Matthew
19:4-6 The
Creator “made them male and female,” and said, “For this reason a man will
leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become
one flesh.” So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined
together, let man not separate.”
Marriage is a union between
one man and one woman, designed by God to last so long as they both shall live.
Marriage is designed for the mutual help of husband and wife; for the
safeguarding, undergirding, and development of their moral and spiritual
character; for the propagation of children and the rearing of them in the
discipline and instruction of the Lord.
All persons who are able
with judgment to give their consent may marry, such marriages are valid before
God in the eyes of the church. But no marriage can be fully and securely
Christian in spirit or in purpose unless both partners are committed to a
common Christian faith and to a deeply shared intention of building a Christian
home. Christians should seek as partners in marriage only persons who hold in
common a sound basis of evangelical faith.
The distinctive contribution
of the church in performing the marriage ceremony is to affirm the divine institution
of marriage; to invoke God’s blessing upon those entering the marital relationship
in accordance with his Word; to hear the vows of those who desire to be
married; and to assure the married partners of God’s grace within their new
relationship.
The divine intention is that
persons entering the marriage covenant become inseparably united, allowing for
no dissolution except by the death of either husband or wife. However, the
weaknesses of one or both partners may lead to gross and persistent denial of
the marriage vows. Only in cases of extreme and irremediable unfaithfulness
(physical or spiritual) should separation or divorce be considered.
The remarriage of divorced
persons may be sanctioned by the church in keeping with the redemptive gospel
of Christ, when sufficient penitence for sin and failure is evident, and a firm
purpose of and endeavor after Christian marriage is manifested.
The Westminster Confession of Faith
The Westminster Confession of Faith
