My Journey to Life, Step 14—Marriage

7. What are deviations from God’s ideal for marriage?

• Polygamy. Many of the biblical family structures were distortions of God’s original plan including polygamy, which has brought untold suffering, power struggles and alienation. The monogamous marriage represents most clearly the relationship between Christ and His church and between the individual and God. JTL14 5.1

• Fornication and Adultery. Though common for many cultures, Scripture regards any sexual relationship outside of marriage, with either gender, a sin. JTL14 5.2

• Impurity of Thought. Sensual media that promotes illicit sexual experiences such as viewing pornography in magazines, computer games, the internet, or watching movies that reduce men, women, and children to mere sexual objects perverts the mind and will destroy relationships with your married partner and with God. Reading sensual books, listening to dirty talks, off jokes, or explicit music that invokes impure thoughts, tarnishes the image of God in the listener. JTL14 5.3

• Incest. Incest was forbidden in the Old Testament (Leviticus 18:6-29; Deuteronomy 27:20-23) and condemned in the New (1 Corinthians 5:1-5). Having sexual relations of any kind with a family member other than one’s spouse is an abomination to God. JTL14 5.4

• Divorce. Scripture recognizes adultery and fornication (Matt. 5:32) and abandonment by an unbelieving partner (1 Cor. 7:10-15) as grounds for divorce. But there is no direct teaching in Scripture regarding remarriage after divorce. However, there is a strong implication in Jesus’ words in Matthew 19:9 that would allow the remarriage of one who has remained faithful but whose spouse has been unfaithful to the marriage vow. (Seventh-day Adventist Church Manual, p. 163). JTL14 5.5

• Same sex. Scripture never condoned biological same-sex relationships. It’s quite plain on this matter. (See: Genesis 19:4-10; Leviticus 18:22; 20:13; Romans 1:26-28; 1 Timothy 1:8). The Bible makes it clear that people with sexual orientation toward their own gender or towards other various deviations away from a Biblically principled heterosexual relationship, should be all treated redemptively with tender loving care. JTL14 5.6