is addressing the chief priests and elders in this passage. I love the heart of God expressed here. When it comes to kingdom work, he would much rather have thieves and the sexually immoral who have repented, than people who say they follow him, but do not actually DO what he asks them to.
So I would encourage anyone who wishes to recommit themselves to sexual purity to do so and study how Jesus received all who came to him in true repentance.
Christian Nymphos 