Marriage Scriptures Part 2

Marriage Scriptures

(Part 2; Bible Verses about Marriage and Divorce)

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Married Man and Woman are One Entity

God sees a married couple as one entity, and commands the bond of unity in the same way He commanded the whole world into being by prophesying to it.

Mark 10:8-9 World English Bible (WEB)

“and the two will become one flesh,[a] so that they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”

The words “let no man separate” in the above passage is not a recommendation or even a law, it’s far above that, it’s a command and a prophecy that cannot alter just the same way as He said the words;

Genesis 1:3 World English Bible (WEB)

“God said, “Let there be light” and there was light.”

Bible teaches us that God never speaks in vain, which is clear from the following passage.

Isaiah 55:10-11 World English Bible (WEB)

“For as the rain comes down and the snow from the sky, and doesn’t return there, but waters the earth, and makes it grow and bud, and gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so is my word that goes out of my mouth: it will not return to me void, but it will accomplish that which I please, and it will prosper in the thing I sent it to do.”

Now, people ask why then there are so many divorces in the Church!

Why are there so many divorces in the Church?

Although divorce is another big subject to talk about, and it will require its own sermon, but perhaps a very short brief, and  general answer to that question would be that divorce happens because of man’s / woman’s will, and their disobedience to the Word of God somewhere in their relationship, and it never solves any problem.

Jesus was also asked about the lawfulness of divorce when he explained that God had made them male and female from the beginning and therefore what God has joined together, let

no man tear apart. He further explained the reason Moses allowed divorce was due to the hardness of their hearts, and that it wasn’t that way from the beginning.He then condemned the act by calling it adultery. (Matthew 19:3-12)

While we’re talking about marriage, and as we touched on the subject of divorce, it’s worthwhile just to mention a Biblical fact or two about “Love”, which is another big subject on its own to talk about in another sermon;

Romance and Love

Love, contrary to the common belief, which has even become part of the language is not something you fall in, love is not a hole! You do not fall in love, it’s not an accident either, it doesn’t just happen! you may be tempted and have lust for someone, which should be called falling in sin or simply sinning, but to love someone for the purpose of marriage or love the person you are married to in the cases of married couples, is an act of will. You simply will to love someone. With this mind-set and ethos, a person will seek to resolve their possible relationship issues rather than simply walking out or giving up.

Now when and how you exercise the will to love is another can of worms, but I must stress here that this act of will should be practiced only within the framework of the Bible, and God’s commands.

Following Jesus’ commands on marriage, under only one condition, can you divorce, and that is for sexual immorality or unfaithfulness of the other person.

Matthew 5:32 World English Bible (WEB)

“but I tell you that whoever puts away his wife, except for the cause of sexual immorality, makes her an adulteress; and whoever marries her when she is put away commits adultery.”

Having One Goal!

A good study of marriage scriptures in the Bible, clearly shows us that a married couple should pursue one goal in life, one destination, and not each following their own selfish dreams and desires, each having a separate vision in their lives.

Although each plays a different role in achieving that united goal or walking towards that destination, however, they should be in harmony with each other and work together as a unit, and live a purposeful life pleasing to the Lord.

A Godly married couple should seek God’s will in their life together, and pursue the goal that God has for them, and this should be evident in everything they do from one day to the next.

No Confidential Private Matters Between A Married Couple!

However, we have to always be conscious of the fact that we are living in a world ruled by Satan (1 John 5:19), (John 12:31), (John 16:11) where all standards and principles have been skewed in such a way that we are to believe good is bad, and bad is good just as Isaiah had prophesied;

Isaiah 5:20 World English Bible (WEB)

“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”

Satan has managed to create a culture and a society where the spirit of marriage is being destroyed in the sight of the society, where a married couple doesn’t mean much more than a couple who may or may not live together under one roof only for the gratification of their sinful nature, which is why couples living together as “partners” and even worse “same sex partners” are given the same rights as married couples, because in their perverted minds, the purpose of marriage is one thing, and one thing only (Sex and feeling of security), and so there’s always the element of mistrust and abuse, which is used as another pretext to further divide and destroy the families.

We are living in a world where the world governments, and the main stream media have managed to instil in people a culture of living single lives even if they are married, a culture and a society where government agents, doctors, nurses, police, bankers and other corporates do not share matters related to a woman with her husband or vice versa, although they know full well that they are legally married.

These are Satan’s attempt to destroy the core foundation of families, and try to separate what God has joined by perverting the truth in people’s minds, just as he did in the Garden of Eden when he twisted the Word of God. (Genesis 3:1-5)

Although we are in this world, but as Jesus said, we are not of it (John 17:14-15), therefore, our model should not be the world system at all, on the contrary the world should follow our model of Jesus (Romans 12:1-2).

In a marriage made in the sight of God between believers, everything should be shared, and nothing should be private or confidential.

A couple who have married each other for no other ulterior reason, but for pure love, and that’s not to be confused with lust as explained earlier, a love, which has stemmed out of their will after God putting that desire in their hearts in the first place, will share anything and everything with each other, the acid test for their genuineness would be sharing their possessions for example sharing their bank accounts, their houses and so on. They will have no private or confidential affairs to keep from each other.

Married or Living Together!

Marriage is not to be confused with what is widely popular form of life, and known as “living together partners”, the reason being marriage is holy and should be honoured by all as we saw in Scriptures earlier. The difference between a married couple and a couple who simply live together without the commitment is basically that, there’s no commitment, which is usually an underlying sign that one or both parties would like to keep the option of walking out of the relationship open for themselves, so they can easily leave at their convenience in case “the relationship is not working” so to speak, without having to go through any official rigmarole or complications. But as far as God is concerned if two opposite sex have any sexual relationship with each other, then they are joint together and considered as husband and wife, but the fact that the couple do not commit to each other publicly or officially means that they are still not sure, and that the chances are they will walk out as and when they fell fit, this is what the Bible calls prostitution, and that’s why it’s detestable to the eyes of God.

John 4:16-18 World English Bible (WEB)

“Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You said well, ‘I have no husband,’ for you have had five husbands; and he whom you now have is not your husband. This you have said truly.””

As we read earlier in (Matthew 5:32),Jesus specifically talks about divorce and considers the person who divorces his wife the one causing her to be a prostitute, and considers the one who marries the divorced woman an adulterer.

God’s Rules for Families:

God has also laid certain rules to follow in a family, so you benefit from all His marriage promises in Scriptures, rules that are more and more being trampled upon in our so called modern society, and you will find that in each case the culprit is Satan using different means to manipulate people into thinking what they do is quite normal, but in fact is contrary to the Word of God.

We are not exploring, and analysing all those rules in this message as that would be a separate message, but in closing, listed below are a few passages of Scripture, which will be a good foundational ground for a couple to start from.

1 Corinthians 7:3World English Bible (WEB)

“Let the husband render to his wife the affection owed her, and likewise also the wife to her husband.”

Proverbs 5:15-21World English Bible (WEB)

“Drink water out of your own cistern, running water out of your own well.

Should your springs overflow in the streets, streams of water in the public squares?

Let them be for yourself alone, not for strangers with you. Let your spring be blessed.  Rejoice in the wife of your youth. A loving doe and a graceful deer—let her breasts satisfy you at all times. Be captivated always with her love. For why should you, my son, be captivated with an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another? For the ways of man are before Yahweh’s eyes. He examines all his paths.”

Colossians 3:18-19 World English Bible (WEB)

“Wives, be in subjection to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and don’t be bitter against them.”

May The Lord bless you and keep you, May He make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you. May The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.