As God considered His creation, He saw that it was not good for man to be alone. To supply man's need, God made woman and presented her to the man (Genesis 2:18-22). In Genesis 2:24 we read, "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." The most sacred, tender, and intimate relationship one can enter outside of their relationship with Jesus Christ is marriage. This relationship must not be entered into lightly. Furthermore, this is the only relationship in which a man and a woman can come together sexually with God's approval (Hebrews 13:4).
Marriage is a sacred arrangement in which God intends for the husband and wife to be bound together and be faithful to each other until separated by death. In I Corinthians 7:39, the divine record states, "The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord." In Romans 7 is recorded a discussion about the Mosaic law. Paul discusses in particular the duration of this law. In order to emphasize the end of the law of Moses, Paul makes reference to God's law on the duration of marriage. Paul (by inspiration) says, "...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...." (Read Romans 7:1-4).
Clearly it is God's plan for the husband and wife to be bound together in sacred matrimony until separated by death. May all men heed and respect what God's Word teaches on this vital matter. "What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder" (Matthew 19:6).
Tim Arthur
