Christian Marriage, Reaction Paper Example

The Institution of Marriage According to the Holy Bible

As noted by Andreas J. Kostenberger, a senior research professor of New Testament and Biblical Theology and a distinguished evangelical scholar, the ancient institution of marriage is under attack in relation to defining what marriage is and how it is suppose to function in regards to the relationship between a man and a woman and their desire to raise a traditional family. As Kostenberger points out, the concept of a “normal family, made up of a father, a mother, and a number of children” is now seen as outdated and passé and as “only one among several options which can no longer claim to be the only or even superior form” of the traditional bonding by God of one man and one woman.

As a result, traditional Judeo-Christian perspectives on marriage and the family, found mostly in the Old Testament and the Hebrew Scriptures, have “to a significant extent been replaced with a set of values” based on the desires of the Self and what Kostenberger refers to as “pragmatic utility” or asking analytical questions related to if the traditional Christian concept of marriage is still relevant and if so how it applies to social situations and structures that involve the Self and self-fulfillment.

Despite all of today’s debate and controversy over the concept of marriage, for the Christian, the Holy Bible serves as a blueprint or model in relation to the various aspects of marriage, especially concerning the roles of husbands and wives within a relationship that is sanctified via the vows of marriage which brings about holy matrimony or the union of a man and a woman. According to Edward Ridenour for the online Christian Post, marriage that is based on the Holy Bible is “sacred and is a witness to the sacredness of God, because like God it is absolute, exclusive, pure, and unchangeable.” Biblical marriage is also “established by God (as) the designer, ruler, and judge.” Therefore, since God is the creator of holy matrimony between a man and his wife, laws created by man “can never supersede nor alter it,” even man-made laws that determine divorce, adultery, and the consequences of separation because of the death of a spouse.

Of course, the best and only source that describes and details the institution of marriage for today’s Christian is the Holy Bible itself, particularly the New Testament and its observations provided by the apostles. For example, in First Corinthians, we find that the man or husband is the sole head of the family, due to his role being rooted “in the fact that he was created first,” a reference to Adam who was not created for the woman; conversely, it was (i.e., Eve) who was created for the man. In addition, the man or husband as noted in the Book of Genesis “received the divine command” from God or was told by God that he is the head of the family and holds dominion over his wife, thus making him the sole authority.

Another example from First Corinthians describes the role of the man or husband in relation to sex and sexual intimacy. As the apostle Paul explains it, due to the fact that Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden by God after realizing their sexual natures as a man and a woman, God determined that “each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband” via a relationship based on mutual fidelity and faithfulness in regards to sex. However, Paul also notes that the man or husband “should give to his wife her conjugal rights” or permission to engage in sexual activity which then transfers to the husband. But the wife “does not have authority over her own body,” meaning that the husband holds the authority over his wife’s body.

Similarly, “the husband does not have authority over his own body” which falls to the woman or wife. In essence then, this balancing act encourages fidelity and faithfulness between a husband and his wife and as the apostle Paul advises, a husband and his wife must not “deprive one another” a sexual fulfillment except when both agree to remain sexually apart in order to devote themselves to prayer or other matters that hold precedent.

In the Book of Ephesians, we find a description of perhaps the most pivotal role of the husband within a Christian marriage, being to love his wife “as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her that he might sanctify her” so that the church remains “holy and without blemish.” This also transfers to the wife which enables her to remain holy and free of sin in relation to maintaining a monogamous relationship with her husband. Also, husbands “should love their wives as their own bodies,” due to the fact that Eve was made from the flesh of Adam. Thus, the husband must “nourish and cherish” his own flesh and likewise the flesh and/or body of his wife.

As to the role of the wife in a Christian marriage, Kostenberger relates that the apostle Peter refers to wives as the “weaker vessel” with whom husbands are “to live in an understanding way,” a reference to realizing that a woman is the “weaker sex” and needs to be viewed as different from men, both mentally and emotionally. However, Peter also refers to wives as heirs who like their husbands have been given the “gracious gift of life” by God. Therefore, the main role of the wife in a Christian marriage, outside of bearing children, is to support her husband as a kind of helper and to abide by all of his decisions in relation to how their marriage functions as a sanctified union in the eyes of God. Once again, the apostle Peter provides a bit more insight into the fundamental role of the wife in a Christian marriage by informing wives that they must be “subject to your own husbands” which helps to determine how a wife should act and conduct herself as an obedient servant of sorts to her husband.

In the Book of Ephesians, we find the most appropriate description in relation to wives submitting to the wills of their husbands:

“Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord, for the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church. . . Now as the church submits  to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.”

In summation, as Kostenberger relates in the final chapter of his outstanding book God, Marriage, and Family: Rebuilding the Biblical Foundation, since man and woman were created by God and made in His image as described in the Book of Genesis, they are representatives or symbols of His dominion with man holding the “ultimate responsibility before God” as a Christian husband and the woman or Christian wife “placed alongside side him as ‘suitable helper’ within the context of a monogamous marriage.”

Kostenberger adds that in the New Testament, Christian husbands and their wives can find God’s definition of the “marital roles in terms of respect and love as well as submission” on the part of the wife, and God’s authority over their lives as Christian couples. Also, in the eyes of God, a husband and his wife are considered as “fellow heirs” to the grace of God which mandates “a pattern in which the wife is to emulate the church’s submission to Christ,” much like submitting to the will of her husband who must “imitate Christ’s love for the church” by loving his wife as part of his own body. ¹³

Lastly, although there are a number of references to the institution of marriage in the Old Testament, Christian husbands and their wives must consult the New Testament, especially the books written by the apostles of Jesus Christ, such as Paul and Peter, as the penultimate “body of teachings pertaining to marriage and the family” which upholds “a very crucial area of life,” being the union of a man and a woman in holy matrimony as sanctified by God.

Thus, as found in the Holy Bible, the individual roles of the husband and the wife within the institution of marriage have been designed by God as a sort of blueprint for how to live and prosper and to remain steadfast in the eyes of God as a monogamous and sanctified couple, especially in a world that continues to move away from God and focuses on Kostenberger’s “pragmatic utility” wherein the Self is more important than what God has deemed as holy and eternal.

Bibliography

Kostenberger, Andreas J. God, Marriage, and the Family: Rebuilding the Biblical Foundation. 2nd. ed. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2010.

Ridenour, Edward. “Biblical Marriage: A Sacred Law.” Last modified 2012. Accessed March 14, 2014. http://blogs.christianpost.com/marriage/biblical-marriage-a-sacred-law-11460.

“What Does the Bible Say About Marriage?” Last Modified 2001. Accessed March 14, 2014 http://www.openbible.info/topics/marriage.