Is it ‘living in sin’ to have a partner with whom you are not married? Do scriptures sanction having a concubine or condemn it? The scriptures indirectly sanction it. They say David’s only sin was in the matter of Bathsheba. Plus they speak of Absolom going into David’s hareem. So by deduction they indirectly say David did not sin by having a hareem of concubines. “For David had done what was right in the eyes of the LORD and had not failed to keep any of the LORD's commands all the days of his life--except in the case of Uriah the Hittite.” 1 Kings 15:5
It is not polygamy to have concubines - the ancient morality we see in scriptures is still preserved in non-western cultures and it allows for concubines. So did the Law of Moses. Leviticus 18:18 “"Do not take your wife's sister as a rival wife and have sexual relations with her while your wife is living.” Having a rival wife is not even condemned if she is sister to existing wife - only sex with one while other is alive is condemned. Likewise Leviticus 18 lists many kinds of sexual sin but never forbids concubines and polygamy. It forbids things we know are immoral quite exhaustively so if concubinage were immoral and sinful it would be listed here. Christians add to the law to condemn it. They imply falsely it is unbiblical. False teaching IS unbiblical. Fornication is really about sex with prostitutes, nothing to do with ‘sex outside of marriage’. Having a partner or a concubine or being a concubine is not ‘living in sin’. Even having several concubines is not condemned in scripture. Christian false teachers condemn it and call it ‘unbiblical’ and ‘living in sin’ but false teaching is not biblical and is sinful and is to be rebuked strongly.
