Marriage Archives - Christian Concepts

I read a recent article published in the Orlando Sentinel titled, “Gay wedding cake case, and others, make Christianity look bad.” The writer, James Coffin, “a member of the Christian clergy,” whatever that means, wrote some things, and since this case is still making the rounds I should address a couple of his comments.

Coffin was right…

Coffin wrote, the “decision concerning Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission stopped short of actually saying that one person’s religious conviction should trump another person’s civil rights.” He is right, the tension between religious freedom of one citizen and the civil rights of another citizen were not definitively decided in this case. We will see more like it.

This is why I wrote in my last column, “Evangelicals cannot have their cake and eat it too.” In other words, if Evangelicals look to an earthly court for justice then they need to be prepared to live with whatever justice that court metes out.

Justice Kennedy foresaw this tension in his opinion in Obergefell v. Hodges when he wrote, “The First Amendment ensures that religious organizations and persons are given proper protection as they seek to teach the principles that are so fulfilling and so central to their lives and faiths, and to their own deep aspirations to continue the family structure they have long revered.”

So we see here that Kennedy knew he was creating the tension we witness now between advocates of religious freedom and same-sex activists. This is why Kennedy in his decision in Obergefell v. Hodges reiterated the religious protections enshrined in the First Amendment.

The cakeshop owner was discriminated against by an intolerant same-sex couple.

The Colorado Civil Rights Commission ignored those protections when a same-sex couple discriminating against the deeply held religious beliefs of the cakeshop owner in a fit of intolerance, filed a complaint.

Coffin goes on to say that future cases of this nature will come and if the “case involves a Christian, Christianity, as a religion, will almost certainly lose considerable credibility in the eyes of the public.”

In a culture that is hell-bent on ignoring everything God has to say about human sexuality, a Bible-believing Christian has already lost credibility. If Christianity had considerable credibility in this society we would not be arguing issues like this in court.

Coffin infers that Christianity should in some sense be affected by public opinion, but the Christian worldview never has nor ever will be framed by public opinion. The Scriptures inform the Christian worldview in all matters.

Public Opinion on homosexuality…

It hasn’t been that long ago that public opinion said homosexuality was a mental illness, and now says same-sex marriages should be celebrated. That same public opinion seems to ignore the intolerant discrimination by the homosexual couple in this case that makes them look bad.

I remind us all that neither the court of public opinion or any earthly court has any jurisdiction here. The issue has already been ruled on by the real Supreme Court, “Neither fornicators…nor adulterers…nor homosexuals…will inherit the kingdom of God,” First Corinthians 6:9-10.

I read an article recently that confused the scriptural understanding of marriage and divorce. I think many enter marriage impulsively for the wrong reasons, and divorce in the same way. So here are some biblical basics regarding marriage and divorce.

God declares, “It is not good for man to be alone,” Genesis 2:18. Jay E. Adams, reformed theologian and Christian author, comments on this verse in his book entitled Marriage, Divorce & Remarriage in the Bible. He writes, “The reason for marriage is to solve the problem of loneliness…a marriage lacking companionship is headed for misery or divorce. All that jeopardizes companionship must be avoided; whatever promotes it must be cultivated.”

This is the central truth…

This is the central truth about marriage. While the home is the institution ordained by God for the birthing and nurturing of children, and sexual relations are blessed by God in the marital relationship, neither of these is the primary purpose of marriage. A couple can be childless and still have companionship. Children grow up and move away, but companionship remains. The ability to have sexual relations may be compromised by injury, disease, or old age, but companionship survives. A husband and wife may become too old to make love, but they will never grow too old to love.

The Pharisees asked Jesus, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?” (See the narrative in Matthew 19:3-9). Jesus’s response was not “for any reason at all,” but “except for immorality.”

The Pharisees asked Jesus, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?” (See the narrative in Matthew 19:3-9). Jesus’s response was not “for any reason at all,” but “except for immorality.” Immorality breaks the marital covenant; it does not necessitate divorce, but gives the grounds for one especially when the adultery is not repented of and continues.

The context here is Jesus is addressing what believers and followers of the law of Moses should do, Paul addresses another issue in the context of the Gospel being carried to the gentiles, First Corinthians 7:10-16.

Paul gives essentially the same instructions in verses 10-11 to a believing couple as Jesus did, and then addresses those situations in which one of the spouses becomes a believer and the other doesn’t. In verse 15 he writes, “if the unbelieving one leaves, let him leave; the bother or sister is not under bondage in such cases.” The believer is no longer bound by the marital covenant when the unbelieving spouse deserts him or her.

While these are the only two reasons given explicitly for divorce, it seems intuitively clear that chronic abuse by either spouse would be grounds for divorce. A husband cannot claim he loves his wife (Ephesians 5:25) and abuse her, nor can a wife claim to respect her husband (Ephesians 5:33) and be abusive to him?

It takes two to marry, only one to divorce.

It takes two to get married and sustain it; it takes only one to get a divorce. Many give up too soon with too little effort, but God recognized the need for divorce when appropriate and regulated it. God hates divorce because of the sin that is at the root of every divorce, but not every divorce is sinful.

Christianity and Public Opinion