|
Users viewing this topic:
none
|
|
Login  | |
|
RE: Is this a marriage in God's eyes? - 3/11/2008 10:14:27 PM
|
|
|
W.O.F.
Posts: 1826
Joined: 4/11/2005
From: an ignoble beginning
Status: offline
|
quote:
ORIGINAL: TMeeks
quote:
ORIGINAL: Eliana
I've been thinking on and off about this question all day. While I can see how consummation is an extremely important element, I keep remembering the story of Joseph and Mary in the Bible (see Matthew 1:19).
They had not had intercourse and Mary was pregnant by the Holy Spirit. In order to dissolve their union, Joseph needed to divorce her. Doesn't that mean that the betrothal ceremony/traditions they had gone through meant something very real in God's eyes? I'm inclined to believe that if one has taken marital vows, one is married. The fact that the marriage was never consummated gives one perhaps special grounds to end the marriage, but it's still a marriage.
Yes. It DOES mean something. But, you seem to have missed that Joseph had every right to divorce her. He simply chose not to. That's CHOICE, not the basis for Theological Principle.
notice though that he would have had to DIVORCE her...not annul the vow, or ignore the vow, but divorce her....with all the consequences of that decision being upon them (which is why he was looking into doing it quietly so that she would not be stoned to death)
_____________________________
Live your life in such a way that when your feet hit the floor in the morning, Satan shudders and says, "Oh no, she's awake."
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Is this a marriage in God's eyes? - 3/12/2008 5:46:17 AM
|
|
|
Eliana
Posts: 678
Joined: 7/27/2005
From: Norway
Status: offline
|
quote:
ORIGINAL: TMeeks
Yes. It DOES mean something. But, you seem to have missed that Joseph had every right to divorce her. He simply chose not to. That's CHOICE, not the basis for Theological Principle.
No, I did not miss that point, TMeeks. I was giving my opinion on whether the marriage/betrothal is significant in God's eyes. I believe that it is.
I was careful not to address the question on the rightness or wrongness of getting out of such a relationship. I'll reserve my opinion on that second question.
< Message edited by Eliana -- 3/12/2008 5:52:42 AM >
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Is this a marriage in God's eyes? - 3/12/2008 8:07:19 AM
|
|
|
lastblast
Posts: 1639
Joined: 9/20/2005
Status: offline
|
quote:
ORIGINAL: keepitreal
It appears that this marriage was entered into with one party having only the intent to deceive, and not live as a married person. I personally think you should talk to a trusted pastor about the possibility of annullment (something I would rarely recommend.) This doesn't look to me like a marriage.
Each party is accountable before God for THEIR own vows in the marriage. When we vow it is not only to the party we marry, it is to GOD as well. If one of the parties does not live up to their vow, they will have to answer to God for that. We have to remember, in marriage, it is GOD who joins the two into ONE FLESH. We merely get to chose who that person is (in a lawful marriage).
_____________________________
Blessings as you seek Him, Cindy
What does the bible say on Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage?
www.marriagedivorce.com
www.cadz.net/faq.html
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Is this a marriage in God's eyes? - 3/12/2008 9:20:02 AM
|
|
|
sunofone
Posts: 625
Joined: 10/11/2007
Status: offline
|
Marriage involves ceremony and contract.Both of these are important in order for the marriage to be legitimate and recognized by God or man. It is clear that we associate Gods sanction of marriage based on our laws.If our laws state that a marriage is to be consummated as part of validation of the vows then God and man both are in agreement with this pledge.
The law has to allow for cases of annulling or disavowing a marriage based on fraud,or coercion.Marriage after all is a covenant,and a covenant has to be legitimate in order to be recognized.
This is as clear as a cloudless day.If we found out that one of the parties had not dissolved a previous marriage before entering into this marriage we have no problem annulling this marriage on the basis of fraud.This is a case of one party entering into a covenant under false pretenses and refusing after the ceremony to validate the vows.
This is fraud and can and should be annulled,without question.Fortunately this has occurred before the marriage was consummated otherwise the aggrieved party would just be stuck in a sexless marriage.
