For Those Wondering About Interracial Marriage

It seems there is discussion if the Bible forbids interracial marriage. It is really baffling that people in the church are having this discussion in the 21st century, but here we are. There have been well written blogs on this issue, so I am going to give a simple answer: no.

People thought God forbid interracial marriage in the Old Testament which he did forbid the people of Israel not because of their race, but for their worship of false gods. Mark Tatlock wrote:

In the Old Testament, interracial marriage was not forbidden on the basis of ethnicity but rather idolatry. Since national membership and faith were linked in identity, ethnicity was linked to idol worship. The basis of God's prohibitions was to prevent false worship from being integrated into the Jewish culture; therefore, an Israelite could not marry a person who was not a true worshipper of God. This is still true for the believer today (2 Corinthians 6:14). For God's people, marriage has always been an issue of faith, not race.

Here is the proof from the book of Deuteronomy:

When Yahweh your God brings you into the land where you are entering to possess it, and He clears away many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and stronger than you, and when Yahweh your God gives them over before you and you strike them down, then you shall devote them to destruction. You shall cut no covenant with them and show no favor to them. Furthermore, you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor shall you take their daughters for your sons. For they will turn your sons away from following Me, and they will serve other gods; then the anger of Yahweh will be kindled against you, and He will quickly destroy you (Deuteronomy 7:1-4, LSB).

The Bible is clear that marriage is for one man and one woman which does not say about skin color or ethnicity. It does mention that we should make sure whoever we marry worships the one true God. The Bible does not forbid interracial marriage. 

Is Polygamy Permissible?

Over at Protestia, we see a story of a pastor who said he had two wives and claims polygamy is biblical. If you are the Old Testament, you see many men had multiple wives. So, the question is this, is polygamy permissible? To answer that question, here is Robby Lashua addressing this issue in his article, Polygamy in the Bible Is Not Prescriptive:

The ugly truth is that many of the heroes in the Old Testament were polygamists. Jacob had two wives and Esau had three. King David, the man after God’s own heart, had at least eight wives. Solomon, not to be outdone, had a staggering seven hundred wives (1 Kings 11:3).

These examples from Scripture are perplexing because God used these men to do great things for his name and his people. Would God use men who were living in sexually sinful lifestyles to fulfill his purposes? Was polygamy permissible for these patriarchs, and if it was, is it permissible for us?

To answer these questions, we need to determine one thing. Are these passages about polygamy prescriptive or descriptive? Are they prescribing how we are supposed to live, or are they describing events from the past?

Many passages in Scripture describe events God doesn’t condone. Lot’s daughters getting him drunk and having sex with him comes to mind (Gen. 19:32–36). But many passages of Scripture prescribe how we are to live as followers of God, such as when Jesus prescribes loving God with all of our heart, soul, and mind (Matt. 22:37).

Is polygamy prescriptive? The short answer is no. Here’s why. God never commands or condones polygamy in Scripture. The opposite is true.

The first mention of polygamy in Scripture says, “Lamech took to himself two wives” (Gen. 4:19). We are then told that Lamech, a descendant of Cain, boasted to his wives about murdering a boy (Gen. 4:23). Lamech was a bad man, and polygamy is something he practiced.

Not only does God never command or condone polygamy, but he also condemns it. In Deuteronomy 17, God gives instructions for the future kings of Israel, and he specifically condemns taking on many wives. “He shall not multiply wives for himself, or else his heart will turn away” (Deut. 17:17). In other words, God wasn’t okay with David and Solomon having multiple wives, and they disobeyed his commands.

What does God prescribe for marriage? Monogamy. From the very beginning, God said marriage was one man and one woman becoming one flesh for one lifetime (Gen. 2:24). We can deduce this from the fact that God only gave Adam one wife, not multiple. We can also see that marriage comes with the command to be fruitful and multiply, something that only requires one male and one female.

Monogamy was also Jesus’ view. When asked a question about divorce being permissible, Jesus argued that God intended marriage to be lifelong and monogamous (Matt. 19:8). He didn’t base his understanding of marriage on what the Law of Moses said about divorce; he went back to God’s original intention for marriage: “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate” (Matt. 19:4-6). Two become one flesh. Polygamy is not prescriptive; monogamy is.

Since polygamy is not prescriptive, then it must be descriptive. But what exactly does Scripture describe about polygamy and its results?

In short, polygamy is described as having devastating consequences for those who practice it and for those born as a result of it.

