Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife,
and they shall become one flesh.
– Genesis 2:24

At the very beginning, God the Creator defines marriage as one man and one woman who leave their parents, hold fast to each other, and become one flesh.  In Matthew 19:5, Jesus reaffirms this definition.

Unless you have been living under a rock for the last 20 years, you know that there is a growing movement to redefine marriage as being between any two people, including two men or two women.  Other countries have legalized so called same sex marriage.  Certain states in our own country have done so, and other states are considering it at the next election.  Many believe the Supreme Court will take up the issue in their next term.

As we consider the possibility that our country may soon legally define marriage as between any two people, it is important for us to recognize three distinctions:

• Legal vs. Right – Our government determines what is legal, but God determines what is right…and wrong.  So if our government should legalize so called same sex marriage, that still won’t make it right.
• Legal vs Real – Again our government determines what is legal, but God defines what is real.  He created reality and he defines it.  He defines reality so that if I hold my pen in the air and let it go, my pen will drop.  I can reject the law of gravity, but it is still real, and I am still bound to it.  He defined real marriage between a man and a woman.  I can reject his definition, but it is still real, and I am still bound to it.
• Legal vs True – Our government determines what is legal, but God determines what is true – that which agrees with reality.  I have a cat.  I can call it a dog, but that doesn’t make it true, because it doesn’t agree with reality.  We can call two men or two women married, but that doesn’t make it true, because it doesn’t agree with reality.

As Christians we need to hold to God’s definition of marriage.  No matter what our culture or government thinks, we must hold to the teachings of our Savior.  We must hold to the definition of our Creator.  We must hold to Biblical truth.  We must hold to what is right, real, and true.  We must believe it and live it, no matter how unpopular it may be.

Some will say that this position is not loving.  But we must remember that love “does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth” (I Corinthians 13:6).  It is not loving to legalize something that is not right.  It is not loving to create a legal fiction and tell people they are married when they really aren’t.  If we love people, we must hold to the God’s definition of marriage, the only right, real, and true definition there is.