Marriage is sacred

Nowadays many believe that marriage is no better than any other type of relationship and should not have a special status in law.

But this is not how God sees it. Marriage is different from other types of relationship. From the beginning he spelled out the importance of marriage – it is a ‘creation ordinance’. After Eve was created, the Bible records: “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24).  This is relevant to the whole world, not just the church. Marriage is part of God’s  ‘common grace’ and therefore meant for the good of all people – not just Christians.

In the past, marriage was protected in law because its unique social benefits were recognised and valued. But today marriage has lost much of  that status within public policy. The Christian Institute is concerned about any legislation or public policy that undermines marriage and Christian family patterns.

The Bible clearly teaches that the only context for sexual activity is within lifelong marriage between one man and one woman (1 Corinthians 6:9; Hebrews 13:4). So all sex outside that – including fornication, adultery, polyamory and homosexual practice – is wrong.

Marriage is also the proper context for raising children. Even secular research shows that marriage is head-and-shoulders above other types of relationships in terms of the benefits it gives to both adults and children.

Jesus emphasised that marriage was for life, but successive reforms of the divorce law in Britain have fostered a rampant divorce culture. God hates divorce (Malachi 2:16) and Jesus clearly aligned himself against easy divorce (Matthew 19:3-9; Mark 10:11-12). Such reforms have increased both the divorce rate and the number of children born outside marriage. The most recent shift to no-fault divorce will only make this worse. The Institute believes that the legal framework should be reformed, so that divorce is discouraged and reconciliation encouraged.

Marriage is a good gift from God. We need to value it and defend it.