Jacob’s firstborn son, Reuben, by his first wife Leah, had sex with Bilhah, Jacob’s concubine (Gen. 35:22). David’s son Amnon raped his half-sister Tamar and was then killed by Tamar’s full brother Absalom (2 Sam. 13). Absalom then tried to usurp the throne from his father David and had sex with David’s concubines (2 Sam. 16:22). Solomon “had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away” (1 Kings 11:3). These descriptions are sad reminders that polygamy is sin and has destructive consequences.

So, how should we view the patriarchs of the Old Testament who practiced polygamy? First, we must recognize that polygamy is described as something they practiced but never as something God prescribed. We should view these men as they are described, flawed human beings, who sinned immensely, that God still loved and worked through. This should encourage us because we all are sinners. I’m glad God works with flawed people like you and me, but make no mistake, polygamy is not and has never been intended by God.

Around The Web-March 22, 2019

Just Thinking on Slavery Reparations

We All Live in Marx’s World Now by Carl Truman

TULIP and The Doctrines of Grace by Steven Lawson

Why Preaching? by Jason Allen

The Preacher's Proclamation by Costi Hinn

Should Christians Not be Known for What They are Against? by Eric Davis

13 Ways a Husband Can Cultivate His Marriage by Brian G. Najapfour

Around The Web-March 13, 2019

The ESV Gospel Transformation Study Bible is 50% off for one week

What Is Biblical Marriage? 11 Essential Principles by Jake Mailhot

The Crisis and Comfort of Romans 7 by Josh Buice

Jim Orrick– Mere Calvinism from Equipping You In Grace

The Wrong Strategy in Sunday School: Why Pascal’s Wager Fails Children by John Piper

Is Gay Okay for Christians? What about Transgender? from Denny Burk

Resentment and the Market Demand for ‘Reconciliation’ by Alex Kocman

Farewell Francis by Jordan Standridge

Michael Kruger and D.A. Carson answer the question, Did the church create the Bible?

Around The Web-May 30, 2018

Order Redeeming Money by Paul Tripp and get free shipping plus other deals on books by Tripp

C. S. Lewis on Corporate Worship by Joe Rigney

Believing Jesus by Matt Sliger

Doctrine and Devotion begin a new series on the 1689 Baptist Confession of faith with The 1689 on Scripture (1.1)

It’s Submission, Not Subjection by Tim Challies

The Sin That Clings So Closely by Garrett Kell

True Satisfaction Is in Jesus Alone by Justin Huffman

H.B. Charles, Jr on what baptism and the Lord's Supper symbolizes

Should Christians Marry Non-Christians?

I remember attending youth Bible Study during my teen years that there was always discussions on dating where the number one rule was not to a date a non-Christian. These days our culture is telling people they should date whoever they want and marry whoever you want. While that maybe a nice gesture to say to everyone, for believers in Jesus that is not the case especially in the area of marriage.

The question we are asking is whether or not a Christian should marry a non-Christian. Does the Bible really have anything to say about this issue? 2 Corinthians 6:14 has been used to show that Christians and non-Christians should not be in any dating or marriage relationship, but is that what the verse implies? How can we answer this question biblical?

Mike Gilbart-Smith wrote about this very same thing and has given us 7 things to look at as we consider Christian/Non-Christian marriages:

1) Genesis 1: Marriage is to display God’s image by obeying God’s commands for fruitfulness and dominion.

In Genesis 1:26–28, God designs marriage to be a partnership in ruling creation under his rule. If we don’t acknowledge that we’re ruling under God’s rule, then we’re ruling under the rule of an idol, or a combination of a whole series of idols.

Practically speaking, this impinges on every single decision you have to make as a married couple. For example, how do you decide what you should do at any point in your life? Should you:

1) do what pleases the Lord?

2) do what pleases yourself?

3) do what pleases others?

For the Christian, number 1 trumps number 2 and 3. For the non-Christian, there is only 2 and 3.

2) Genesis 2: Marriage is a partnership in doing God’s work.

Genesis 2 fleshes this out more. Genesis 2:15–17 shows how Adam is prophet/priest/king in the garden kingdom where God has put him to rule within the constraints of God’s ultimate kingship (symbolized by the two trees: blessing and life for living under his rule; curse and death for refusing his rule). The rest of the chapter details how Adam is incapable of fulfilling his calling to be prophet/priest/king alone. He needs a suitable helper in order to do that, so Eve is provided so that together they will fulfill God’s calling to bring glory to his name under his rule.

Therefore, marriage is a partnership. “It is not good for man to be alone” isn’t true primarily because man is lonely: it’s true because he’s incompetent, even before the Fall.

