Do Christians Really Have Anything To Say About Marriage?

Millions of us Christians oppose same-sex marriage as a perversion of our Creator's plan. Our opposition is based upon what our Creator has revealed about marriage and upon the fact that marriage is a picture of Christ's relationship to his bride, the church, as Paul teaches in Ephesians:

"Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. - Eph 5:31-32 ESV

In my previous post I promised to review the history of same-sex marriage in the United States. In fact, if you wish mere historical data, that has long since been done. You can easily access names and dates for such information. For instance:

• The history of gay marriage in the United States and
• Timeline of gay-rights movement in the U.S.
• Supreme Court DOMA Decision Rules Federal Same-Sex Marriage Ban Unconstitutional

We Christians are not, however, of this world. We are ruled by a different king and guided by His will and decisions. Jesus made this abundantly clear when he stood before Pilate, condemned by the Jewish Sanhedrin of being an insurrectionist.

Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world." - Jhn 18:36 ESV

Christ does rule the world in spite of its rebellion against him. We know this as his kingdom of the left hand. In that kingdom he maintains a measure of peace and order through various types of earthly governments, including the republic under which we Americans gratefully live.

However, we who have been graciously reborn into the family of God live under Christ's rule in a different kingdom, one we call Christ's kingdom of the right hand. In this kingdom he has revealed Himself as both Creator and Redeemer. In this kingdom we joyfully receive forgiveness for our sins and the certain promises of the resurrection and life eternal. In this kingdom we are guided by the Spirit of Christ who works through His revealed Word and the Sacraments.

The written Word of God (Bible) has come under severe attack during the past two centuries. No longer is it considered authoritative in matters of faith and doctrine. No longer is it seen as the inspired Word of God. The majority of American mainline protestant churches now view the Scriptures as an historical document written by fallible humans, but through which God somehow speaks. It is no longer viewed as inerrant. It is filled with historical inaccuracies. Yet the teachers in these churches want to keep the Bible as a reference book for the church as we seek to apply the gospel to life in the 20th and now the 21st centuries.

 I wrote about the historical-critical method and the authority of the written Scriptures in some postings a few years ago. For review check out the following links and the links embedded within them:

• Beware of philosophy
• Can there be such a thing as Biblical history? 
• Is the Bible history or legend and myth?
• How brilliant we Bible scholars are!
• Foolish spiritual words
• The Spiritual Man makes judgments about all things

My point for today is simple: if the Bible is not God's Word, then we have nothing to say about the definition of marriage. We will have to acknowledge that marriage is merely a human institution that is evolving and changing like everything else. Thus we will have to embrace whatever is happening and try to speak about it in the most loving possible manner. 

In my next post I intend to point out some of that thinking as I find it in a paper about same-sex marriage, presented by a theologian of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. 

Signs Of The Visible Church

In a posting last week I pointed to the signs of Christ's power and presence as the LORD of the OT. Read the signs, study them and you will see, says John, that Immanuel (God with us) is indeed with us. So I pointed out that Jesus is present among His people whenever and wherever they gather to share His Word and minister Baptism and His Supper in His name. That is where you will find Him.

Turn it around then. Where is Christ's church, His body? Wherever Christ is present among His people, creating and nourishing faith in Him. And how does He do this? By means of His Word, either His Word spoken or His Word shared in the water of Baptism and the bread and wine of His Supper. He is present to do even greater things through these modern day signs than turn water into wine, heal a nobleman's servant or raise Lazarus from the dead. He brings healing to our souls, forgiveness for all our sins and a life that will never cease. Listen to Paul.

Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin.- Rom. 6:3-7 NLT

No one other than the LORD Christ can do such great acts of power. In Baptism He and He alone is able to create this new life. In our baptism He declares that we were crucified, that we died and were buried with Him. He declares that God's judgment upon sin was satisfied on His cross. He declares that we share His new life. And since what He proclaims, what He speaks, always comes to pass, it happens. We are alive. Our old self no longer controls us. Christ lives in us. This is the ongoing miracle of Pentecost. Paul again:

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. - Gal 2:20 ESV

 No power on earth can work such a miracle. No power of man can perform such a deed. And you and I who are in Christ, we who have Christ living in us, we who have received the outpouring of His Spirit—we know what this means. These then are the signs of Christ's church. Where the Gospel is proclaimed and the Sacraments are administered and shared there is Christ at work. And where Christ is at work, there is His church.

There are, of course, other signs by which you may detect the presence of Christ's body, the church on this earth. These would include prayer, the teaching of the Ten Commandments, the willingness of Christians to suffer, their clinging to eternal life even when threatened by death, their care for others regardless of who they are and so forth. But none of those signs carry the weight and importance of the proclaiming of the Gospel and the ministering of the Sacraments to God's children. Through these primary signs Christ and the Holy Spirit create, sustain and nourish faith in Him. This is why we Lutherans, for example, are so very concerned that everything taught in God's Word—and nothing other than God's word—continue to be taught.

But more on that next time.

Marriage And The Body Of Christ

In my previous post I promised to speak more about the "one flesh" relationship in marriage. In fact, I already have—several times. You may want to review these posts. What remains to be said? A deeper look at what the Apostle Paul says in his letter to the Corinthians is also helpful.

