Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Marriage
Marriage
Marriage
INTRODUCTION
1. There has been much news about redefining marriage...
• State courts in America are considering whether it's unconstitutional to deprive gays
and lesbians of the right to marry
• Courts in Canadian provinces have already approved marriage rights for same-sex
couples
• Some legal scholars are proposing a 'delegalization' of marriage altogether
2. The definition of marriage has been undergoing change for quite a while...
• Most states allow no-fault divorces, permitting remarriage under any circumstance
• Many churches have followed suit; in some denominations the divorce rate is higher
than among atheists and agnostics!
[There has never been a greater need to return to what the Bible teaches regarding the institution of
marriage. When we do so, we learn that it involves two people that...]
• ONLY GOD CAN JOIN TOGETHER
• MARRIAGE IS AN INSTITUTION OF GOD...
1. Ordained by God 'at the beginning' - Mt 19:4-5; Mk 10:6-8; cf. Gen 2:21-24
2. God, not government, joins a man and a women in holy matrimony - Mt 19:6
• The wedding ceremony may vary according to local custom
• Whatever the custom, it is God that does the joining
3. God, not man, defines the marriage relationship
• Who has a right to marry
• Who has a right to terminate a marriage
• MARRIAGE IS A PRIVILEGE FROM GOD...
1. For the single man and woman - Gen 2:21-24; Mt 19:4-5
• Male and female
• Created for union together as one flesh
• Thus biological design reveals that God created the male and female
for heterosexual union, not homosexual union
• A person with a reproductive organ cannot say that God made them
for union with a person of the same sex!
2. For the widowed - Ro 7:1-3; 1Co 7:39
• God joins a man and a woman for life
• Death releases the surviving spouse from the marriage bond
• "Till death do us part" is a vow to be taken seriously
3. For the scripturally divorced - Mt 19:9
• Only one exception is given in scripture for divorce and remarriage
• A person may put away their spouse for fornication, and only then re-
marry without committing adultery
4. [Only God has the authority to dictate the definition and terms of marriage.
Those willing to submit to His definition and terms can be assured that when
they marry God indeed 'joins' them as husband and wife. For those so
joined...]