Honoring marriage

Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery. Hebrews 13:4 NLT

The writer of Hebrews continues to provide practical exhortations to the body of believers who are undergoing pressure to compromise their faith. The prevailing concern is that these believers will continue to live out their faith through their godly conducts. This small church could easily be discouraged with what is happening around them for they are surrounded by the Roman culture that is engaged in destroying family units. He knows that the church will easily crumble once the family units gets destroyed within when members will not value the sacredness of their marriage commitment. Thus, the advice to marriage was straight to the point and unambiguous: “Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage.” There were two opposite prevailing views during the time the book was written. First, there is this belief that marriage is inferior for it will hinder a person’s pursuit for moral superiority and perfection. The belief was started in the second century by the Montanist movement that later gave birth to celibate monasticism. Today, this belief continues to prevail where individuals are encouraged not to engage in marriage for it will only ruin their plan to be successful for family will only tie them up to unnecessary commitments. The other extreme was promoted by the libertines that promoted the idea that marriage is a temporary arrangement that could easily be dissolved. This view promoted the idea that there is no such connection between love and marriage. A quote attributed to Ambrose Bierce, a journalist, sums up this view when he wrote, “love is temporary insanity curable by marriage.” For Christians who are living under the authority of God, marriage was ordained by God therefore should be highly regarded. “‘Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man. ‘At last!’ the man exclaimed. ‘This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh! She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken from ‘man.’ This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one’” (Genesis 2:22-24). This is why the Lord Jesus Christ declared, “Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together” (Matthew 19:6). Christians are to celebrate marriage for in it sacred vows were made before God and His church by a man and woman committing to a relationship that is permanent. Marriage was given by God and is worthy of our utmost honor.

Blessings,