God did not create man alone to be competent to fulfill his calling to image God. He created man and woman in relationship to do that. Single men and women can do that also, particularly in relationship to the church under the love of Christ, the fulfillment of marriage.

So, in a Christian marriage, marriage is a partnership in the gospel. Conversely, marrying a non-Christian necessarily makes marriage a partnership in something else.

Why would a Christian choose to enter such a partnership?

3) Genesis 3: Marriage is harmed by sin.

Genesis 3 shows how us how marriage gets messed up by sin. Adam and Eve go from naked and unashamed to hiding from one another.

In the curse, God pronounces how marriage post-Fall is a battle of one sinful will against another:

Your desire will be for your husband,
and he will rule over you. (Gen. 3:16)

This means all marriages are hard. But in a Christian marriage, spouses have the opportunity to call one another to submit one’s sinful wills to God’s perfect will. When marrying a non-Christian, you lose out on the blessing of having a spouse who calls you to submit your will to Christ, and instead have a spouse who has no interest in being called to submit their own will to Christ.

4) The Old Testament warns against marrying unbelievers.

In the rest of Genesis, we see a huge effort made to ensure the people of God would only marry those who trust the Lord.

In Genesis 24, we see the great lengths Abraham goes to—combined with God’s amazing answer to prayer—to ensure that his son Isaac marries believing Rebekah.

In Genesis 27:46–28:9, we see Rebekah and Isaac’s disgust at the marriage of her son to Canaanite/Hittite women. This isn’t racism: it’s religious.

In Genesis 34:8–9, Hamor invites the sons of Jacob to intermarry with the daughters of Shechem (a town that has just proved its character in the mistreatment of Dinah). To intermarry with this town rather than distance themselves from such defilement would have been the ultimate compromise; it would have destroyed the people of God in the first generation.

In the conquest of Canaan, the Lord gives strict prohibitions against intermarriage:

Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, for they will turn your children away from following me to serve other gods, and the Lord’s anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you. (Deut. 7:3–4)

This prohibition is repeated in Joshua 23:12, and the trajectory of intermarriage never assumes or expects the Canaanites would end up being converted.

Intermarriage is also the downfall of kings: even the super-wise Solomon (1 Kings 11) and most obviously Ahab (1 Kings 16–19). More positively, a sign of repentance for God’s people was their repentance of intermarriage in Ezra 9–10. On the other hand, if a foreigner was already converted, then there was absolutely no prohibition against marrying them. In fact, this is seen as a positive (Zipporah, Rahab, Ruth).

All this biblical evidence makes me think that “I’ll keep following Jesus even with an unbelieving spouse” is a very proud statement that underestimates our own weakness, and presumes upon God’s grace.

5. Old Testament positively pictures believing marriages.

Positively, Proverbs 31 calls the young man to look out for a woman of noble character. The climax of the poem, and the source of everything noble about her, is reached in verse 30:

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

What is it that would most attract you to a potential spouse: charm, beauty, or fear of the Lord? With a non-Christian, there can only be there first two: deceptive charm or fleeting beauty.

Ruth and Boaz is among the most beautiful pictures of believers marrying. He provides and protects; she trusts and takes godly initiative. It’s a wonderful love story of how a woman who has come under the wings of the Lord comes within the love of a godly man.

6. New Testament texts imply the prohibition to marry unbelievers remains.

In the New Testament, there are a number of asides that make it clear this Old Testament prohibition still stands.

A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord. (1 Corinthians 7:39)

Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? (2 Corinthians 6:14)

Though this second verse isn’t explicitly about marriage and offers a more general principle that the church should keep itself disentangled from fellowship with pagans, what closer fellowship would one desire than the fellowship with one’s spouse? Does one want a marriage that’s not a fellowship? In reality, it will end up being a “fellowship” or “partnership” in something but it will not be a partnership in the gospel, and therefore it will tend to entangle the believer in precisely the way 2 Corinthians 6:14 warns against.

1 Corinthians 9:5 – Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas?

This suggests that having an unbelieving wife would at least disqualify from ministry. If you ever aspired to be an elder in a church, then this would disqualify you.

Those who demand New Testament evidence for the prohibition of intermarriage with unbelievers will find these texts. Simultaneously, they will not find a single verse even suggesting that the Old Testament prohibition of such intermarriage is lifted for the New Testament believer.