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Is this a marriage in God's eyes? - 3/12/2008 10:42:59 AM
|
|
|
keepitreal
Posts: 52
Joined: 12/21/2007
Status: offline
|
quote:
ORIGINAL: lastblast
quote:
ORIGINAL: keepitreal
It appears that this marriage was entered into with one party having only the intent to deceive, and not live as a married person. I personally think you should talk to a trusted pastor about the possibility of annullment (something I would rarely recommend.) This doesn't look to me like a marriage.
Each party is accountable before God for THEIR own vows in the marriage. When we vow it is not only to the party we marry, it is to GOD as well. If one of the parties does not live up to their vow, they will have to answer to God for that. We have to remember, in marriage, it is GOD who joins the two into ONE FLESH. We merely get to chose who that person is (in a lawful marriage).
They are not yet one flesh.
And a vow to something that does not exist, would not be, as far as I can tell, binding.
If I come to you with a contract that my company, The XYZ Accounting Serivce will provide for you goods and services for the next 10 years for a fee of $100.00 a month, but there is in fact, no such company as XYZ Accounting, and I had no intention of doing any serivce but only wanted a monthly check..even if you signed the contract...you are not obligated to pay for a fraudulent serivce that never existed. The contract is invalid.
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Is this a marriage in God's eyes? - 3/12/2008 10:44:43 AM
|
|
|
keepitreal
Posts: 52
Joined: 12/21/2007
Status: offline
|
quote:
ORIGINAL: sunofone
Marriage involves ceremony and contract.Both of these are important in order for the marriage to be legitimate and recognized by God or man. It is clear that we associate Gods sanction of marriage based on our laws.If our laws state that a marriage is to be consummated as part of validation of the vows then God and man both are in agreement with this pledge.
The law has to allow for cases of annulling or disavowing a marriage based on fraud,or coercion.Marriage after all is a covenant,and a covenant has to be legitimate in order to be recognized.
This is as clear as a cloudless day.If we found out that one of the parties had not dissolved a previous marriage before entering into this marriage we have no problem annulling this marriage on the basis of fraud.This is a case of one party entering into a covenant under false pretenses and refusing after the ceremony to validate the vows.
This is fraud and can and should be annulled,without question.Fortunately this has occurred before the marriage was consummated otherwise the aggrieved party would just be stuck in a sexless marriage.
Very good points!
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Is this a marriage in God's eyes? - 3/13/2008 10:28:46 AM
|
|
|
jaimestarcross
Posts: 811
Joined: 11/28/2005
Status: offline
|
Let's a man and a woman decide to get married. the sexual rejection of the woman rejecting the man is total and to the point of the marriage not being consummated. after six months the woman tells the man she never really loved him. the woman decides to leave him. Does God see that as a marriage? One that is not even consummated? Is the man in this case spiritually released and then free to remarry?
*I know a woman who married and never consummated the marriage and shortly afterwards the marriage was annulled.
Marriages are a civil matter - a couple applies for the license and goes through the preparations that are required so they can marry. If either spouse refuses to submit sexually to their spouse for whatever reason and if the other spouse takes them before the court and declares my spouse won't allow this marriage to be consummated the court will ask the spouse (who doesn't want sex why) and if good reason is given that marriage is annulled. (Usually it's based on fraud / person misrepresented themselves.)
*The law of the land declares that marriages that are annulled are as though the two parties weren't ever married.
*From what I read in scriptures God values our vows/pledges and we are admonished to let our yes be yes (and no's be no's)- and when you make a vow you are to do so with a sincere heart.
So based on that, I really think marriage vows/pledges made between man and woman on their wedding day are a very serious thing before God and I think the Holy Spirit is grieved when a person misrepresents themselves and marries someone. That is akin to someone asking the Lord to save them and then the next day they go right back to the world and live like those who have never known God.
