Why I believe in traditional marriage

As a minister of the gospel, what I strive to keep central to my preaching and teaching is the good news that Jesus Christ, the son of God, died on the cross and was raised to new life in order to redeem sinners from eternal destruction (1 Corinthians 1:23). I believe with all my heart that this message alone is the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16).

At the same time, I am bound to declare the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27). With that in mind, what does God’s word say about same-sex marriage? This is a political issue, to be sure, but it is far more than that. It is a profoundly theological and moral issue, one to which the scriptures clearly speak and that has immediate concern for all of us.

The recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling shows that our society is well on its way to fully embracing gay marriage (both legally and in terms of cultural acceptance). And without question, the argument for gay marriage is plausible in today’s cultural environment. We are told this is the latest civil rights battle. Who wants to be on the wrong side of that? But a Christian’s view must be shaped by God’s Word, not by man’s wisdom or popular thought (Romans 12:2).

According to the scriptures, marriage is a lifelong covenant union between a man and a woman. When God created a companion for Adam, he gave him a woman to be his wife.

Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh and my flesh; she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man.” Therefore, a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh (Genesis 2:23, 24).

The Bible everywhere assumes marriage to be between a man and a woman, and Jesus confirmed the Genesis account when he asked if you had not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said in Matthew 19:4-5: “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh?”

So by definition — that is to say, by the very nature of the institution itself — a marriage cannot be between two men or between two women. Just as a “father” is necessarily male and a “mother” is necessarily female, so marriage is necessarily the union of a man and a woman.

Again, the reason why I believe marriage is between one man and one woman is because the Bible teaches it. Notice I have not said, “I don’t believe homosexuals should be allowed to marry.” Putting matters that way prejudices the biblical argument for traditional marriage. It’s not that I believe homosexuals should be barred from something they otherwise would have a right to enjoy, but it’s that I don’t believe — upon the basis of scripture — that there even is such a thing as marriage between two people of the same gender.

Why do I write this? Not because I spend night and day stewing over the issue of gay marriage, and not because I intend to make this a recurring theme in my preaching and teaching. In fact, in almost 10 years of preaching, I think I’ve touched on the subject of homosexuality maybe four or five times, and always because it happened to be in the scripture passage I was preaching on. This is not my pet issue.

But in light of the fact that in just the last few years there has been a change in our society’s view of gay marriage, I believe it is important as a minister of the Word to make a clear stand on the issue. Supporters of gay marriage are winning the debate. They are carrying the day. More and more Americans endorse the idea, and the courts and policymakers are making steady progress in bringing about the full legalization of same-sex marriage. And many churches have added their blessings. In the midst of this confused and turbulent landscape, it does not hurt to affirm for myself and other believers that God’s word is clear and unchanging on this subject.

And as Christians we must be clear why we oppose the idea of same-sex marriage. To be sure, there are compelling secular (or natural law) arguments for upholding traditional marriage. But for the Christian, though he may appeal to such arguments for corroborating support, the final authority must be the word of God. So I don’t believe in traditional marriage because it manifestly squares with the world as we know it, or just because it is traditional, or because I dislike the notion of gay marriage. And most of all, I don’t believe in traditional marriage because I hate gay people, which I don’t.

Homosexuality per se is a different issue. Here, the proper subject for debate is the meaning of marriage — what is it, after all? And because God instituted marriage, and has revealed his will for it in the scriptures, I believe marriage is between one man and one woman.

The fundamental question in all this is has God spoken in the scriptures? Is the Bible authoritative for guidance in something as basic to human society as marriage? I’m not interested in establishing a theocracy, but when making laws about marriage, you can no more escape its profoundly moral nature than you can escape the moral nature of killing when making laws about murder. If a government criminalizes murder, which the Bible condemns, does it then establish a theocracy? No, and neither does a government set up a theocracy if it sanctions only traditional marriages.

As for those who seek to give a new meaning to marriage, I ask by what authority? And does that same authority then rule out polygamy, polyandry or any endless number of marriage mutations?

Scott Johnson is pastor of Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Wasilla. Visit online at alaskaopc.org.

Opinions expressed on the Faith page are the author’s and are not necessarily those of the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman, its staff or its parent company, Wick Communications Co. To submit a column or other news for the Faith page, send email to news@frontiersman.com, or call 352-2268.