What does the Bible say about marriage?

This, indeed, was the ground on which the Lord Jesus long afterwards defended the original institution and confirmed the lasting sanctity of marriage. It was not a relationship introduced by the law of Moses; wedlock was God's purpose for man from the very start of his history. So the Lord, replying to the objections of the Pharisees, said to them, "Have you not read that He who made them from the beginning made them male and female?" (Matt. 19:4). And had they not also read in the same passage, "And the two shall become one flesh"?

Two, and only two, are spoken of, as with Adam and his wife at first, where neither polygamy nor divorce could be thought of; and "one flesh" would make either polygamy or divorce an abomination.

The former was a provision "for the hardness of their hearts," and no doubt often used without the qualifying ground stated there, "because he has found some uncleanness in her" (Deut. 24:1). The latter (Gen. 2:24) taught the sacredness and the real character of the tie... two made one flesh, whom He has joined, and whom therefore man should not separate.

The Lord does not say that divorce is unavoidable when one partner commits fornication, but only that in such a case the remarriage of the other partner after a divorce is not adultery.

It is not a simple statement stamping the relationship with dignity, but an exhortation in the imperative, calling us to carry it on worthily and to guard it from every taint of unchastity or impurity. And we are told to set it in honour, not in this respect or in that, but "in all things." So it is in no way a certificate of respectability that all people possess because they are married, but a solemn charge to married believers that their use of the relationship should be pleasing to the Lord in every detail.

He had ordained the marriage tie in the beginning, and though it had become sadly marred by sin He made it holy by His presence. They were not great or rich, this couple who invited Jesus to their marriage; the fact that they had no wine would suggest they were very poor, but Jesus was the Friend of the poor, as He is to this day, and He showed His glory by caring for them in their need and raising the joy of their wedding day to a level they could never have known if He had not been there.

The wife will find her joy in submitting to her husband, as the church to Christ, and the husband will find his delight in loving his wife as Christ loved the church. What a standard this is! Who can measure the depth of Christ's love for the church, or the detail and persistence of His care for her? — so ought men to love their own wives, nourishing and cherishing them as Christ does the church. And remember, there is not an exhortation in Scripture that cannot be carried out.

Ephesians 5 takes up the marriage relationship, not as a convenient illustration of Christ and the church that happens to present itself, but as one designed from the start to illustrate this great truth.

The Christian husband is to live with his wife according to the knowledge of the relationship as God instituted it, and not simply according to human ideas or customs. He is to honour her as the more fragile being, and therefore needing greater care and protection. Whatever differences there may be in constitution, they are heirs together of the grace of life. So the husband is to pay all honour to the wife, so that no cloud may arise between them to hinder their prayers.

There are certain things we do not need to pray about. If a young man sets his affections on an unbelieving young woman, there is no need to ask the Lord whether it is His will for the marriage to go ahead. The Scriptures plainly forbid it.

Each one must know for himself what his proper gift is. It is one thing to say, "Follow Paul's example," and quite another to have the "proper gift" to do it. It is a fatal mistake for anyone to expect to walk in a path for which God has not given him a call or the spiritual power. Remember that marriage is a holy and honourable institution, established by God in the Garden of Eden and sanctioned by His presence in Cana of Galilee.