Two young people ( male and female) decide they love one another and begin living together:both are church members. They are approached and instructed that they must get married, move into separate houses, or they will be excluded from fellowship.
Two elderly people (male and female), after a few years of marriage decide that for financial reasons they will get a divorce. They are both church members and continue living as husband and wife after their secret signing. They are not approached, even after their deed has been made known. The church understands that for "financial" reasons they "had" to do what they did. Their rationalization is that marriage is between two people and their vows to one another, and that man's law calls for licenses etc etc.
I will leave it right there my brothers..you fill in the blanks
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
WOW...quite a conundrum. According to the laws of this land, which the Bible says that we are to submit to civil authority, marriage takes place when the contract is signed, when the license is signed.
ReplyDeleteFollowing the logic there...as long as two people say to each other a certain magical set of words and that is all it takes means that we could have 2, 5 year olds getting married in the sandbox.
another thing worth mentioning is that they did what they "had to do" because of "financial reasons".
What they had to do was honor thier marriage...obviously the marriage license was necessary for them to get married therefore it was the license that made the marriage official. They followed the laws to get married...they should follow the laws to stay married.
Good comment my Brother...The marriage lisence, or contract was a way to protect morals according to one source I read. It is sad when we exclude a young couple for living together but if you are older it is "morally correct"
ReplyDeleteSadly, this occurs more than is probably realized due to quirky tax laws & health insurance plans from a previous marriage that will be nullified (and not honoring the sanctity of marriage).
ReplyDeleteThe fact is that churches are more understanding of this "situation" than in the case of younger people who are living together. It shouldn't be that way, of course, and with most churches having ten times as many members as who is actually attending, if church discipline ever starts, that snowball could keep rolling for awhile.
Did you and the bride get a divorce, and now ya'll just shacked up?
ReplyDeleteQUESTION: What constitutes legal marriage?
ReplyDeleteANSWER: If by legal, you mean following the laws of America, you should ask a lawyer or a judge.
If by legal, you mean the laws of God's Word, you should seek your answer in the Bible.
If your question had nothing to do with either one of these, you should ask Brother Wilkes.