Category Archives: Marriage

Decision-making by husbands and wives

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George W. Knight III considers how decision-making might be approached in a complementarian household.

‘The delicate balance that must be maintained is that of the husband’s leadership in a situation in which two equal image bearers of God are involved.

‘The husband must honor his wife 1 Peter 3:7, “grant her honor as a fellow-heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered,” NASB) and respect her views, opinions, feelings, and contributions about the issue at hand, and he must do so in a way that takes into account both his and her strengths and weaknesses (1 Peter 3:8, “husbands … be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner”).…

Marriage as God did not intend it

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There are two views of marriage (writes Martin Davie) which are deeply ingrained in modern Western culture but which fall far short of God’s wise purposes.

1. Marriage as a means of self-fulfilment

We live in an age when individual autonomy and authenticity are highly valued.

Jonathan Grant explains:

Because of our culture’s move away from transcendence, or belief in God as the source of reality, we have come to place the full weight of our personal identity on ordinary life—our material, here-and-now existence.…

Guidelines on male headship in marriage

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In their book The Meaning of Marriage Tim and Kathy Keller suggest what obeying the pattern of male headship set out in Ephesians 5:21-33 might look like:

The husband’s authority (like the Son’s over us) is never used to please himself but only to serve the interests of his wife. Headship does not mean that the husband simply ‘makes all the decisions,’ nor does it mean he gets his way in every disagreement. Why? Jesus never did anything to please himself (Romans 15:2-3). …

Marriage as God intended

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In Glorify God With Your Body Martin Davie outlines what marriage, as divinely ordained, should look like.

I summarise:

  1. Any form of incestuous marriage is forbidden.  That is why many churches has lists of those family members a person may not marry.
  2. Any form of forced marriage is excluded.  Both parties should give their consent (and, by implication be above the minimum age of consent).
  3. The exclusive nature of marriage rules out either person having more than one spouse or sexual partner.
…

Sex in Genesis 2:18-25

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Summarising this, by Martin Davie.

  1. Humanity has always been sexually differentiated.  The man was always a man, and the woman was a woman from the moment she was formed from his side.
  2. Men and women can only fulfil their God given vocation together.  Even as he carried out his God-given work in the garden (Gen 2:15), it was ‘not good’ for the man to be alone (Gen 2:18).
  3. Men and women are suitable helpers for one another because they share in an equal humanity. 
…

1 Corinthians 7:14 – Sanctified spouses, holy children

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1 Cor 7:14 – ‘The unbelieving husband is sanctified because of the wife, and the unbelieving wife because of her husband. Otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy.’

What is the meaning of ‘sanctified’ and ‘holy’ in this verse? Several options may be considered:-

1. That it is about the regeneration of the unbelieving partner.  According to this view, Paul would be stating that the unbelieving spouse has become regenerate through the believing partner. …

1 Cor 11:3/Eph 5:23 – ‘Kephale’: ‘head’? ‘source’? ‘foremost’?

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1 Corinthians 11:3 – ‘Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.’

Ephesians 5:23 ‘The husband is the head of the wife as also Christ is the head of the church.’

Much discussion has taken place over the meaning of kephale (‘head’) in these contexts.

Bartell (Men and Women in Christ) remarks that no writer earlier that Paul had used the kephale metaphor to apply to the relationship of a man to a woman.…

Marriage vows

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One statement of marriage vows, permissible in the Church of England, runs as follows:-

I, N , take you, N ,
to be my wife/husband,
to have and to hold
from this day forward;
for better, for worse,
for richer, for poorer,
in sickness and in health,
to love and to cherish,
till death us do part,
according to God’s holy law.
In the presence of God I make this vow.

These are worth pondering carefully.…

Marriage: surprisingly good for you

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It would be easy to bemoan the prevalence, at the present time, the decline of marriage and the negative attitudes that many people hold towards it.  But, it seems, marriage is surprisingly good for you.

The decline of marriage

Here in the UK, Marriage rates are often quoted as being ‘at the lowest rate ever’.  The 2011 census showed that married couple households were in the minority for the first time.

Between 2001 and 2011, the number of single people rose by 25%.  …

Marriage: what the Bible teaches

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(What follows is based on the teaching of John Stott, Issues Facing Christians Today, 4th ed., 359ff)

Marriage is a divine institution, founded on the natural distinction between male and female, Gen 2:24.

Marriage serves a number of purposes: control of procreation, Gen 1:28 Ps 127:3,5, creation of a stable environment for child-rearing, Pr 5:16-17; mutual support, Gen 2:20-22.

In marriage, two people become one, Mt 19:5-6.

Marriage is honourable, Heb 13:4, but so is the unmarried state, Mt 19:11-12 1 Cor 7.…