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Is this a marriage in God's eyes? - 3/13/2008 3:41:21 PM
|
|
|
Dakotasunbeam
Posts: 1148
Joined: 6/2/2005
From: Midwest USA
Status: offline
|
Yes, this is a marriage. They both intended to get married and they did. It matters not whether they consumated the wedding or not. It matters not whether the woman inteded or did not intend to do one thing or another when she was married. Is it possible for a woman to get her marriage annulled because she was under the impression her husband was going to help her with the chores and he was not?
I think this is where we get into trouble: We go into a marriage with an idea of how we think the individual will behave; but then the other person does something entirely unexpected and even morally wrong. We are horrified and seek to recind our agreement. Hey that's not fair, we shout, I want my ball back! The trouble is that we actually did make an agreement between God and man: even if on faulty or incomplete knowledge. That's really what marriage is, a free-fall into a dark pit (you never know what's truly down there until you jump  ). Hense, the warning to be equally yoked, at least with a Christian they might cushion the landing.  Married folks will advise, "You may have known this person pretty well, but you really don't know them until you marry them." Again true.
But if your initial decision changes based on who they are, what they become or will be later on down the road--that means your decision was conditional. And not absolute. Marriage and salvation are the only two decisions God requests that we make without full knowledge. In other words, its NOT a conditional agreement. God stands by all of His agreements--they are not conditional. But we do have the choice whether or not to uphold our end of the agreement. And even our integrity or lack there of has been considered and written into the original agreement with God. And just like a cellphone contract, the penalties for default and forfiture have already been written into the original agreement. Likewise with marriage. This is why Jesus' disciples said maybe men should not marry. Also why Jesus agreed saying if men were unable to keep it; Perhaps also why Paul said it is better to be single.
Under the law of Moses there was a clause for divorce, as Jesus Christ pointed out, for instances like this. But under the New Covenant of grace and forgiveness--there is no divorce/anullment clause. There is only grace--the grace that God extends to you continually, and the grace that through Him you extend continually to your spouse.
God can work miracles! 
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Is this a marriage in God's eyes? - 3/13/2008 4:21:24 PM
|
|
|
sunofone
Posts: 625
Joined: 10/11/2007
Status: offline
|
I disagree as this does not allow for cases of fraud,ie... a person being married to someone else currently,or in this case a person marring someone without the intention of being married,or unlawfully.
Marriage does involve a contract and intent to defraud the aggrieved party matters.A marriage is a marriage when both parties enter into it lawfully.If the law requires that a minor get written permission from the legal guardian and this does not happen then the contract is invalid as is the marriage and can be annulled and God will not hold this up as a legitimate marriage.
God has good sense and knows whether a marriage should be considered valid or not,I don't believe he's interested in a gotcha situation like you propose.
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Is this a marriage in God's eyes? - 3/13/2008 5:04:54 PM
|
|
|
Dakotasunbeam
Posts: 1148
Joined: 6/2/2005
From: Midwest USA
Status: offline
|
sonofone,
It is not a "gotcha situation" at all. It's a mature, responsible person with great integrity who is able to keep the terms of an agreement. Marriage is not merely making a contract between two individuals, but also with God. In this scenario, both individuals intended to get married. One did not intend to have sex with the other. That does not negate the fact that both individuals lawfully and intentionally entered a marriage contract before God and man. It may be that the man in this scenario may decide later on down the line not to do one thing or another. Whether that change is immediate or deferred, its occurrance is inconsequential to the agreement. This is why prenuptual agreements are so popular these days. The heart of man has grown so wicked, it is seems rational to safegaurd against such "changes" by writing them into the original agreement. On earth, the law of man allows for annullments, etc. But a covenant with God is quite binding. While marriage is binding to all per God's Genesis creation and Jesus reference to it, Christians are expected to keep their promises and fulfill their committments regardless.
Thankfully, God did build into the marriage covenant penalties for spouses such as the OP described. And thankfully, if they are both Christian, they can pray and God can change the heart of the female in the scenario.
