Hello,<\/p>\n
I’m from a different country than my boyfriend I will marry my boyfriend later this year. We are getting married with a fiance visa, but seems like the civil wedding has to be in his country first, so we are just going to get married in my country in a church wedding. Our doubt is if it is correct to plan a honeymoon without having been married civilly? Is it enough to get married under God’s eyes to have sex? We don’t want to sin, so this is why I came to you.<\/p>\n\t
What makes a marriage is a covenant entered into. “… though she is your companion and your wife by covenant<\/em>” (Malachi 2:14). It doesn’t matter whether this covenant is entered into in a civil or religious setting. Once the vows are taken, you are married.<\/p>\n Now, the Scriptures also teach us to be obedient to civil governments. “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves<\/em>” (Romans 13:1-2). If there are requirements to be met, so long as they don’t oppose God’s rules, you need to follow the government’s rules.<\/p>\n Therefore, when you get married in your country, you will be married in the eyes of God. If you have to retake your vows when you go to his country to meet the requirements there, that won’t change anything, other than making his government happy about the marriage.<\/p>\n For the same reason, a couple being married in a civil courthouse is just as married as a couple married in a religious setting, so long as God’s laws are being followed.<\/p>\n\t I appreciate that you took the time to answer my question! You have helped us a lot! Thank you very much. God bless you and your family.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: Hello, I’m from a different country than my boyfriend I will marry my boyfriend later this year. We are getting married with a fiance visa, but seems like the civil wedding has to be in his country first, so we are just going to get married in my country in a church wedding. Our…<\/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,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[310,64],"class_list":["post-45382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-government","tag-marriage"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":47773,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-i-get-married-without-a-bride-price-being-paid\/","url_meta":{"origin":45382,"position":0},"title":"Should I get married without a bride price being paid?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 27, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, my brother, I am told your bride price must be paid before marriage and you can get married before your bride price is paid. My question is I want to get married and be clean before God because I have children with my fianc\u00e9 and we are not\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":30722,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/we-prayed-together-and-made-vows-to-god-but-our-wedding-is-not-until-next-year-are-we-committing-fornication-as-we-have-sex\/","url_meta":{"origin":45382,"position":1},"title":"We prayed together and made vows to God, but our wedding is not until next year. Are we committing fornication as we have sex?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 23, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I would like to ask you a question: I have read\u00a0your responses\u00a0to other people. I\u00a0am in a relationship. Both of us are Christians and we love God. We prayed together and vowed to God about our lives for our marriage. We are preparing for our wedding next year. We\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":46328,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/we-arent-able-to-meet-the-terms-necessary-for-a-traditional-wedding\/","url_meta":{"origin":45382,"position":2},"title":"We aren’t able to meet the terms necessary for a traditional wedding","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 27, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I just have a quick question: I am a lady of 31 years and my boyfriend is 32 years old. We are both working and studying. I am Zulu and he is Venda. Our cultures are not the same. The Vendas pay a lobola, but the Zulu people\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":45454,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/weve-been-together-for-seven-years-and-have-a-child-together-isnt-that-as-good-as-being-married\/","url_meta":{"origin":45382,"position":3},"title":"We’ve been together for seven years and have a child together. Isn’t that as good as being married?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 7, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I have a question about sex before marriage. My girlfriend and I have been together for seven years, and we have a child together. She has gone off and on for years to church and I never. We have had our share of problems and are working together\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":20146,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/weve-been-living-together-for-five-years-and-dont-need-a-paper-to-prove-our-love-but-i-want-to-make-it-right-with-god-what-should-i-do\/","url_meta":{"origin":45382,"position":4},"title":"We’ve been living together for five years and don’t need a paper to prove our love, but I want to make it right with God. What should I do?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 12, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My boyfriend and I have been together for almost 7 years. We have lived together for 5. We are not ready for marriage. He and I think we don't need a piece of paper to prove our love, but I want to make it right with God. Is there\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":32655,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-my-fiance-in-sin-by-marrying-someone-else\/","url_meta":{"origin":45382,"position":5},"title":"Is my fiance in sin by marrying someone else?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 23, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My fianc\u00e9 left me for another woman and got married to her. Is it right for me to have someone and marry? Is he committing sin with the wife he married? Answer: An engagement is an intention to marry, but it is not a marriage. A marriage is formed\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":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45382"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45382\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Response:<\/h2>\n