Recently received in a church publication was an article titled, Covenant Marriage Movement. In the article, this church organization announced that it had committed to become a ministry partner in the Covenant Marriage Movement (CMM). They encouraged their ministers world-wide to become involved in this movement that “already had partnering organizations representing some 31 million constituents.” Explanation was given that this was a movement designed to strengthen marriages and initiate revival within the lives of couples and families. The author of that article further stated that this movement affords “God’s people” the opportunity to affirm His design for marriage as a lifelong covenant relationship by signing a marriage covenant statement.
This may sound great to many as those promoting this movement state that it gives opportunity for premarital counseling and counseling before a divorce would be granted. However, let’s look at the reality of what is happening and the potential biblical ramifications of those who participate.
HOW THE COVENANT MARRIAGE MOVEMENT (CMM) VIOLATES GOD’S MARRIAGE COVENANT
The CMM (as stated in the received article) is based upon the passage of a marriage covenant law in the states of Louisiana and Arizona. Those “signing up for a covenant marriage” can get “out” of this covenant marriage for the following reasons (according to LA House Bill 756): adultery, abandonment, physical or sexual abuse or the felony conviction of one spouse. This bill was amended by House Bill 1631 to add annulment as a way to “dissolve marriage.” NONE of these are biblical. It is impossible (biblically) to dissolve God’s one-flesh creation with sinful acts of man – no matter how insidious these transgressions may be. God permits separation – not dissolution – in some instances: … if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife. (I Corinthians 7:11)
Additionally, there is no stipulation in the Covenant Marriage Statement which specifies who may not sign; therefore, “partners” in this movement could be from homosexual or adulterous relationships, both of which are nonbiblical. In fact, at the writing of this article, the “Covenant Marriage Commitment” and response form could be downloaded from the Internet and the intent to be a part of this movement e-mailed with the following information: “Your names, Your city, Your state, Your wedding date, Today’s date.”
CMM, tells its members there are two “versions” of marriage: noncovenant and covenant. Those who have been married but have not signed the “Covenant Marriage Commitment” are, by the CMM tenants, falsely put into a man-made classification – a “noncovenant marriage.” In other words, according to this man-made movement, you could be biblically married for 50 years, but not classified as being in a “covenant marriage” because you haven’t signed one of these man-made agreements.
According to this movement, you could be married for 50 years, but in order for your marriage to be listed as a covenant marriage, you must sign one of these man-made “agreements.”
The CMM statement has a place for respondents to record a wedding date and a covenant date – a biblical impossibility if both dates do not reflect the covenant established by God at the wedding altar – that established by God in response to the vows we speak. Man, is, in effect, placing “on HIS books” a statement which appears to supercede something only God can create/es: a covenant marriage. The critical misunderstanding on man’s part is the fact that marriage (covenant) is not created by a piece of paper.. Thus, is not man disavowing what God has done, thinking he can create a marriage covenant by signing a piece of paper? He forgets God’s “law of marriage” which is a supernatural, lifetime, invisible creation by God. It is something over which man may officiate. Man, however, does not have the “power” of God to create (nor dissolve) a one-flesh marriage.
What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. (Mark 10:9)
… the LORD [not man] hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth … of thy covenant. Malachi
(2:14)
The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth … (I Corinthians 7:39)
In those days … every man did that which was right in his own eyes … And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and forgat the LORD their God, and served Baalim and the groves. Judges 17:6; 3:7) God’s house was forsaken. They built idols and worshiped man-made “ordinances” and thus put themselves into bondage, bringing upon themselves eternal destruction because of their abhorrent sins against God.
God has no part in designing covenant marriages based upon temporary arrangements/dissolutions. Biblical marriage covenants cannot be dissolved by sin: adultery, fornication, abuse, felony, desertion, annulment, etc.
Adulterous marriages, biblically, are a form of polygamy: The Word of the LORD Jesus Christ clearly states: Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery. (Luke 16:18)
For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. (Romans 7:2,3)
According to God’s recorded word, homosexual relationships, biblically, are sodomy; multiple marriage relationships are adultery. God NEVER goes against His Word; neither does the Holy Spirit speak against His Word. They are ONE. They ALWAYS agree. Any movement which is not in unity with God’s Word is not in unity with God. It does not appear to be wise to “partner” with those who contradict God’s Word. If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness … He is proud, knowing nothing … (I Timothy 6:3,4)
Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. (Romans 16:17,18)
CMM leadership makes the following type of statements: “God has already extended an invitation to over 30 cooperating organizations and ministries to join Him, and they have said, ‘Yes Lord.'” “This is a movement of God … to affirm God’s design for marriage as a covenant relationship.” CMM leadership also states that God is NOW providing ways for couples to stand together to affirm their commitment to covenant marriage through the Covenant Marriage Movement.
God, however, doesn’t join in unity with anything that opposes His Word. God has ALWAYS HAD IN PLACE THE WAY to commit to covenant marriage. We do that when HE, NOT man or clergy, makes us one flesh through the covenant made and vows given at the wedding altar. Within ALL one-flesh marriages is the commitment to remain faithful until death us do part, to love and cherish one another, to forsake all others; whether the participants believe it or not; whether they follow such or not.
Adulterous marriages, biblically, are a form of polygamy.
People with limited understanding about BIBLICAL marriage are confused.
