Can I get married in the church?

Question:

Hello, I have a question.

It happened months ago, but I want to know about this concern. I was studying doctrine. I liked a brother, and I decided to go out with him. We were like boyfriend and girlfriend but never agreed to be in a relationship. That date went so far that we went to another extreme. After that, we both decided not to see each other anymore. We went before the pastor and confessed everything we did, and they separated us. He went to another church, and I stayed. We went to the pastor to confess everything because he was in love with another sister.

My question is: Can I marry in the church to a man the Lord places in my path, or will I no longer be able to?

Answer:

While God requires couples to get married before having sex and children, nowhere in the Bible does God say that a marriage is only legitimate in the church. In fact, He states the opposite. "And a woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with her, she must not send her husband away. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband; for otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy" (I Corinthians 7:13-14). When a person becomes a Christian, he doesn't leave his spouse. He is still married.

Weddings are not a church function. There is no command that they be held in a church building or officiated by a church leader. Where a wedding takes place does not make it more or less significant in God's sight. While there are attributes of a wedding ceremony that need to be met because it creates a covenant between two people, the location is not significant. See Marriage Covenants.

You sinned, but when you are forgiven of sin, the past no longer matters.