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.
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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. 
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How do I speak to a friend who is transitioning?

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What language is to be used to speak to, or about, a friend who is transitioning to the other gender?

Without answering this question directly, J. Alan Branch urges us to consider both the implications of Scripture and the requirements of compassion.

So, if I choose not to conform to transgender vocabulary, I might ask:

‘First, have I prayed for the person in question and are my actions motivated by love both for the truth and for the person?…

Matthew 2:23 – ‘Jesus would be called a Nazarene’

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‘[Joseph] came to a town called Nazareth and lived there. Then what had been spoken by the prophets was fulfilled, that Jesus would be called a Nazarene.‘

Where does it say in the prophets ‘that Jesus would be called a Nazarene’?

This wording is not to be found in any of the prophets.  In fact, Nazareth is not mentioned at all in the Old Testament.  Bethlehem, on the other hand, had a higher status as the ‘city of David’.…

Not ‘replacement theology’, but ‘inclusion theology’

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Christian Zionist writers are apt (too apt, in my opinion) to brand those who disagree with them as peddlers of ‘replacement theology’, as teaching that the church replaces Israel in God’s purposes.

Now, I will not dispute that some non-Zionists do use the language of ‘replacement’ (or something similar), and are perhaps give the impression that, in their view, God has washed his hands of his historic chosen people.  The gospel has been taken away from the Jews, and given instead to the Gentiles.…

Why your sermons shouldn’t be too short, or too long

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Here’s a precis (with a little bit of re-jigging of wording and order) of Jared Wilson’s helpful post.

Your sermons shouldn’t be too short, because:

  • The church should subvert (and not support) today’s convenience culture
  • Sunday may be the only day when some of your people get any Bible
  • Hearing from God should have a prominent place in our meetings
  • Scripture is worthy of sustained attention, not brief snippets
  • God’s word to us is profoundly relevant and eternally important

Your sermons should be too long, because:

  • Over-long sermons usually try to achieve too much
  • A sermon’s aim is communion with God, not exhaustive knowledge
  • People will become too fatigued to be able to listen or respond
  • It is good to leave people wanting more!
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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. …

Ephesians 5:21f – ‘Submit to one another’

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Ephesians 5:21f – ‘…submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.  Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.’

What does it mean to ‘submit to one another’?  And what does it mean for wives to submit to their husbands?

1. Some think that it means that everyone is to submit to everyone else

Wives to husbands, husbands to wives, children to parents, parents to children, and so on.  In this case, ‘to submit’ would have to mean, ‘care for one another and put one another’s needs first.’  …

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.…

Sex in Genesis 1:26-31 and 5:1-2

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Martin Davie observes that, taken together, these two accounts make six points about the creation of humankind.

First, we learn that human beings do not exist by chance. God, who created the universe in general, also decided to create human beings in particular and…everything that God creates is ‘very good’ (Genesis 1:31), including the human race.

Secondly, we learn that God created human beings as male and female from the beginning…

Thirdly, we learn that it is as male and female that human beings are the image and likeness of God…In God’s kingdom…the special role he has assigned to humanity is that we should serve as his ‘under-kings,’ vice regents or stewards.…