Signing a piece of paper does not change hearts, nor the marriage covenant, in God’s eyes. If we fear God, we will not violate our biblically sanctioned vows: When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?(Ecclesiastes 5:4-6)
This bill/movement is creating much confusion, as well as implying unscriptural teachings as being from God. Bishop Solomon, the highest ranking official in the Louisiana Conference of the United Methodist Church, refers to the Marriage Covenant Bill as “unnecessary, confusing and intrusive … Regardless of the type of license obtained, for Christians, the marriage covenant entered into at the time of the marriage ceremony is the same for all persons. There are no levels of commitment or range of choices for couples married in a United Methodist ceremony; there is one ceremony, and thereby one covenant, applicable to all. The United Methodist marriage ceremony already is and always will be clearly focused on a life-long commitment.”
Commenting on provisions for those already married to execute a declaration of intent to designate their marriage as a covenant marriage, Bishop Solomon said: “Taken seriously, this provision would mean Louisiana United Methodist pastors would need to embark upon a campaign to encourage every married member of their congregation, no matter how long they have been married, to ‘upgrade’ their marriage by obtaining the new covenant marriage designation. Such an initiative would be a denigration of marriage vows long held and faithfully honored.”
Martha Kegel, a staff attorney with the Louisiana affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union objects to the bill because it “makes it more difficult to get a divorce on non-biblical grounds than on the biblical grounds of adultery and abandonment.” She, like so many, is confused about what marriage is – a creation by God that is only dissolved by God at death. There is no place in God’s Word which gives biblical grounds for divorce for a covenant marriage. She, as many others, deem marriage a dissoluble contract rather than a permanent covenant. God says,
But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife. (I Corinthians 7:11) For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. (Romans 7:2,3) … the LORD [not man] hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth … of thy covenant. (Malachi 2:14)
MARRIAGE FROM GOD’S PERSPECTIVE IS NOT MULTIPLE CHOICE
Author Walter Olson, states that this law [CMM] is redefining marriage and is dangerous because it opens the door to the idea of further redefining it by an act of will. “And especially sinister, it seems, is this business of redefining marriage by providing the parties a choice, thus by mutual will rather than by prescriptive authority alone. Once you let the notion of choice, it’s being warned, you start ‘privatizing marriage,’ giving the other side a basis to argue for a dozen other choice-based innovations in family law, from ‘trial marriage’ to same-sex unions.”
People with limited understanding about marriage are confused. For example, Eric Richey says, “If covenant marriage had been a choice, they [he and his wife] would have jumped at the chance.” This is the sad reality of the confusion that is happening. These uninformed spouses think that they don’t have a covenant marriage because they haven’t “opted” for this man-made nonbiblical second marriage covenant.
Journalist Christine Whelan (Wall Street Journal) quotes Melissa Soleau, whose “noncovenant wedding” took place on Saturday: “I’ve only heard about it on TV and none of my friends have done it.” An LSU study of 2,353 couples found that the husbands in covenant marriages were more educated than men who chose noncovenant marriage. Quoting a Mrs. Rosier, “The message of commitment seems to be slowly percolating through the community, beginning with the most highly educated … the more affluent parishes are the ones pushing covenant marriages the hardest.”
According to Maranatha Christian Journal, the “covenant marriage laws give couples the option of choosing a more binding ‘covenant’ marriage, rather than the typical marriage commitment that can be easily ended with no-fault divorce.” However, in God’s eyes, it is impossible to “choose” a more binding marriage if it is the one-flesh union that was created through His covenant at the initial wedding ceremony.
Be assured, what man does in a court of law to put the gavel down on a marriage covenant changes absolutely nothing in God’s “eyes.”
“It opens the door for other types of marriage–like homosexual and polygamous marriage–and makes marriage a matter of selection, not a holy union.” Carmen Pate, Spokesman for Concerned Women for America
Divorce decree violates God’s law.
A well-known marriage ministry leader wants to reclaim the concept of covenant in marriage, and the best way he sees to do this is by having churches conduct covenant marriage ceremonies, both for newlyweds and for couples renewing their vows. Groups are responding by holding mass covenant marriage ceremonies, which also gives an open door to those in adulterous marriages, homosexual relationships, or other “inordinate arrangements” to participate.
Sally Davidson shared with Restoration of the Family a copy of her “Judgment of Divorce.” Because she did not sign a “Covenant Marriage Agreement,” her divorce decree reads: “The parties have not contracted a covenant marriage.” That’s pretty blasphemous to call God’s one-flesh union noncovenant because of man’s “new version” of marriage and rejection of God’s Word. Sally’s marriage, according to God’s law, is a lifetime covenant marriage that no man can dissolve. God’s Word clearly teaches Sally’s marriage, and those in covenant marriage, cannot be dissolved by a man-made piece of paper.
Choose this day what you wish to believe and support, but know that God does not take lightly anyone who “touches HIS covenant.” He killed Uzzah who only reached up to steady the ark holding the terms of the covenant. He also killed 50,000 men for just “looking” into the ark. God gives repeated warnings: “… after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it: but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die …” (Numbers 4:15) “And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God.” (II Samuel 6:7) “And he [God] smote the men of Bethshemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the LORD, even he smote of the people fifty thousand and threescore and ten men …” (I Samuel 6:19)
Remember the “end” of Ananias and Sapphira: … thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things. (Acts 5:4,5) And consider those partaking in defiling God’s commands: Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah. (Numbers 16:49) Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee. When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers. Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit. (Psalm 50:17-19)
Look at God’s many warnings: Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant. And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth. For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the LORD of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously. Ye have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment? (Malachi 2:14-17)
… let not man put asunder. (Matthew 19:6, Mark 10:9)
… Let not the wife depart from her husband … and let not the husband put away his wife. (I Corinthians 7:10,11)
Art thou bound [married] unto a wife? seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed [divorced] from a wife? seek not a wife. (I Corinthians 7:27)
When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?
For an audio recording of this article, click the link: Audio CMM