7. A clearer positive vision for marriage revealed in the New Testament.

The New Testament then gives a clearer revelation of marriage: it’s a partnership that pictures the redeeming love of Christ for his church. The whole point of marriage is to picture the gospel (Eph. 5:21–33; Rev. 21:9–27). Beyond that, it pictures the very relationship between the Father and the Son (1 Cor. 11:3).

To marry a non-believer is like two artists trying to paint two different pictures on the same canvas. You’re trying to paint a picture of Jesus and the church, but your spouse is trying to paint something entirely different.

Or, to take a musical analogy, it would be a partnership where one person is trying to sing one song, and the other is trying to sing an entirely different one. You sing: “I want this song to be about Jesus,” while your spouse sings, “It’s just you and me.” There can be no ultimate harmony.

When a believer is married to a non-Christian—either through former disobedience, their own conversion, or their spouse’s apostasy after marriage—that’s the painful, discordant, but ultimately God-glorifying song that must be sung. But it isn’t the song marriage was designed for, and not one a Christian should deliberately seek to write.

What’s the purpose of the life of a believer? Jesus tells us in John 17: “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”

The believer lives to know—and in knowing, to love, honor, worship, and follow—God through his Son Jesus Christ.

It’s far better to live without a spouse and within the company of the church, than with someone who is living for a life that’s not eternal.

Around The Web-August 11, 2017

The Role of the Old Testament Law in Galatians by Thomas Schreiner

I Don’t Understand Christians Watching Game of Thrones by Kevin DeYoung

But Seriously…Why Are Christians So Mean? by David Appelt

God's Plan for Marriage and How Culture Has Missed the Mark by Darin Smith

Doctrine and Devotion discuss what's wrong with the SBC

Do You Still Think Your Salvation Is Great? by Sinclair Ferguson

John Piper addresses When Worship Lyrics Miss the Mark

“God Made Me for China” — Eric Liddell Beyond Olympic Glory by Albert Mohler

Brad Wheeler on the importance of expositional preaching in the church

Around The Web-July 14, 2017

The Real Reason We Don't Read Our Bibles by Brandon Smith

Add Dragon Seed by Marty Machowski and your order from WTS Books free. Offer ends today.

Freedom Movement: 500 Years of Reformation by Michael Reeves is on sale up to 77% off for one week

12 Principles on How to Disagree with Other Christians by Andy Naselli

Husband, Lift Up Your Eyes by John Piper

Church of England Votes to Affirm Transgender People: It’s ‘Not a Sin,’ Says Bishop

Paul says, “I did not come to baptize.” So is baptism important or not? by Denny Burk

How to Reach People Who Don’t Care About the Afterlife by Mike Wittmer

Fred Malone on the importance of preaching Christ

Around The Web-March 17, 2017

Up to 70% off the ESV Study Bible and 40% off the Reformation Heritage KJV Study Bible

The messages from the 2017 Ligonier Conference, The Next 500 Years, are available online

4 Reasons Archaeology Cannot Prove the Bible by Rusty Osborne

Can Christians Marry Non-Christians?: A Biblical Theology by Mike Gilbart-Smith

If Persecution Was Legal Would You Be a Christian? by Josh Buice

The Practical Importance of Limited Atonement by John DiVito

When Christians Hurt You by Nick Batzig

Pray For Your Pastor by Joe Thorn

From John Piper's message at Passion 2017, "All God Without God Is Evil"

John MacArthur on 3 doctrines Christians should not neglect

Book Review: The Gospel & Marriage

Marriage in our culture has been under attack. We have seen it being redefined in the courts. We have seen it deemed as almost out of date in the minds of some. We have seen some churches stand for marriage while we have seen some that have embraced what society think marriage should be.

How should Christians look at marriage? How should the church respond to what the culture says? The Gospel & Marriage is one of the latest editions of "The Gospel for Life" edited by Russell Moore and Andrew T Walker. Walker admits in the introduction that marriages needs to be reexamined, not redefined as society wants it to be. Mary Kassian looks at what Christians are for, not against, in the context of marriage. Kassian points out that marriage was God's idea, not man's.

Denny Burk looks at what the gospel says about marriage. We see marriage as giving God glory as the wife submits to her husband and the husband loves his wife as Christ loves the church. Burk goes on to say that marriage was intended to be a depiction of the gospel. Next, Dennis Rainey addresses how Christians ought to live as a married couple followed Dean Inserra addressing how the church should engage the culture in regards to marriage.

Finally, Walker writes the final chapter of the book on looking at the culture in regards to marriage as well as romance. Walker looks at the common misconceptions about marriage and how our culture has affected marriage over the past few years. Walker wrote that the church must offer something better to the culture around us and that the church must show that marriage is a service to God.