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Is this a marriage in God's eyes? - 3/13/2008 5:27:53 PM
|
|
|
sunofone
Posts: 625
Joined: 10/11/2007
Status: offline
|
I think you may have misunderstood the op question.The woman here never intended to live as a married couple why she even married in the first place was not addressed,all that was said is that she refused to consummate the marriage and never loved the spouse.
The point that I address is the legality of marriage.I can't marry a minor,or legally incompetent person,or marry more than one spouse at a time etc...
So the question is if there are instances for a marriage to be annulled,then does this qualifies for that annulment?
It is clear that legally it does,so are we saying that God does not recognize our laws when marrying? If so do we have to get married legally in order for God to recognize us as married?
We are to obey the laws of the land in this regard are we not?The laws allows and rightfully so annulments for reasons of fraud or illegal unions.So we get down to true intent of the covenant,was it entered into lawfully? If not the covenant is not valid or recognized as legitimate.
Clearly the womans unwillingness to consummate the marriage based on her having no love or intent to exist as a married couple constitutes fraud,which makes this contract invalid.
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Is this a marriage in God's eyes? - 3/13/2008 6:51:16 PM
|
|
|
john_is_free
Posts: 38
Joined: 3/13/2008
Status: offline
|
Actually they were not married. Numerous case in old testament time discribed a man "going into a woman" and they were married. No contract, no ceremony. Adam and every did not have a ceremony.
Marraige as the courts understand it is a contractural agreement.
Why do you think fornification and adultery are discouraged? Is is because in God's eye the act of intercourse is a sign of marriage.
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Is this a marriage in God's eyes? - 3/13/2008 9:11:31 PM
|
|
|
sunofone
Posts: 625
Joined: 10/11/2007
Status: offline
|
Adam & Eve were put together by God.Surely they would be an exception to the rule.Marriage involves ceremony and contract,it is a legal binding contract in the law and with God.In this case the spouse that decided to enter into this marriage fraudulently and then leave frees the other spouse.Even Paul says that if the unbelieving spouse wants to leave let them do so.
But if an unbelieving spouse leaves let them do so a believing spouse is not bound in such circumstances;God has called us to live in peace.
This is clear on so many levels,if it were me I'd be free to marry again no problem. 
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Is this a marriage in God's eyes? - 3/16/2008 3:40:10 AM
|
|
|
FrenchLady
Posts: 10
Joined: 12/13/2007
Status: offline
|
quote:
ORIGINAL: Dakotasunbeam
sonofone,
It is not a "gotcha situation" at all. It's a mature, responsible person with great integrity who is able to keep the terms of an agreement. Marriage is not merely making a contract between two individuals, but also with God. In this scenario, both individuals intended to get married. One did not intend to have sex with the other. That does not negate the fact that both individuals lawfully and intentionally entered a marriage contract before God and man. It may be that the man in this scenario may decide later on down the line not to do one thing or another. Whether that change is immediate or deferred, its occurrance is inconsequential to the agreement. This is why prenuptual agreements are so popular these days. The heart of man has grown so wicked, it is seems rational to safegaurd against such "changes" by writing them into the original agreement. On earth, the law of man allows for annullments, etc. But a covenant with God is quite binding. While marriage is binding to all per God's Genesis creation and Jesus reference to it, Christians are expected to keep their promises and fulfill their committments regardless.
Thankfully, God did build into the marriage covenant penalties for spouses such as the OP described. And thankfully, if they are both Christian, they can pray and God can change the heart of the female in the scenario.
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Is this a marriage in God's eyes? - 3/16/2008 3:55:46 AM
|
|
|
FrenchLady
Posts: 10
Joined: 12/13/2007
Status: offline
|
You have to go with the intend always of what is in our heart.It is a marriage because in their heart they intended to marry. Now wether she was true or not in her intended is only in her heart and God knows.Maybe she changed her mind after she did marry.Certainly praying for God to change her heart and work is miracle would be the first thing to do however if she refuses to stay in the marriage there is nothing this poor man can do and he is better off without her.
