Bulletin Article Archive, December 27, 2009 

THE BEAUTY OF A BIBLICAL MARRIAGE

Travis L. Quertermous

It is no secret that marriages in America are in serious trouble. The divorce rate in our country for first-time marriages is almost 50%. For those who remarry, the odds of divorce go up even higher, and the more one divorces and remarries, the more likely one's marriage will end in divorce.

Our children are paying the terrible price for this tragedy. Studies show that chil­dren of broken homes are more likely to divorce than those raised in stable, two-parent homes. Other societal evils like suicide, poverty, and juvenile delinquency are more likely to occur in children of divorced parents. The reason our society is in such trouble is be­cause we have undermined its foundation, our homes!

While I am no marriage counselor, I know what the Bible teaches on how to have a happy and successful marriage. I have also had the privilege of speaking to many Chris­tian couples who've had long and happy marriages for their advice. Living by the follow­ing principles will help all our marriages to last '''til death do us part."

First, it is impossible to overestimate the importance of having a spouse who is a faithful Christian. When both husband and wife are truly committed to loving God first and then loving each other as they love themselves, you have the strongest possible foun­dation for a marriage. Jesus Himself said these were the two most important commands in the Scriptures (Matt. 22:34-40).

When you have two spouses committed to living by the Bible, being active in the local church, you have a marriage that is equipped to overcome any problem. It is easy to be married to someone who is committed to adorning his life with the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, cf. Galatians 5:22-23).

Living a truly Christian life will eliminate many of the sins that wreck too many marriages such as selfishness, adultery, and spousal abuse. For example, the number one reason people divorce is over money problems. But if both spouses will "put to death cov­etousness" (Col. 3:5), as the Bible teaches, that will solve that problem.

Second, we simply must be committed to our marriage and our spouse. In our na­tion of "no-fault divorces," too many people view marriage as a disposable commodity. Their philosophy is, "If it doesn't work, I'll just get a divorce." If there was ever an oxy­moron, it is surely a "no-fault divorce." If no one was at fault, there would be no divorce!

God's ideal will for marriage is one woman married to one man for life (Gen. 2:24; Matt. 19:3-6). Later, the Lord allowed one cause for divorce and remarriage, forni­cation on the part of one of the spouses. In such cases, the innocent party could obtain a divorce and remarry if they chose to do so. Anyone else who divorced and remarried would be guilty of adultery (Matt. 19:9). The disciples understood what a strict teaching this was and Jesus agreed with them on that (Matt. 19:10-12).

The whole point here is to re-enforce the Bible's teaching that marriage ought to be a life-long covenant. Many couples who've been married for many years have told me they have erased the word "divorce" from their vocabulary. Remember that God hates divorce (Mal. 3:16). No matter what the problem, they are committed to one another and to fmding a solution.

            These two Biblical principles alone will save a multitude of troubled marriages.

May God give us more truly Christian homes!

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