Hello,<\/p>\n
I am a newborn Christian, baptized into Christ two years ago. I would like to ask: because fornication is a big deal for God, at what point is it considered marriage in the Bible? Forgive me please if I’m wrong, but it seems the Bible does not talk about standing before the preacher or state official to make vows. I know the verse about following national laws, but for example, in Europe, there are many countries with common laws that if you live so long together, you are counted as married. I would like a pure unbiased biblical answer. Is it enough if both partners take a vow to each other in front of God? Or where does the Bible speak of being wed in front of an altar?<\/p>\n\t
Think about it for a moment. Let’s say a country considers two people married for legal purposes if they live seven years together. Then what is this couple after living together for the first month? They aren’t married; yet, they are having sex. Is that not fornication? Thus, the only way to achieve a common-law marriage is to continuously commit fornication for a period of time. The end does not justify sin. “And why not say, “Let us do evil that good may come”? –as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just<\/em>” (Romans 3:8).<\/p>\n Marriage in the Bible is based on the covenant made between a man and a woman. “Yet she is your companion and your wife by covenant<\/em>” (Malachi 2:14). A covenant involves vows, but it is not the same as a vow. There are several requirements for a covenant to exist. See: What are covenants?<\/a> and Marriage Covenants<\/a>. Where the covenant is made is not important. What important is that formal vows are exchanged in front of witnesses and before God with a record kept showing the existence of the covenant. Thus, private promises are insufficient for the purpose of a marriage covenant.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: Hello, I am a newborn Christian, baptized into Christ two years ago. I would like to ask: because fornication is a big deal for God, at what point is it considered marriage in the Bible? Forgive me please if I’m wrong, but it seems the Bible does not talk about standing before the preacher…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[1118,1572,64],"class_list":["post-17392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-common-law-marriages","tag-fornication","tag-marriage"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":41468,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-had-sex-before-with-a-different-woman-does-that-mean-im-committing-adultery-with-the-woman-i-am-with\/","url_meta":{"origin":17392,"position":0},"title":"I had sex before with a different woman. Does that mean I’m committing adultery with the woman I am with?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 4, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Please. Please, I have many things I have to ask. A woman took my virginity, but it was only for a night. I'm with a different woman now and have been with her for five years. Is that adultery? Answer: Fornication is when you have sex with someone you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40277,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-a-couple-divorce-and-then-reconcile-do-they-need-to-remarry\/","url_meta":{"origin":17392,"position":1},"title":"If a couple divorce, and then reconcile, do they need to remarry?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 16, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: A married couple divorces, within a short time they reconcile, (in God's eyes the wife would have been wrong, she repented and made it right with God and the church). This all happened many years ago, but they just never formally remarried, and the state in which they live\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23203,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-a-young-man-overcome-sexual-sin-when-he-is-not-yet-financially-able-to-get-married\/","url_meta":{"origin":17392,"position":2},"title":"How can a young man overcome sexual sin when he is not yet financially able to get married?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 5, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am a new convert. I have read several of your articles, which have helped in building up my faith. American marriages are quite different from marriages in my country. Here the bride's parents will give the groom-to-be a list of things to buy or pay that can add\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21761,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/doesnt-a-marriage-license-mean-the-government-controls-marriages\/","url_meta":{"origin":17392,"position":3},"title":"Doesn’t a marriage license mean the government controls marriages?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 21, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: You said: \"They imagine all sorts of nonsense regarding giving up rights, but the reality is that the government is serving as a repository of the covenant.\" License is a prior restraint. It presumes that the activity is not a right but stems from the licensor (government in this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":47439,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-right-to-refuse-baptism-for-a-person-who-has-multiple-wives\/","url_meta":{"origin":17392,"position":4},"title":"Is it right to refuse baptism for a person who has multiple wives?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 6, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Please preacher, is it biblically right to ask a person if he is customarily married or not, or whether he has two or more wives before such a person is baptized? If he fails any of the questions above, can you refuse to baptize such a person? Answer: In\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11792,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/we-took-vows-before-god-isnt-that-enough-to-say-we-are-married\/","url_meta":{"origin":17392,"position":5},"title":"We took vows before God, isn’t that enough to say we are married?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 25, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Does God disapprove of my marriage? I have been with my (wife) for over 3 years now. I know that a marriage must have a witness for it to be true. The day we wed we were under the canopy of heaven (outside.) 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