Nudity Before Marriage

The body of one's spouse is the body that one could see over and over across a lifetime in sexual or nonsexual contexts, and it is a body that one is morally free to go beyond just admiring and mentally craving and actually engaging in all consensual, permissible sexual behaviors with.  The moral freedom to have sexual intercourse is the only thing that separates marriage, legal or otherwise, from what is permitted in dating relationships--Deuteronomy 4:2 makes it clear that whatever God has not directly or indirectly condemned is free to be partaken in by every person.  There are many things pertaining to sexuality or the human body that fall under this category.

For those who are willing, this includes visually savoring the naked body of one's partner in anticipation of having sex in a future marriage or as a prelude to the numerous nonsinful sex acts one could engage in with a partner outside of marriage (again, Deuteronomy 4:2).  Sex specifically belongs in a relationship aimed at marriage or that is already a marriage before God (Exodus 22:16-17), and since general public or private nudity is independently nonsinful (Genesis 1:31 with 2:25 and Mosaic Law's absence of condemnation establish this), it would by necessity be the same if a man and woman bare their bodies to inspire attraction or praise each other.  They would not have casual sex unless they choose to.

It is not that sexual attraction is the most prominent or important part of dating or marriage, but that there is nothing Biblically immoral about appreciating a dating partner's body and being introspectively honest about if one is attracted or not to the point that it is a personal factor in staying or leaving the relationship.  This can be done without dehumanization, without any casual sex following, and even without any lesser interpersonal sexual acts, though deeds like oral sex are Biblically permissible for the same reason seeing someone's nudity in person with the intent of sexual admiration is nonsinful: neither contradicts Yahweh's moral nature as describes by his revealed commands.

Should a dating partner's or spouse's body decay or suffer an accident, the ideal is to love them so much, as a human being and as a significant other, that this would not emotionally deter one from remaining with them.  Marriages in particular are to only be ended in cases of sexual immorality such a as adultery (Matthew 19:9), neglect and abuse (Exodus 21:9-11), and abandonment (1 Corinthians 7:12-16), though things like rape and adultery are already deserving of execution rather than just the release of the mistreated spouse from the marital bond.  Disfigurement and sexual boredom are not valid reasons to leave one's spouse.  If someone would truly not be satisfied with their partner as a spouse, including sexually or physically, they should not proceed with the relationship.

All the same, there is not only nothing evil on the Christian worldview about intentionally or repeatedly seeing the nudity of one's romantic partner who has not yet become one's spouse, even on the very first day of the relationship, but one can also share the great intimacy of interpersonal sensuality (which does not have to be sexual) and better evaluate one's attraction to a potential spouse.  Seeing someone's nudity months or years before one married then can be a penetratingly introspective experience for both the individuals on their own and for their connection as romantic partners.  It can also be a treasured memory of a nonsinful event that a married couple later looks back on with nostalgic delight.