Marriage has been under fire for a long time. I am thankful this book came during a very important time in our nation's history.

Thanks B&H Publishing Group for letting me review this book.

The 1689 LBC on Marriage

Marriage is to be between one man and one woman; neither is it lawful for any man to have more than one wife, nor for any woman to have more than one husband at the same time.

Genesis 2:24; Malachi 2:15; Matthew 19:5,6

Marriage was ordained for the mutual help of husband and wife, for the increase of mankind with a legitimate issue, and the preventing of uncleanness.

Genesis 2:18; Genesis 1:28; 1 Corinthians 7:2, 9

It is lawful for all sorts of people to marry, who are able with judgment to give their consent; yet it is the duty of Christians to marry in the Lord; and therefore such as profess the true religion, should not marry with infidels, or idolaters; neither should such as are godly, be unequally yoked, by marrying with such as are wicked in their life, or maintain damnable heresy.

Hebrews 13:4; 1 Timothy 4:3; 1 Corinthians 7:39; Nehemiah 13:25-27

Marriage ought not to be within the degrees of consanguinity or affinity, forbidden in the Word; nor can such incestuous marriages ever be made lawful, by any law of man or consent of parties, so as those persons may live together as man and wife.

Leviticus 18; Mark 6:18; 1 Corinthians 5:1

Adapted from the 1689 London Baptist Confession

Book Review: Katharina and Martin Luther by Michelle DeRusha

With the 500th anniversary of the Reformation coming this year, there will be a number of books and blogs on Martin Luther if they have not been written already. Many have wondered about the life of the man who had the courage to question the Roman Catholic church all those years ago, knowing the cost that he endured. While there have been numerous writings on Luther, according to Michelle DeRusha, there are hardly any on Martin's wife Katharina who was a nun. There are not many writings on the marriage between Katharina and Martin.

DeRusha has taken the liberty to write about what some may call an odd marriage between the Luther's in a book, appropriately titled, Katharina & Martin Luther. This is not an exhaustive biography on the Luther's but it does give you an idea of more in their background before they met each other and how they marriage was perceived by others. DeRusha took a look at Katharina's life as a nun and how it caused a great deal of trouble between her and her family. The same is true for Martin who wanted to practice law, but when he got out, there was some family issues.

The book goes with how they met and their marriage. During Luther's time, it seemed that marriage was held as a sacrament which was not the approach of either them especially Martin. They wanted their marriage to be as God intended which honored him and the joining of two people to become one flesh. The rest of the book talks about their children, the ones that were born to them and the ones they have adopted. Then the book concludes with Martin's death while he was a journey where his wife was not with him.

DeRusha's biographical account of the Luther's is a welcome edition to the growing number of books on Martin Luther. As mentioned, there are not a lot of books on the Luther's marriage so this is a good start.

Thanks Baker Books for letting me review this book.

Spiritual Partners in Marriage

The Christian faith involves much more than matters of doctrine relating to the church. The apostles wrote letters teaching things pertaining to God, humanity, Christ, salvation, and much more, showing believers how to love God and other people. Paul and Peter included in their letters instructions for parents, children, and spouses, teaching us how to apply the gospel to family life.

This is what we find in 1 Peter 3:1–7. Peter exhorts Christian wives to submit to their husbands, even if they do not know Christ. Why? So “they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives” (1 Pet. 3:1). Christian women are to live out the gospel before their unsaved husbands. Wives are to put more emphasis on character development than on hairstyles, jewelry, or clothes (vv. 2–4). If they honor God in this way, they will be spiritual daughters of their mothers in the faith of old, such as Sarah (vv. 5–6). And the wives’ submission is to be out of fear not of man but of God, who saved them by his grace.

Although Peter devotes more words to women in this passage than he does to men, his few words to men here hit home with all Christian husbands. That is because of the way God created men and women. Wives want to be loved and understood by their husbands. So Paul commands Christian men to love their wives “as Christ loved the church” (Eph. 5:25). Peter commands Christian men, “Live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel” (1 Pet. 3:7). What does it take for a husband to understand his wife? Considerable love and energy spent in listening to her words and heart. Most men are physically stronger than their wives. Peter enjoins them to use their greater strength to love and defend their wives, never to abuse them.

Why does Peter place such difficult demands on believing husbands? Because their wives are their fellow heirs of God’s saving grace that brings eternal life (v. 7). Christian husbands and wives are spiritual partners. In addition, Peter warns of adverse effects of Christian men failing to understand and honor their wives; they risk hindering their own prayer life (v. 7).

