We Must Uphold our Marriages

WE MUST UPHOLD OUR
MARRIAGES
Though we are living in tough times
when there are many challenges in
marriage, we must still uphold our
marriages.
Sunday, September 14, 2014
1

A DIVINE INSTITUTION
The Bible presents marriage as a
divine institution. If marriage were
of human origin, then human beings
would have a right to decide the
kind of marital relationships to
choose.
Sunday, September 14,
2014
2

Marriage, however, began with God.
It was established by God at the
beginning of human history when
He "created the heavens and the
earth" (Gen 1:1). As the Creator of
marriage, God has the right to tell
us which principles should govern
our marital relationships.
2014
3

As Christians who choose to live in
accordance with God’s will, we
must study and respect those
Biblical principles governing
marriage.
2014
4

MARRIAGE AS A COVENANT
The very first description of the
nature of marriage in the Bible, as
consisting of leaving, cleaving and
becoming one flesh (Gen 2:24),
reveals the Biblical understanding
of marriage as a covenant
relationship.
2014
5

This meaning of marriage as a
covenant of companionship is
expressed more explicitly later in
Scripture in such passages as
Malachi 2:14:
2014
6

"The Lord was witness to
the covenant between you and the wife
of your youth, to whom you have been
faithless, though she is
your companion and your wife
bycovenant." Being a sacred covenant,
marriage serves in the Old and New
Testaments as the prism through which
God reveals His covenant relationship
with His people and Christ with His
church.
2014
7

1 CORINTHIANS 7:1-5
The church of Corinth had written Paul
about many areas of the Christian life.
Paul now begins for the first time in his
letter to the Church to answer some of
the concerns on the hearts of the
Corinthian believers.
2014
8

1 Corinthians 7:1
Now concerning the things of which
you wrote to me: It is good for a
man not to touch a woman.(NKJV)
Paul already stated his conclusion
on the issue from the beginning: It
is good for a man not to touch a
woman.
2014
9

To touch means to have intercourse
with a woman. This truth was
already established in the 6th
chapter. Paul of course means sex
outside of marriage which he makes
clear in verse 2:
2014
10

Nevertheless, because of sexual
immorality, let each man have his own
wife, and let each woman have her own
husband.(NKJV)
This is the answer to every sexual
disease problem in the world—
marriage.
2014
11

If people would get married and stay
married, and stay faithful to their
partner, sexually transmitted diseases
would end. Safe sex is not the answer.
Right sex is the answer.
2014
12

Notice how Paul states it in verse 2:
"let every man have his own wife
and let every woman have her own
husband".
2014
13

This means:
You both belong to each other.
You do not belong to anyone else.
You are to devote yourselves
sexually, completely to your own
mate. It is to be a mutual devotion
to each other.
2014
14

Let the husband render to his wife
the affection due her, and likewise
also the wife to her husband.(NKJV)
The marriage contract includes
obligations. Both the husband and
the wife have duties to each other.
Each partner has certain rights that
should be respected.
2014
15

Let the husband fulfill his marital duty
to his wife and let the wife fulfill her
marital duty to her husband. Sex is a
part of the marital responsibility of
both partners. It is to be demonstrated
by a mutual devotion to each other.
2014
16

The wife does not have authority
over her own body, but the husband
does. And likewise the husband
does not have authority over his
own body, but the wife does.(NKJV)
2014
17

In verses 1-3 the injunction is
always given to the man first, but in
this verse it is given to the woman
indicating that this was a major
problem with the wives in the
marital relationship.
2014
18

The sex drives in men are stronger and
Satan uses that to his advantage. Both
partners upon marriage give up the
control of their bodies sexually to their
partners. It is to be a mutual devotion to
each other.
2014
19

It is a fair deduction that some
members of the Corinthian Church
advocated sexual abstinence in
marriage. This is wrong and led to
dangerous and needless sins. There is
to be a mutual surrender of one’s body
to each other.
2014
20

Do not deprive one another except
with consent for a time, that you
may give yourselves to fasting and
prayer; and come together again so
that Satan does not tempt you
because of your lack of self-control.(
NKJV)
2014
21

DO NOT DEPRIVE EACH OTHER. Paul
is writing about a practice that was
going on between some of the married
couples in the Corinthian Church. His
clear instruction was that this practice
would STOP!
2014
22

There is only one time in scripture that
you can restrict yourselves sexually
from each other under normal
conditions. That will be explained in a
moment. The command here is clear:
Do not deprive each other sexually.
Just stop doing that. EXCEPT:
2014
23

It be with consent, (mutual)
For a time (short)
That you may give yourselves over to
fasting and praying, THEN come
together again, lest Satan will not
tempt you because of your lack of self
control.
2014
24

Clearly Paul repeats the necessity for
married couples to be sexually active.
I believe that marital infidelity, and
lack of marital devotion is the number
one cause of divorces in Kenya.
2014
25

So why do many couples fail in this
area besides the reasons that Paul
described?
1. They married for sex rather than
for love.
2. They fail to see their partner as a
gift from God.
2014
26

3. Worldly fantasies of lovemaking are
blown away.
4. The dating game is over and you no
longer see the need to court your
mate.
5. Selfishness.
6. Willingly being used by the devil.
2014
27

We need not fall into the trap of
losing sexual love towards each
other. The Bible gives us a perfect
picture of how marital love should
be demonstrated.
2014
28

CONCLUSION
The divine institution of marriage and
of the teachings regarding marriage,
has shown us how the Scripture
consistently upholds marriage as a
sacred and permanent covenant,
witnessed and protected by God.
2014
29

God used marriage as a metaphor to
represent His commitment to His
people, He must surely have thought
of it as a sacred, permanent covenant.
2014
30

The conviction that it is God Who
has united our lives in holy
matrimony and Who will help us to
stay together will motivate us to
persevere in preserving the unity of
the marriage covenant.
2014
31

We must therefore uphold our
marriages. Infidelity and lust has
brought many challenges in
marriages. We can learn from the
teachings of Paul to the Corinthian
Church on how we should uphold
our marriages.
2014
32

Nevertheless, because of sexual
immorality, let each man have his
own wife, and let each woman have
her own husband. (NKJV)
2014
33

We Must Uphold our Marriages

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