Together in Christ: 'No Longer Two But One' — Matthew 19:3-6

Jesus' answer to the trick question the Pharisees asked revealed several essential truths about relationships. We have looked at some of these in the previous days' devotional thoughts. Today, let's look at one of the main points Jesus wants us to hear:

• When people get married, God does not want us to tear apart our marriage union by divorce, sexual immorality, abandonment, coercion, exploitation, abuse, or any of the many ways people destroy their union in marriage. ^[1]
   
  
• God not only joins the two people who marry, but they also enter into a marriage covenant with Him. God is the one Who joins them together as they share a one-flesh relationship of complete intimacy. ^[2]
   
  
• God's ideal for marriage is that each person loves, cherishes, blesses, supports, builds up, encourages, forgives, pleases, honors, and sexually blesses the other. ^[3]
   
  

As Jesus' comments revealed, the principles of marital union are built on the foundation of several other principles taught in Scripture:

• Sexual intimacy is reserved for marriage and the person a person is married to, and it is to bring delight to both the husband and wife. ^[4]
   
  
• A man must leave his family to make a new home with his wife. ^[5]
   
  
• God defines marriage as the union for life between a male and a female. ^[6] Scripture does not suggest this is a cultural variable that changes over time or with cultural changes. God's commands and definitions of marriage are based on His revealed identity and His will. ^[7]
   
  
• No one should be guilty of destroying the marital union that God brought together, whether the marriage partner sins by seeking someone or another person outside the marriage chooses to involve themselves with a married person. ^[8]
   
  

Many today might respond, "This is old-fashioned, naive, and overly restrictive!" That is how Jesus' disciples responded. ^[9] So, Jesus gave another option. Remain single and chaste, controlling our bodies in holiness and honor. ^[10] Jesus did not back down from God's plan for marriage, nor did the early church. ^[11] We must not either. That, however, does not mean that we treat people who violate God's commands as enemies. Jesus becomes our guide in these matters. When people are willing to come to the Lord, follow Him, and turn their life around to live by His will, He restores life and freely shares His grace. ^[12]

Let's value marriage as God does. Let's obediently respond to God's call for holiness with grace, love, and support.

[1] Hebrews 13:4; Malachi 2:10-17.
[2] Genesis 2:24-25; Malachi 2:13-17; Matthew 19:6.
[3] Marriage is for love, about love, and to enhance genuine love. So, 1 Corinthians 13 and the "one another passages" in the New Testament provide an excellent framework for building this kind of partnership and loving relationship.
[4] Genesis 1:31, 2:21-25; Proverbs 5:18; 1 Corinthians 7:1-7 and the whole book of Song of Solomon.
[5] This command was great protection for wives and put them on common ground with their husbands since most ancient cultures required the wife to move in with her husband in his parents' home.
[6] Genesis 2:24-25; Proverbs 5:18; Malachi 2:15; Matthew 19:1-9.
[7] God gave many of the scriptures about marriage when His people lived in cultures as sexually super-charged as ours, or even more so — 1 Corinthians 6:9-10. God anchored His commands on marriage and sexual intimacy in His nature and His creative design and not cultural changeabilities so that we could know His will for age — Genesis 1:1-2, 26-27, 31, 2:18-25; Exodus 20:2-3, 14.
[8] 1 Thessalonians 4:6-8; Hebrews 13:4.
[9] Matthew 19:10.
[10] Matthew 19:11-12; 1 Corinthians 7:8-9, 25-35; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5:1-6.
[11] 1 Corinthians 5:1-13; Hebrews 13:4.
[12] Romans 5:6-11; 1 Corinthians 6:9-20; Ephesians 2:1-10.