Marital relationships are very important to God. In the home, above all, believers are by God’s grace to live out the gospel before their children and a watching world. We have been saved by such lavish grace. It is our great privilege to exhibit this grace within marriage.

Robert A. Peterson from the ESV Women's Devotional Bible

How To Treat Your Wife

Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered (1 Peter 3:7).

God directly tells husbands how to treat their wives: “Live with your wives in an understanding way.” God then explains how and why:
How should you live with your wife in an understanding way? By “showing honor” to her.

Why should you honor your wife? (1) “Since” she is an heir “with you of the grace of life” and (2) “so that your prayers may not be hindered.”

So if you are a husband, you should ask yourself, “How can I better live with my wife in an understanding way? How can I better honor her?” Here are some diagnostic questions to help you do that:

How often do you ask your wife, “How can I better live with you in an understanding way? How can I better honor you?” Or stated negatively, “Are there ways in which I am not living with you in an understanding way? Are there ways in which you feel like I am not honoring you?” If you are wise, you’ll ask her that regularly and assure her that you will receive her answer humbly and graciously, responding neither defensively nor offensively.

How well do you know your wife? What does she need and want from you? You can’t live with your wife in an understanding way if you don’t know very much about her. You should know your wife better than anyone else. What makes her tick? What does she like and dislike? What are her deepest fears and aspirations? It is shameful if you know and care more about players on your favorite football team than you do about your wife. Do you delight to study your wife?

What are you intentionally doing to get to know your wife better? Do you regularly plan to set aside time to have unhurried, distraction-free conversations? Does she feel like you are deeply interested in her and her world? Do you draw out what is in her heart with thoughtful questions?

Do you treat your wife in a harsh or domineering way? Do you think of her or treat her as less important than you?

Can you name specific ways that you regularly honor your wife (privately and publicly) in ways that make her feel honored?

Andy Naselli from the ESV Men's Devotional Bible

The Place of Marriage in Our Own Heart

Everyone who reveres the gospel has compelling reasons to champion biblical sexual ethics. It is falling to our generation to raise up a prophetic counterculture in the face of the sexual revolution’s direct attack on Christ and his marital appeal at the heart of the gospel. The fact that we too are sinners does not exempt us from taking this stand. Our own sinfulness simply means that we take our stand with humility and honesty. But we must not be silent. What is at stake in our sexuality is nothing less than the gospel itself. We need a massive spiritual cleansing coming down from above upon our generation, because a tsunami of sexual defilement has slammed us in the face. For example, every Christian man and woman who cannot stop looking at Internet pornography must have the humility to go to his or her pastor and say, “Pastor, I have a problem. I’m out of control. I am viewing, and thereby participating in, the violation of women and children. I am living in active denial of my Savior and everything he stands for. I love the Lord. But I can’t stop. I don’t make sense to myself. I need help.” As the Holy Spirit renews our vision of our own sexuality, married and single, men and women, and as the Spirit stirs our hearts to care more about the glory of the Lord than our own face saving, the pastors of our churches today will be wonderfully swamped with inquiries from honest sinners longing to be clean again.

The blood of Jesus God’s Son powerfully cleanses from all sin (1 John 1:7). But nothing will change until we get radical. Why not stop posing? Why not stop today? Why not face our sexual sins without a moment’s further delay and fight together by faith for the recovery of our integrity before the Lord? Again, it is sinners whom God wants to use in this generation. Sin as such does not disqualify us; it is only unconfessed sin that disqualifies us. But the blood of Jesus wonderfully cleanses away every sin that we will honestly confront within the community of a safe, gospel-centered church. When the world sees more repentance in our churches, our churches will see more repentance in the world.

If the Bible is telling us the truth about reality, then Ryan Anderson is not overstating the matter when he calls every one of us to rebuild in the present for the sake of the future, whatever the cost to us today:

The church needs to find a way to capture the moral imagination of the next generation. It needs to make the truth about human sexuality and its fulfillment in marriage not only attractive and appealing, but noble and exhilarating. This is a truth worth staking one’s life on.

If the Bible is telling us the truth about reality, then the time has come for all Christians and churches to pray for power, to think with clarity, to confess with humility and to shout with joy on behalf of God’s priceless, blood-bought gift of marriage.

And to God alone be all the glory forever.

