Marriage Helps #11
Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge (Hebrews 13:4).
Marriage must be held in honor, prized as precious; and Pastor described its preciousness 5 ways: in its origin, its design, its character, its commitment and its picture. The 4th of these is summarized here.
Marriage is precious in its commitment, a covenanted commitment designed by God to be a permanent.
Marriage is a covenanted relationship, founded on a promise, a pledged commitment. It is not based on a contract or conditions or circumstances or compatibility. The Bible refers to it as a “covenant”, a sacred pledge and promise, “ . . . she is your companion and your wife by covenant” (Malachi 2:14). It is a covenant to—as one has said—“a total commitment and a total sharing of the total person with one another until death.”
The marriage commitment requires self-denial.
It also requires, a practical personal self-denial by the man and the woman for the good of the other and for the glory of God. Marriage is not entered into for self-fulfillment, but for self-denying, sacrificial service. It is “based on unconditional love, the willingness to sacrifice your needs for those of your spouse, and a steadfast commitment, regardless of what it costs to keep that commitment” (Cooper). It is “a 100% giving of yourself to your partner without counting the cost, expecting nothing in return, no strings attached” (Cooper). “At marriage a single man and a single woman die to self, and the two become one flesh. The wedding marks the end of the former man and woman . . . Christian marriage vows are the inception of a lifelong practice of death, of giving over not all your have, but all you are” (Hughes).
The marriage commitment is unto death. “Joined by God,” said Jesus, “not to be separated by man” (Matthew 19:4-6). It is permanent, not to be dissolved. It is simple, clear and un-repealed, what the Lord Himself says in Malachi 2:16, “I hate divorce.” Marriage is for life through death in Him for God’s glory.
We hold marriage in honor—we prize it as precious—when, enabled by God’s grace, we carry out our commitment.