I am sorry that you are going trough this pain Knolt and that you`re marriage seems to be very deceptive right now.Pray for her and pray for God to show you the way.It was a marriage in your heart i can see that there is no doubts and your pain is real.You fullfilled your commitment and praying is all you can do. If she refuses counselling or any cooperation to try to make this marriage work there is not much you can do.
I will pray for our Lord`s guidance upon you and for him to open her heart.
God bless you Knolt
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Is this a marriage in God's eyes? - 3/16/2008 4:52:08 PM
|
|
|
Knolt
Posts: 145
Joined: 2/13/2007
Status: offline
|
I appreciate your guy's concern for those of you who think it is me that is going through this. I'm actually single. I apologize for accidentally allowing you to believe it was me that was going through this. I've asked this because I've only heard of stories like this before. Personally, the above scenerio I created I don't think is a marriage at all. How could it be if it's not consummated? How could it be if she never loved him and never made love to him? how the the man not be spiritually released from that "marriage"? How could the man not be free to remarry someday should he decide to fall in love with someone else? Is a man in that scenereo required by the Word to be true to someone for the rest of his life who never loved him or made love to him?
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Is this a marriage in God's eyes? - 3/16/2008 8:40:00 PM
|
|
|
GeorgiaNerd
Posts: 244
Joined: 9/28/2007
From: UGA... GO DAWGS!
Status: offline
|
quote:
I appreciate your guy's concern for those of you who think it is me that is going through this. I'm actually single. I apologize for accidentally allowing you to believe it was me that was going through this. I've asked this because I've only heard of stories like this before. Personally, the above scenerio I created I don't think is a marriage at all. How could it be if it's not consummated? How could it be if she never loved him and never made love to him? how the the man not be spiritually released from that "marriage"? How could the man not be free to remarry someday should he decide to fall in love with someone else? Is a man in that scenereo required by the Word to be true to someone for the rest of his life who never loved him or made love to him?
I think that a marriage does not have to be consummated to be considered a marriage. I'm looking for a loving but unconsummated marriage in the future, so I understand where the woman in the scenario is coming from. Sexuality and love can be interconnected sometimes and with some people, but they are not the same. However, the individuals in this situation must be honest with one another BEFORE getting married. If the "woman" in this situation is not honest before getting married, then her husband has been frauded, and can get out of the marriage in my opinion. The key is mutual consent.
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Is this a marriage in God's eyes? - 3/17/2008 8:22:12 PM
|
|
|
lastblast
Posts: 1639
Joined: 9/20/2005
Status: offline
|
quote:
ORIGINAL: keepitreal
They are not yet one flesh.
And a vow to something that does not exist, would not be, as far as I can tell, binding.
If I come to you with a contract that my company, The XYZ Accounting Serivce will provide for you goods and services for the next 10 years for a fee of $100.00 a month, but there is in fact, no such company as XYZ Accounting, and I had no intention of doing any serivce but only wanted a monthly check..even if you signed the contract...you are not obligated to pay for a fraudulent serivce that never existed. The contract is invalid.
Once one makes that vow of lifelong marriage, it is valid in the sight of God...........HE joins them as ONE FLESH-----man does not accomplish this.
If you say that a person renigged, we ALL renig on the promises
we make in our vows...........and if that be the case NO marriage then is binding, but the Word of God says otherwise.
_____________________________
Blessings as you seek Him, Cindy
What does the bible say on Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage?
www.marriagedivorce.com
www.cadz.net/faq.html
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Is this a marriage in God's eyes? - 3/21/2008 12:29:28 AM
|
|
|
locomom
Posts: 237
Joined: 4/15/2005
Status: offline
|
After running this around in the back of my mind for the day I came up with several questions for th op, Knolt, as well as a couple of suggestions.
PRAY, PRAY< PRAY himself and with trusted mature companions be they family, friends, or other associates.
1) Why did the woman go through with the marriage ceremony?
2) Is the woman of couple a natural born or naturalized citizen or foreign? Should the woman be foreign, you run into some extra special INS marriage fraud laws which lead to either prison or a fast ticket out of this country as well as the usual legal situation of divorce, annulment, and/or fraud?