Excerpt from Marriage in the World Today which is based on Marriage and the Mystery of the Gospel by Ray Ortlund

The Place of Marriage in Today's Culture

There is more at stake in marriage than we ever could have known, without the mystery revealed in the Christian gospel (Eph. 5:32). So as we conclude this study of marriage, let’s think through some personal implications for our own lives. The implications are endless. But I will conclude with one momentous verse, relevant to all of us today: “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous” (Heb. 13:4). That was a countercultural message in the first century, and it is countercultural today. But it is one of the ways we offer to God acceptable worship with reverence and awe (Heb. 12:28).

The emphasis of the verse lies on the words “held in honor,” that is, prized, valued, esteemed. The New Testament never says, “Let money be prized, valued, esteemed.” But God has called us all to feel just that way about marriage. It is to be honored and lifted up and protected among all believers, not only among married believers. It is the God-defined institution of marriage as such, not only my own personal marriage, that I am to esteem. The gospel has shown us that every believer has something personally wonderful at stake in the sacred reality marriage, as it points beyond itself to the endless love of Jesus for us all. Now God wants all of us to translate that new awareness into the active hallowing of marriage here in this world.

The gospel, when it is allowed to make its own natural impact, creates a pro-marriage culture among God’s people. Not that unmarried people are second-class, for single people living for Christ gain strategic advantages over married people (1 Cor. 7:25-35). But marriage bespeaks ultimate reality in a way that the single life does not. It was designed to. Human marriage has always been intended by God to serve as a prophetic whisper of the eternal marriage. Every real marriage in the world today makes that statement, to some degree, however weakly, because that is what marriage is. Very few realities in our lives bear such a sacred meaning and deserve such special consideration.

All churches, therefore, have a gospel-motivated obligation actively to teach and honor and promote marriage, for the display of the gospel in our world of confusion and despair. If we love the preaching of the gospel from pulpits, then we will also love the display of the gospel in marriages. Churches must not be neutral or casual about what so rejoices the heart of God.

Yes, marriage also provides social benefits, which both believers and unbelievers can appreciate, especially the rearing of children for the next generation in a secure and stable environment. For that reason alone, the state has a clear interest in supporting and protecting the institution of marriage. Marriage is not the private property of the Christian church. At the creation, God gave marriage to the entire human race. But no one, and not even the entire human race all together, has the right to redefine marriage on its own terms. Nor can anyone, or all of us together, however broad and even unanimous our consensus, expect marriage to succeed if it is reshaped according to what it never was and can never be. If the state fails in its duty to preserve and protect real marriage, there will be a personal, social, and historic cost, a painful and heavy human cost.

The United States Supreme Court, in the landmark case Obergefell versus Hodges on June 26, 2015, by a vote of five to four, ruled that the US Constitution guarantees a right to same-sex “marriage.” Writing in the New York Times, Adam Liptak explained that in this and other related cases “Justice Kennedy embraced a vision of a living Constitution, one that evolves with societal changes.” (The reporter’s candor reminds us that college English and literature and hermeneutics courses might be shaping the future of our world as powerfully as political science courses do.) But as damaging as that Supreme Court ruling is, and as ominous for the future, the state has been injuring a pro-marriage culture for decades. In 1969 Governor Ronald Reagan of California made what he later admitted was one of the biggest mistakes of his political life when he signed into effect the nation’s first no-fault divorce law, with other states following soon thereafter. The state made it easier to end a marriage in divorce, and so it was. But even as the state foolishly continues to undermine a pro-marriage culture, our churches must work all the harder to build a pro-marriage counterculture, where faithfulness and beauty and lasting love point the way not only to a better human society but also, and far more, to the eternal love of Christ.

Divorce grieves the heart of God. God feels strongly in favor of solidly happy marriages. Marriage is precious to the Father and Christ longs for his own with all the romantic passion of his mighty heart. If that gospel is the true drama of human history, and it is, then how could God not hate divorce and every injury we inflict on his precious gift of marriage? God does not hate divorced people. He does not hate gay people. He does not hate Supreme Court justices. He does not hate you and me. Fortunately for us all, “for God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). But God’s people who have been divorced and gay and mistaken in many ways, that is, all believers in Christ—it is spiritual whores like us, having fallen exhausted and guilty into the arms of our bridegroom, who can now be compelling voices in favor of marriage. We know by experience the sorrows of every departure from God’s beautiful norm. Indeed, if Jonathan Edwards is right, if brokenhearted people make the best Christians, then we who have not lived up to God’s high standards for marriage and sexuality can serve best as advocates for those very standards. May our voices be humble but clear.