¹² "All things are lawful for me," but not all things are helpful. "All things are lawful for me," but I will not be enslaved by anything. ¹³ "Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food"—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. ¹⁴And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. ¹⁵Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! ¹⁶Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, "The two will become one flesh." ¹⁷But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. ¹⁸ Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. ¹⁹Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,²⁰ for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.           (1 Corinthians 6:12-20)  

 Paul speaks about a man joining sexually with a prostitute. He calls this not only immoral, but enslavement, a strange way to talk. In our day such sex is rather called freedom and broadly endorsed. Many refuse to be bound by such rules and morals. Consenting adults are free to make their own rules. Note, however, another thing the Apostle says: "The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body." What is he saying? Whose body does he speak about, that of the man who joins his to a prostitute or some other body? Both. He writes about the man, but not only about that man's body.


In the very next verse Paul changes to the plural. He writes, "the Lord . . . will also raise us up by his power. Do you (plural) not know that your bodies are members of Christ (body)? And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. Do you (again plural) not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I (singular) then take the members (plural) of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? (1 Corinthians 6:13-15).


What is all this moving back and forth between singular and plural? Obviously the sexual act is between but one man and one woman. And yet, strangely, that singular act is the joining of all the members of Christ to the members of a prostitute (v.15). This is not merely the act of one person involved in consensual sex. It involves all the members of Christ, all the members of his body. Every other sin other than sexual immorality, Paul writes, is a sin outside the body. Again whose body? The sinner's or Christ's? Obviously Christ's, because in the very next verse he writes, "Or do you not know that your (plural) body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you (plural), whom you (plural) have from God? You (plural) are not your (plural) own, for you (plural) were bought with a price. So glorify God in your (plural) body" (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).


Paul is here revealing more of the mystery of Christ and Christ's body, his bride, the church. In his letter to the Ephesians he writes, ". . . we are members of his (Christ's) body. 'Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.' This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church" (Ephesians 5:30-32).


A mystery is hidden until revealed. In the coming of Christ into the world we see the great, wondrous, amazing, profound wisdom of God manifested indeed. Great is this mystery of God! Born of a virgin, God has become a man. And as a man he has reconciled the world to himself upon the cross. The Holy Spirit at work in God's Word has revealed this wondrous news to us. And throughout the world millions of all races and both sexes also believe in this same Christ as Savior and Lord. Together we are the members of His body (1 Timothy 3:16).


Follow the Apostle's reasoning then. When a believing man joins his body to a woman selling hers, a prostitute, he joins Christ and Christ's body to that prostitute. The same holds true for a believing woman. This act is a sin against all the members of Christ's body. It is a betrayal of the trust between the believer and his or her Savior. It is also a betrayal of the responsibility each believer has to model and encourage other members of Christ's body to trust and obey their Lord, for we are members one of the other (Romans 12:5). 


Our Lord's plan and will is that one man and one woman be bound to one another for life in marriage. His blessing rests upon this union. This is His creation. He has instituted and established this union as a blessing to us all. The rejection of this plan is a sin against all the members of Christ's body and, of course, against the other member of the marital couple. This is why the Christian must flee from all sexual intercourse outside of marriage, including that committed in his heart (Matthew 5:28). We are not free to make our own rules of morality. For us Christians there is no such thing as "consenting adults" having sex outside the boundaries of marriage.


Thus the Christian whose spouse has broken the marital bond by adultery or prostitution knows also that the bond between that spouse and the Lord's body has also been broken. The one flesh union is gone. The divorce has already happened. A reunion can only happen through confession and forgiveness in Christ.

Leave, Cleave and Weave

Beverly and Max

Last weekend I was privileged to help Beverly and Max renew their marriage vows on the occasion of their 40th anniversary. Some of their dear friends and family members joined Sylvia and me to celebrate the occasion.

This happy time brought back memories of the many couples whose weddings I blessed with the Word of God and prayer. It has long been my custom to counsel with these couples before the actual ceremony. Our discussions in those pre-marital sessions revolve around three Biblical concepts from Genesis 2: Leave - Cleave - Weave.

Leave - A man leaves behind his childhood to move into the mature responsibility of being a husband. A woman leaves the protection and care of her family to come under the loving care of her husband. Of course it isn't always quite that simple; many scenarios precede any given marriage. The point, however, is that the man and the woman are leaving the past behind and moving forward to something new.

Cleave - I have learned to use that word to describe the next step in this wonderful process in its earlier, secondary meaning: adhere to, hold to, abide by, be loyal to, be faithful to. This is what marriage is all about. For the remainder of their lives these two will cleave to one another to the exclusion of all others. That leads to the next and related process.

Weave - They spend their lives becoming one. This is where the challenges arise, particularly because of our human natures. A husband and a wife remain separate individuals who must struggle to overcome their self-centered sinfulness. Failure to do this leads in all too many cases to adultery and divorce. But, as in the case of Max and Beverly, when couples learn to accept, forgive and love one another, the weaving leads to celebration and happiness.

It is fascinating that the Apostle Paul interrupts his instructions about marriage with these words: "This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church." What could he possibly mean?

The mystery revealed is indeed profound. Our heavenly Father loved this broken, adulterous and fallen world of men, women and families. This is why He sent His Son. Jesus came, leaving behind His glory and majesty to become one with us in our sin. He loved us and sought us out in a love far beyond that of any husband. He bound Himself to us by His life and His death upon the cross. Our griefs and sorrows became His. He was separated from His God for us. And now we are about to celebrate again His victory and the marriage feast of the Lamb of God. In a week a large portion of our world will share anew the news: "Christ is Risen! Alleluia!"

We who are His Bride, the Church, will spend eternity weaving our lives with and into His. This has already begun as He lives in us and we in Him in a relationship far deeper and more wondrous than any human marriage.

Beverly did not know what Max and their son were planning. The celebration was a complete surprise to her. And that is indeed what we who learn to know about the love and mercy of Jesus experience as well. How could He have such love for us? But He does and that is indeed something to celebrate--forever!