> General Discussions
marriage woes "divorce"
John from Kentucky:
Jeff,
Someone with God's Spirit will submit to the legal authorities wherever they live.
In the United States, each of the 50 States have their legal rules that constitute marriage. Someone with God's Spirit will follow whatever the legal rules are to form a legal marriage.
If you live on the island of Tahiti, then we must follow the legal marriage rules there.
A captain on a ship can legally marry someone.
I do not know of any organized society that is without marriage laws and rules.
God's Spirit will direct that we follow the laws where we live because all authority comes from God. All power ultimately leads back to God.
The Scriptures teach that only the marriage bed is undefiled. So God has made a way to be legally married wherever one lives.
John
Jeff:
Thanks John. Makes sense. Not sure why this all of a sudden occurred to me today (I'm not getting married) but it got lodged in my brain.
Jeff
lurquer:
Ha! Jeff, I've asked the very same questions as you. Here are 7 pages of jibberish that may give you insight. Or not...your mileage may vary. ;)
http://forums.bible-truths.com/index.php/topic,16040.0.html
Jeff:
Thanks Neo,
I think my understanding (relevant to my quandary) is rooted in what Ray said about matrimony (as opposed to marriage) which is that matrimony does not rely on love, sex, happiness, etc. a marriage certainly hopes to have all of those things and much more in order to be a good marriage, but the aspect of "marrying" is different in that there are rules, and customs that we're commanded to observe as Ray points out in his paper.
In this respect my mind has been rooted deeply in tradition, and I struggled to imagine what the actual physical requirements are. Even though we aren't under the Law - customs and legalities still have a place in our lives because we are "in" the world and we're to be obedient to those God has put in power.
I think the only hitch in my thinking was "well, if there's no pastor, then what are we to do?" and it took some thought to sort this out.
It's probably not a big issue, but I appreciate the insight. It helped me a great deal.
lurquer:
I hear you, Jeff.
Even so, JFK said, "God has made a way to be legally married wherever one lives." I find this to be an interesting statement, seeing as how the Supreme Law of the Land here in the US just declared that women can "legally" marry women, and men, men. That IS now the Law here, like it or not. Unlike John, I don't believe God 'made that way'. Man did. And it's absurd.
I think all of us here recognize the "marital relationship" to have been created and defined by God alone. And it's a special relationship, unlike any other type of relationship between humans. While you are right in saying marriage "does not rely on love, sex, happiness, etc." (note, I bolded "rely"), those things still bear heavily on that special relationship. So, what makes it "special"?
Simply put, it is the only God-sanctioned way for creating earthly families. And only a man and a woman can procreate. Thus, he created this special relationship primarily for the continuation of--not just the species (fornicators can procreate!)--but God's people. The primary purpose of true marriage is "to raise up Godly seed". Others here will dispute that; I'm OK with that. But that's what I see in the scriptures. And in that sense, it does rely on certain physical acts...which, in turn rely on eros, love.
What I think is quite interesting in light of today's re-interpretation of the word Marriage by the politicians and culture gods is this:
As one 'spokesman' for the homosexual community at large has said, "Gay marriage is a lie"... because ..."the institution of marriage should not exist". This Lesbian activist went on to say, "I don’t see why they (her children) shouldn’t have five parents legally. I don’t see why we should choose two of those parents and make them a sanctioned couple.” Indeed, THIS is the agenda. Note the careful choice of her term, "sanctioned couple". Devious...
I guess it just bothers me to keep hearing other believers say things like 'the love, sex, children thing isn't all that important'. As if those aspects don't really matter in a proper definition of marriage... Because the heathen sure think they do. And it's not good enough that the State has "legalized" it.. They want it re-defined. More accurately, they want it undefined.
I think we as believers should be cognizant of this agenda and more conscientious of our definitions. Just my $.02
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