3) I think that this woman committed legal fraud with respect to the marriage contract is fairly obvious. Therefore contacting an good attorney in the appropriate field is something the defrauded man should do ASAP. Yesterday would be best! A good & Christian attorney can help with whether there has been an actual marriage and the business of disentangling the responsibilities that should have come with marriage.
4) The question of whether there has been an actual marriage before God is not easily determined. Certainly the man meant his end of the covenant, but whether the woman did is highly debatable. Yes she said her vows, but she is quite capable of having stood in church and lied before God to this man and the pastor who married them and their witness. That , I think, would best be determined by the man having some private discussions with the pastor who married them.
5) Based on the counsel of the pastor and the attorney, I think the man must act to protect himself legally and spiritually from her abuse of marriage.
6) Say as little definite other than, "We are having some challenges, right now." to the huge majority, except pastor and attorney.
7) Keep a hidden journal of what is going on. Not vindictively, but as evidence should this become a legal matter.
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Is this a marriage in God's eyes? - 3/21/2008 4:24:05 PM
|
|
|
lostsomuch
Posts: 224
Joined: 3/1/2008
Status: offline
|
quote:
7) Keep a hidden journal of what is going on. Not vindictively, but as evidence should this become a legal matter.
Whoa. Careful! Careful!
That would be heresay. It would not count as evidence. In some states, electronic mail counts as evidence so if she wrote this to him, it would count. Voicemail and answering machine would count. Phone conversations or other conversations recorded without permission of one or both parties would not count.
Likewise, your word (including your written word such as in a journal) would not count.
In fact, since there are no children and they have been married such a short time, there most likely would be no division of assets (because the marriage is only four months old).
The person would need to get some of these things written down by her.. somehow.
I don't know if this would be a marriage in God's eyes, because God would know before it ever was created that it was invalid. I don't think he would be joining those two together.
You see, marriage occurs on a spiritual plain and it occurs between to fallible persons and one omniscient, infallible being.
Anyway, that is my thought on it. I wouldn't think this would be God's joining and I don't think He was fooled.
I really don't think man's law matters in this case, certainly not over God's law.
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Is this a marriage in God's eyes? - 3/21/2008 4:58:14 PM
|
|
|
Child4Jesus
Posts: 290
Joined: 5/24/2005
From: Long Island, Nassau, Elmont, NY
Status: offline
|
quote:
ORIGINAL: Knolt
Let's a man and a woman decide to get married. the sexual rejection of the woman rejecting the man is total and to the point of the marriage not being consummated. after six months the woman tells the man she never really loved him. the woman decides to leave him. Does God see that as a marriage? One that is not even consummated? Is the man in this case spiritually released and then free to remarry?
I can say what my opinion is. I'm of the opinion that it is not a marriage. Not because there was no sex but because she has acted like an unbeliever. She has been deceitful from the get go having had no intention of being your wife. She has acted in a fraudulent way.
< Message edited by Child4Jesus -- 3/21/2008 5:16:52 PM >
_____________________________
In Christ,
Richad
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Is this a marriage in God's eyes? - 3/22/2008 1:17:00 AM
|
|
|
locomom
Posts: 237
Joined: 4/15/2005
Status: offline
|
A journal of what the man witness would not be hearsay. It is his own word of what he say. It would be hearsay when an entry is about what a third party told him, but not when it's what he himself witnessed. I know someone whose attorney advised her to keep a journal.
In a marriage, the man and the woman of the marriage are the main witnesses. You can hire a private investigator to take pictures if you want to, but the difficulty of divorce cases is the he says- she says part because there aren't other witnesses in the home.
How finances are involved legally depends on the state. Certainly, it is a lot simpler without children, however, finances for those two months are mixed together and will have to be separated. Should one person take out a loan for an expensive auto, the other can be held liable for his or her share of the auto. Also annulments and divorces can take a long time to make their way through our legal system, during which the marriage is still going on.
What I was referring to with respect to finance is that there are legal ways to separate finances before divorce. There is also legal separation. There is time also that an attorney would need to gather evidence to make a case for whatever situation the seek.