Hebrews 13:4 also says that the marriage bed must be undefiled, kept pure, its joys richly cultivated and its parameters strictly guarded. Why? We have seen that the biblical concern about sexual integrity is not a petty Victorian taboo, as if sex were dirty or even just beneath true spirituality. Just the opposite. Married sex, with its intimacy and desire and pleasure and intensity and adoration and satisfaction and rest, is a glorious metaphor of heaven. To betray our Lord’s sexual ethics, to drag his amazing gift into the gutter, is to deny the most sacred reality of all, the marriage of the Lamb, given his prophetic purpose invested in married sexuality. For God not to judge sexual sin would be for God to trivialize his own blood bought purposes.

Excerpt from Marriage in the World Today which is based on Marriage and the Mystery of the Gospel by Ray Ortlund

The Place of Marriage in The Universe

If the Bible is telling us the truth about reality, then ultimacy is not cold, dark, blank space. Finality, in this universe we live in, is not cosmic emptiness going on and on forever, governed by no purpose, ruled by the laws of physics only, with no song, no poetry, no emotion, no laughter, no play, no love, no commitment, no sacrifice, no tears, and nothing humane and beautiful to live for and die for. If the Bible is telling us the truth about reality, then this horrible modern outlook is completely wrong, and the truth of our existence is the opposite of mechanistic nihilism.

If the Bible is telling us the truth about reality, then the universe we live in was created primarily with marital romance in mind. The heavens and the earth were created for the marriage of Adam and Eve. The new heavens and the new earth will be created for the marriage of Christ and his bride. The whole of cosmic reality exists as the venue for the eternal honeymoon of the perfect husband with his perfect bride in marital bliss forever and ever. This is the breathtaking claim of the Bible.

Excerpt from Marriage in the World Today which is based on Marriage and the Mystery of the Gospel by Ray Ortlund

Podcast Wednesday: Ray Ortlund, The Incarnation, Ministry, and more

Equipping You In Grace returns and it joined by Ray Ortlund to speak about his book, Marriage and The Mystery of the Gospel

The Church in the World from Doctrine and Devotion

Son of God, Son of Man from Calvinist Picard

Albert Mohler on the Fort Lauderdale shooting and abortion

R.C. Sproul on scripture alone

When We Understand The Text on support for the ministry, truthfulness of the gospel, and assurance of saving faith

Stephen Altrogge, Dave Harvey, and Collin Hansen speak on the post election climate and New Calvinism

Around The Web-January 6, 2017

Survey: Majority of Americans Believe It’s OK to Live Together before Marriage

10 Things You Should Know about the Lordship Salvation Controversy by Sam Storms

Taking Back Christianese #7: “America is a Christian Nation” by Michael J Kruger

How Should We Think about Watching Women Fight Women? by Justin Taylor

A Better Temple by Joshua Jenkins

Doctrine and Devotion's first blog post, A New Year for Old Confessions

Avoiding Theological Anarchy by R.C. Sproul

Does human responsibility eliminate God's irresistible grace?



John Piper teaches on unconditional election from Acts 13:48

Book Review: The Gospel & Same-Sex Marriage

For more than a decade, Same-sex marriage has been a hot topic. From states affirming to people being isolated from society because they refuse to accept it. This has been one of the keys issues in the last few presidential elections.

Not only is this is an issue in society, but it is also one in the church as well. We have churches that affirm it and have even allow men and women who are homosexual to serve in a church office. We also have Christian bloggers and authors say that same-sex marriages can be holy just as heterosexual marriages.

How should Christians respond to the culture that embraces same-sex marriage? Russell Moore and Andrew T Walker have edited a book that addresses what the Bible says about marriage and how the church should live in this day and age. The book is called, The Gospel & Same-Sex Marriage, which is part of "The Gospel for Life" series.

The book begins with Andrew T Walker addressing what Christians are for not what we are against. He writes about the Biblical view of marriage and what it is not. He also talks about what the purpose of marriage is from the Word of God and how to respond to those who think of a different perspective of marriage. Next, John Piper goes into a gospel-centered message about marriage.

Jason G. Duesing and J.D. Greear take the next couple of chapters to address how we should respond and engage the culture that does not want a God-centered view of marriage. Finally, Albert Mohler takes a look at what the culture says about marriage. He also looks at the four leading factors that lead to the same-sex revolution, which is very insight.

The issue of same-sex marriage is not going away anytime soon. The church needs to know how to engage in a culture that accepts it and isolates those who don't. This book is helpful tool for the church today on this very topic.

Thanks B&H Publishing for letting me review this book.