Contractual Marriage verses Covenant Marriage
The State requires a Marriage License: I was married to my first wife for 44 years until she died of cancer in 2005. When we were young and decided to marry, our understanding was that we needed to get a blood test and then the marriage license. We gave it no thought because that was the way you were supposed to do it. Everyone did it that way. Today, I question if the State actually has the authority to grant permission to marry. According to the Bible, marriage is a God ordained privilege and not up to the state to authorize.
A license by definition, according to Black’s law dictionary, is “The permission by competent authority to do an act which without such permission would be illegal.” How can the state make illegal that which God ordained thousands of years ago? (Gen. 2:18-24). It is not the states authority to grant permission to marry; it is a God given privilege.
Keep in mind that the authority which grants a license also has jurisdiction over the right given. A marriage license gives the state jurisdiction over your marriage as well as your children. The state determines the guidelines for marriage and divorce and in some cases what is right for your children. In recent years, the state, in some instances, has departed from Biblical guidelines for marriage, one man and one woman, and now issue marriage license to same sex couples. In addition, the state now has departed from the Biblical grounds for divorce and has adopted a “no fault divorce.” If it pleased, the state could require a license to have children, and that could be forthcoming. The state’s law governing marriage and divorce is in direct conflict with God’s law governing marriage. To which should we be subject?
The Biblical guidelines for marriage are found in Dt. 22:16; Ex. 22:17; I Cor. 7:38. According to the Bible, parents determined if their daughters were to be given in marriage, not the state. Traditionally, in the ceremony, fathers gave their daughters to be married. The custom is still practiced today without actual authority when the minister asks, “Who gives this woman to be married to this man?” Though the custom may still be practiced, the state reserves the right to give permission to marry. In Colonial America, there were only two requirements for marriage: First, your parent’s permission must be granted, and second, an announcement of the marriage must be posted publicly 5-15 days before the ceremony. Today, it is the state that has the sole authority to grant permission to marry.
Only in recent times has a marriage license been required and the state becoming the third party involved in a marriage. This gives undue jurisdiction to the state. Biblically, the only authority the state has in a marriage is in the case of divorce and in crimes such as adultery, bigamy, etc. Ironically, the crime of adultery, although against God’s law, is no longer punished.
The marriage license became a requirement in certain marriages in the mid 1800s in a strange way. Certain states began to allow blacks to intermarry with whites but only if they obtained a license from the state. It was the state’s sole authority to give permission for such a union, otherwise it was illegal. The definition of the law, according to Black’s dictionary of law, was “A license or permission granted by public authority to persons who intend to intermarry.” Apparently, this gave other states an idea, so they began to require a license for anyone wanting to get married. In 1923, the Federal Government wrote into law the Uniform Marriage and Marriage License Act. Later the Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act were also included. Every state in the Union had adopted marriage license laws by 1929.
God’s Plan for Marriage is a Covenant: “By definition a covenant is intended by God to be a lifelong fruitful relationship between a man and a woman. Marriage is a vow to God, to each other, our families and our community to remain steadfast in unconditional love, reconciliation and sexual purity, while purposefully growing in our covenant marriage relationship.”
A Covenant is not a Contract: “By definition a contract is an agreement between two or more parties, especially one that is written and enforceable by law” (such as a marriage license). Contracts are deemed necessary in today’s world because of mistrust. They are concerned with a person’s rights, and are designed to protect individuals. You will not find one reference to a contract in Scripture.
“By definition a covenant means a coming together.” The word covenant is found over 300 times in the Bible. Generally, in the Bible, a covenant refers to the bonding of two people together. A Contractual Marriage differs from a Covenant Marriage: Contracts are often broken or negotiated. A covenant is non-negotiable and not to be broken. The difference is antithetical as noted below:
A Contractual Marriage denotes ownership, concerns getting; meeting halfway; a Covenant Marriage Denotes giving oneself to another, gives service freely, gives all. “Some of the biggest challenges in relationships come from the fact that most people enter a relationship in order to get something; they’re trying to find someone who’s going to make them feel good. In reality, the only way a relationship will last is if you see your relationship as a place that you go to give, and not a place that you go to take.” -Anthony Robbins
According to the Bible, covenant marriage is to resemble “the steadfast love of the Lord, which comes from the very heart of God and never ceases,” (Lam. 3:22, RSV). God intended for marriage to be permanent. It is to be a relationship based on unconditional love, sexual fidelity and continual growth.
Written by Jimmie Burroughs, © 2017; all rights reserved.