Please note that I am not advocating an immediate annulment or divorce. I am advocating that the man seek to find out where he is spiritually and legally immediately and act ASAP to protect himself should he need to. It is prayer, good Christian counsel, and action this man needs now.
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Is this a marriage in God's eyes? - 3/27/2008 2:38:02 PM
|
|
|
BuckleysMom
Posts: 11
Joined: 3/26/2008
From: PA
Status: offline
|
Marriage is more than sex and the fact there hasn't been any means nothing, you are still married. BUT, is there any evedence that this woman married you just to fix a problem or sometihg, because that's sure what it sounds like. Either way God is not unreasonable. Any vows this woman spoke were obviously all lies and I don't believe God would condemn you for getting out of this joke of a marriage. Your other option is to stay married and just wait....without a doubt she will cheat on you at some point at which time you will be free to "put her away" (divorce her) and remarry. I know that sounds like I'm joking or taking your situation lightly, but I'm not....it truly is an option.
As for Mary & Joseph, they were only engaged at the time Mary became pregnant, but in those days engagement was the same as actually being married and if the woman "cheated" the man still had to divorce her, yes, even though there were no vows or ceremony of any kind as yet.
_____________________________
Buckley's Mom
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Is this a marriage in God's eyes? - 3/27/2008 4:54:15 PM
|
|
|
MrsOliver
Posts: 88
Joined: 3/19/2008
Status: offline
|
And YET, WE SERVE A MAGNIFICANT, FORGIVING, UNDERSTANDING AND HOLY GOD!!! And even if it is considered a "Marriage" in God's eyes, or not, or just a "legal" marriage. IT doesn't really matter. What really matters is their hearts and their relationship with the Lord. For those of us who have been divorced and remarried and BLESSED BEYOND MEASURE with a Godly spouse who serves the Lord whole heartily.....I personally can say that it appears to me that the only reason to say "it was or wasn't a REAL marriage" is to deal with the aftermath of judgement, guilt and nay-sayers . And who's to say? Who can stand in judgement? Who knows their hearts or exactly if either of them are believers..even if they both are~!! What difference does it make. Divorce is not a Hell sentence. I am not saying everyone who deems necessary should go get divorced, however, part of the problem with people trying to "trust" God and then to feel condemned for an "unforgiveable" sin by our Christian peers, such as divorce...is really sad to me.
God loves you if you get divorced the same as if you don't. IF you want your marriage..PRAY FOR IT!! IF it isn't working on both sides....ask for forgiveness for your part and move on. There is NO SHAME IN CHRIST JESUS!!! this may sound like I am making light of Divorce, and I AM NOT. I am saying Christians need to be careful of their judgements..while still professing to be following Christ.
That is one paragraph into a marriage with out any other information. Who on here knows their hearts or relationship with our LOVING GOD!!!
anyway, my 2 cents worth. sorry for stepping on toes.
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Is this a marriage in God's eyes? - 4/19/2008 11:46:26 PM
|
|
|
Dakotasunbeam
Posts: 1148
Joined: 6/2/2005
From: Midwest USA
Status: offline
|
The Bible says that God hates divorce. And we claim to be believers indwelt with the spirit of God that communicates the heart of God, it is difficult to see how the spirit would communicate something to you that God hates. God is merciful. That means He will forebare our sin. Many people take His forebareance to mean acceptance. Both intended to marry, whether the wife intened to have sex with her husband or her husband intended to never do any chosres around the house. You have to pay your vows to God, regardless of what your spouse does. It isn't merely between the husband and wife, but God also.
God loves the world so much He gave His only begotton Son. But that does not change the fact that we must repent of our sins and turn to Him and be reconciled to God to see eternal life. Much of the world walks down the wide path leading to hell--and every last soul that falls therein . . . God loved. Unfortunately, they did not love Him or themselves enough to turn back from their sins and follow Him. Keep your vows or don't make them.
|
|
|
|
|
Forum Tools
Printable Version
