Marriage

Articles

Rick Fleeman
03/05/01 - Uncategorized

It has been said there are three institutions God set up.

Marriage (home or family)
Governments (nations)
The Church

The first of these was marriage. In the book of Genesis we plainly see that a man (male) was to leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife (female).

Gen 2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

God made it clear that same sex marriages are sinful and those who do not repent of such a relationship cannot enter the kingdom of God.

1 Cor 6:9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate (homosexuals NKJV), nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
1 Cor 6:10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

God established the rules of marriage "at the beginning" and what he desires has not changed. Even though he permitted some things during the old law because of the hardness of Israel's hearts, he always intended for one man to take one woman as wife until death separated them.

Mat 19:7 They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?
Mat 19:8 He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.
Mat 19:9 And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.

Notice that God in the flesh (Jesus) makes it clear what the rules of marriage are. A man can only put away his wife (divorce her) for sexual immorality. You cannot put some one away for any other reason.

Think about the definition of adultery. Notice what Paul said.

Rom 7:3 So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.

You are an adulteress, or commit adultery, if you marry another while your mate lives. The only way this is not the case is if you put away your mate for sexual immorality. God has joined you in marriage and does not "unjoin you" unless you separate for fornication. No man has the power to separate you. Not the state of Ohio. Not the United States of America. Not America and all her allies. Only God can separate you, and only God can join you.

Mat 19:4 And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,
Mat 19:5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?
Mat 19:6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

So notice you can only terminate your marriage for sexual immorality. Obvious questions arise. What if he is beating me? What if we're not "in love" anymore? Refer to the verse above for your answer. Only for sexual immorality. Here are some more verses.

Mat 5:31 It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:
Mat 5:32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.

Mark 10:5 And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.
Mark 10:6 But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.
Mark 10:7 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife;
Mark 10:8 And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh.
Mark 10:9 What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
Mark 10:10 And in the house his disciples asked him again of the same matter.
Mark 10:11 And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her.
Mark 10:12 And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery.

With just the information we have so far, one can see how strict the stipulations of marriage are. If you have never heard this before you are probably thinking how difficult this is. Christ's disciples felt the same way.

Mat 19:10 His disciples say unto him, If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry.

If you are considering marriage you will want to meditate on it very seriously. There are at least three reasons given in the scriptures for marriage.

To reproduce (Gen 1:28).
Not good to be alone (Gen 2:18).
To avoid sexual immorality (1 Cor 7:2).

There is much more information in the scriptures about marriage. Check back for more articles!