Marriage: One Man and One Woman

13 June

Lately there seems to be a lot of acceptance of same sex marriage going around. First President Obama  expressed his feelings on the issue, and most recently one of my favorite female Country singers has come out so to speak in favor of it too.

The President’s support of same sex marriage wasn’t really a huge surprise to me, nor was it the earth shattering news the media would have you believe it to be. The Country singer however was, it was because this singer has always claimed to be a Christian and has spoken of her faith many times which lead many of her fans to believe she shared their world view.

So how do we as Bible believing Christians respond to all of this? What do we do when it seems that most our family and friends, co-workers, our favorite so called “Christian” performers, and even our President state that they support something we know is against God’s will?

1 Peter 3:15 tells us-

“but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;”

As believing Christians when we talk about this issue we need to always point back to Jesus Christ. I’ve been saddened by some of the polls that have more evangelicals supporting gay marriage than ever before. The body of Christ should know better, it’s a shame they allow themselves to be caught up in political correctness or pressure from other influences, and just cave in on the issue.

God has defined marriage as being between one man and one woman, the reason for this is because it’s a picture of Christ and His church, His bride, His body of believers. In the marriage relationship the man plays the role of Jesus and the wife the role of the church.

Ephesians 5:23-24 reads –“For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.”

When believers try to explain their reasoning behind not supporting same-sex marriage the unbelievers try to use the Old Testament law against the believers as if it’s a slam dunk, as they confused the gospel and the law. This is when the believer needs to exercise some patience and explain that we’re not under the Law anymore, but under grace. We don’t stone homosexuals or disobedient children, and if we choose to we can eat shrimp!

Romans 6:14- “For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”

I can’t tell you how many times I see unbelievers, and those so called “Christians” say that God is love as if he thinks everything we do is just so precious as we go about doing as we please that he just can’t help but pinch our cheeks and tell us how cute we are. Yes God loves, but no that’s not how God sees us, when we sin he sees us as sinners, as sinners who need to repent.

Of course when Christians bring up the words sin and repent we’re accused of being hatful and intolerant. They fail to understand the reasons behind why we preach repentance; we aren’t doing this because we hate those who choose a lifestyle outside of what God wants for them. We preach the gospel message because God loves them and because He loves them we love them as well.

Bible believing Christians will have to be more and more discerning as time goes on. We need to be that example to others who claim to be Christian yet choose to extend their support to things God says he hates. The other day a friend reminded me of something Jesus said in Matthew 7:14 – For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Christians are often told they’re “narrow minded”, and I think we need to be a little narrow minded when it comes to the things the world says is acceptable. When we choose to feast and indulge on all the world has to offer we’re being too open minded, and are missing the gospel.

We can be kind and loving, but we also have to stand for the gospel and not be ashamed of it. Christians who truly hold to the standards of God are fast becoming a minority. It’s not going to be easy for us to stand out from the crowd when other “Christians” and churches are departing from scripture so they can become more gay friendly.

They really think that by extending their assistance in the fight for same sex marriage they are “standing on the right side of history”. As a Christian I’m really not all that concerned about standing with history as I am with the gospel. I pray that Christians will have to courage to stand up for the gospel and for marriage as God intended it to be.

Romans 1:16 – For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

In Christ,
Melisa Grimes

melissa@lifeafter.org

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4 Responses to “Marriage: One Man and One Woman”

  1. Lee B. Baker June 13, 2012 at 8:17 pm #

    Outstanding subject line: One Man and One Woman
    Just this past Sunday my wife and I had an opportunity wot witness to Mormon Missionaries, and we asked them how the felt about the 1835 Version of the Doctrine and Covenants (which we have and showed them) where on page 251, Section 101, it states: “Inasmuch as this church of Christ has been reproached with the crime of fornication, and polygamy: we declare that we belive, that one man should have one wife; and one worman, but one husband” The question then to our Mormon friends is why did the church have a printed Doctrine known as “Scripture” that they did NOT belive in polygamy when they in fact did practice it and the fact that this “Scripture” which is a lie, was in print from 1835 to 1876 during the very hieght of polygamy? BTW this reprint of the 1835 copy of the Doctrine and Covenants can be purchased on-line from several of the Mormon Book outlets. Think agout it, Lee

    • lifeafterministry June 13, 2012 at 9:37 pm #

      Amen Lee!
      And BTW – we’re so blessed by having you visit our blog! We’ve gotta get your testimony on our blog here. Hint, hint. 😉
      This is going to be a hot topic over the next several months with the election and even harder still with the biblical aspect of it even after the election.
      It’s a hard thing to talk about for those of us with family members who are gay – Kirk and I know this from personal experience. The love for our friends and family members is no less than that of our straight friends and this is what I pray about/for all the time.
      There’s not one sin greater than another, the problem here is with how out in the open this one seems to be lately and how personal it is.
      Here in WA state they’re trying to pass an initiative whether or not to pass the equal marriage act. Some Christians are battling hard to make it so we can vote on it knowing that if you get out of the 2 most populated counties here in the Puget Sound they’ll be able to pass the ability to vote on it statewide. Those in other farming communities are less likely to pass the measure for same sex marriage as i’m sure everyone knows.
      And yes, this ties in directly with the Mormon issue! If they pass a same sex marriage law then why not a polygamy law or whatever law…
      Michelle

  2. CamdenC June 14, 2012 at 3:29 pm #

    Plus the liberal entertainment community is “easing us” into the possiblity of one day allowing polygamy as a right. With shows like “Big Love” and “Sister Wives” they are making it “more acceptable” to the unsuspecting masses.

    The Christian church in America needs to take a hard look at both the letter to the church in Pergamos and the letter to the church in Laodicea… (Well, they need to read and study all 7 letters) The word “Pergamos” means “Twice Married”. They were trying to be married to the Lord and married to the world at the same time. The Laodiceans were just flat out luke warm and of no use. They weren’t salt or light. They were just happy to be living comfortably and proud of what they had.

    Not only does it blow my mind that “Christians” could be okay with same sex marriage (or as Crane Durham calls it, “unnatural marriage”) but it dumbfounded me when “evangelical Christians” voted for Romney during the primary elections, when they could’ve chosen Santorum. Romney started this whole same-sex marriage debacle up in Massachusetts!!! He compromised his beliefs and ordered town clerks to issue marriage licenses back in 2004. A true Christian would’ve jeopordized his or her political position in order to stand firm in their Biblical belief that marriage is between one man and one woman.

    Thanks be to our Great God and Savior Jesus Christ…

    For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ
    John 1:17

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