Before we can really get into the topic of marriage we must first explore the definition and meaning of the God-ordained marriage covenant. The following is a list of definitions and scriptures to help us better understand what it means to enter into and keep a marriage covenant.
The definitions either come from Nelson’s Student Bible Dictionary (ND), Copyright 2005 or Webster’s Dictionary (WD), Copyright 1991. The Scriptures come from the King James Version (KJV), the Amplified Bible (AB), the New American Standard Bible, Updated (NAS) or the New International Version (NIV), all Copyright 1999 by the Zondervan Corporation.
DEFINITIONS
Holy: moral and ethical wholeness of perfection; freedom from moral evil. The Hebrew word for holy denotes that which is sanctified or set apart for divine service. ND pg 109; Belonging to, or devoted to God; morally perfect; divine; sacred. WD pg 185
Marriage: The union of a man and a woman as husband and wife which becomes the foundation for a home and family. ND pg 159; The legal union of husband and wife; the ceremony, civil or religious, by which two people of opposite sex become husband and wife. WD pg 236
Union: act of joining two or more things into one; federation; marriage; harmony; joined. WD pg415
Covenant: an agreement between two people or two groups that involves promises on the part of each to the other. ND pg 48; A mutual and solemn agreement; a contract; a compact; a written agreement. WD pg 96
Vow: a solemn promise or pledge that binds a person to perform a specified act or to behave in a certain manner. ND pg 260; A solemn promise made especially to deity; to consecrate or dedicate by solemn promise; to devote (to give oneself wholly to-WD pg 111). WD pg 427
Promise: a solemn pledge to perform or grant a specified thing. ND pg 203; An understanding to do or not to do something; cause or grounds for hope; to give one’s word to do or not to do something; to give cause for expectation; to agree to give. WD pg 300
Pledge: something held as security to guarantee fulfillment of an obligation. ND pg 200; Something deposited as a security; a sign or token of anything; a solemn promise. WD pg 289; A desire combined with expectation gives grounds for hoping; thing desired; to desire with belief in possibility of obtaining. WD pg 186
Husband: a married man; to manage with economy; to till the soil; the master of the house. WD pg 188 (PVM believes the husband is to be a natural born male)
Wife: married woman; spouse. WD pg 435 (PVM believes that the wife is to be a natural born female)
Faith: a belief in or confident attitude toward God, involving commitment to His will for one’s life. ND pg 80
Hope: Confident expectancy. ND pg 109
Love: the high esteem that God has for His human children and the high regard which they, in turn, should have for Him and other people. ND pg 152
Honor: esteem and respect. ND pg 109
Cherish: to hold dear; to treat tenderly; to foster. WD pg 74
Affection: strong liking; goodwill; benevolence; charity; devoted attachment to one of the opposite sex. WD pg 230
High respect: renown; glory; reputation; sense of what is right or due; chastity; upright. WD pg 185
Belief: especially in a revealed religion; trust or reliance; loyalty; pledged word. WD pg 144
Faithful: true; unwavering. ND pg 80
Faithfulness: loyalty; devotion to duty; adherence to marriage vows; accuracy. WD pg 149; loyal; reliable; honorable; exact. WD pg 144
Loyal/ Loyalty: faithful to the lawful government, the sovereign, a cause, or a friend; fidelity. WD pg 230
Fidelity: faithfulness, loyalty. ND pg 82
Adultery: willful sexual intercourse with someone other than one’s spouse. Jesus expanded the meaning of adultery to include the cultivation of lust: “Whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matt. 5:28) ND pg 7; Violation of the marriage vows; to defile. WD pg 16* Thou shalt not commit adultery is the seventh of the Ten Commandments*
Undefiled: unstained, unsoiled, not tainted with evil, clean, pure, faultless. ND pg 255
Separation: state of being separate (to part in any manner; to divide; to disconnect; to detach; to withdraw; to become disunited) WD pg 345
Divorce: a legal dissolution of a marriage. ND pg 60; The legal dissolution of a marriage contract; separation; to separate; to sever; to disunite. WD pg 119
SCRIPTURES
Genesis 2:18-24 NIV: The Lord God said “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman’ for she was taken out of man.” For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
Hebrews 13:4-5 NAS: Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers, God will judge. Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, ” will never leave you, nor will I ever forsake you.”
Malachi 2:14-17 AMP: Yet you ask, Why does He reject it? Because the Lord was witness [to the covenant made at your marriage] between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously and to who you were faithless. Yet she is your companion and the wife of your covenant [made by your marriage vows]. And did not God make [you and your wife] one [flesh]? Did not One make you and preserve your spirit alive? And why [did God make you two] one? Because He sought a godly offspring [from your union]. Therefore take heed to yourselves, and let no one deal treacherously and be faithless to the wife of his youth. For the Lord, the God of Israel says: I hate divorce and marital separation and him who covers his garment [his wife] with violence. Therefore keep a watch upon your spirit [that it may be controlled by My Spirit], that you deal not treacherously and faithlessly [with your marriage mate].
Proverbs 6:32-33 KJV: But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul. A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away.
Hebrews 4:12-13: For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before.
I Corinthians 13 NAS: If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor and if I surrender my body to be burned but do not have love, it profits me nothing. Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things,hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Honor your marriage vows, the promises you made on your wedding day. Love your spouse unconditionally. Believe the best of your spouse and do not treat him/ her with arrogance or jealousy. Do not defile your marriage bed or your spouse by being unfaithful to him or her in the act of adultery, for in doing so you are only destroying your own soul. If you think you can get away with it, you can’t for God sees everything . Sin only serves to bring destruction. Love, respect and cherish your mate with kind words and encouragement. You have become one. Your spouse is your companion and helper in this road of life. Let them be your source of intimate satisfaction, do not look to another. Most of all, keep God first place in your life, for if you love God, you will love your spouse. One who loves God with all his heart, mind and strength, will undoubtedly love their spouse in the same manner, for no one who ever loved God with all of his being could ever defile their spouse in adultery for love never fails. You can have a wonderful godly marriage with a little hard work, devotion, commitment, and perseverance.
“And the Lord was witness to the covenant made at your marriage.”Malachi 2:14
For Every Great Battle, There is a Great Victory!!