By Wayne Reynolds, Pastor

There is an ongoing attempt at present in our country to change the meaning of family into something other than was instituted by God, in the Bible.

For thousands of years a family has been correctly and Biblically defined as a husband and wife and their offspring. Now, in the last days of this world, many groups are encouraging lawmakers to change the definition of family from the traditional husband/wife/children to man/man or woman/woman.

If this change is made, dire consequences await. When the standard of defining marriage from a Biblical viewpoint is removed, the only standard remaining is the fickle judgment of man.

If a change in the definition of marriage is made, there will be no hindrance to changing the definition of family again, making it legal for three or more persons (or even animals) to be married. I know that sounds far-fetched, but consider that there is no limit to how far sinners will go, if allowed by a sovereign God.

Fox News reported on March 24, 2004 that in Europe, more than 200,000 "couples" have agreed to a legal same gender arrangement. Fox News also reported there is a small movement underway to change these legal arrangements from two people to as many as four.

All this uproar about changing the definition of marriage has been prophesied in scripture. Daniel 7:25 states, "And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time." This passage is speaking about the changes of laws that the Anti-Christ will accomplish as he gains power to finally establish his worldwide kingdom.

The family was created and ordained by God from the beginning of creation, before government, before the nation of Israel, and before the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. God ordained the family to be the smallest unit in every society, yet the family holds every nation and every society together. When the family is destroyed, as is now being accomplished, the destruction of the nation will not be far behind.

I know many people do not see the importance of the family or what difference it makes if lawmakers legalize marriage between two men or two women. In this article, I would like to establish two things concerning changing the definition of marriage:

Why is the definition of marriage being questioned?

What are God’s people to do?

Romans 1:28 states, "And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind…"

Space does not allow me to print Romans 1:18-32. I sincerely desire you open your Bible and read these passages, because you will find that changing the definition of marriage is contained in the last of three occasions of "giving over" by God.

Romans 1:18-32 is divided into four sections.

Verses 18-23 – The rejection of God.

Verses 24-25 – God gives them up.

Verses 26-27 – God gives them up again.

Verses 28-32 – God’s final giving them up.

Romans 1:18-23 reveals that God has given a clear "internal witness" to every person of his eternal power and Godhead. Unbelievers have rejected this internal witness, but having the desire to worship something, change the glory of an incorruptible God into that which is corruptible.

The first giving up by God is revealed in Romans 1:24-25. God allowed these unbelievers to fulfill the lusts of their own bodies, to dishonor themselves with one another, to change the truth of God into a lie, and to worship and serve themselves.

The second giving up by God is shown in Romans 1:26-27. These verses describe the activities of sodomites and the diseases that accompany such activity. The people involved in this illicit activity did not turn to God, nor did they repent of their wickedness, but continued rebelling against God in spite of physical disease and death.

The third instance of giving up by God is declared in Romans 1:28-32. All the things listed in verses 28-32 are the characteristics of people who "…did not like to retain God in their knowledge…"

Hidden homosexual activity is not enough for these wicked unbelievers. They desire to be open in their wickedness, not only before God, but also before the world. Now, as time progresses, it is not enough just to be open, they even desire acceptance.

Please understand; it is not just same sex marriage, or the definition of marriage, that is being questioned. What is being questioned is right and wrong, sin and righteousness, as established by God and revealed to us in the Word of God, the Bible.

When the Bible, and the standards established by God, has been rejected, there is no place to turn for standards, except to our own standards, which can change as necessary.

God’s children cannot change people, the way they think, or what they do. It is not our responsibility.

Our responsibility is:

To demonstrate God’s plan for marriage.

Before God’s children can demonstrate God’s plan for marriage, they must first understand his plan. The only way to understand God’s plan for marriage is to read the Bible and pray that God will reveal his plan.

In Genesis 2:18 God said, "…It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him." In verses 21-25, the Bible records that God caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep, and God took one of Adam’s ribs and made a woman, which he brought to Adam.

It is clear that the proper helpmeet for a man is a woman. The word "helpmeet" means a help that is suitable.

God hallowed this first union of marriage, blessing Adam and his wife, instructing them to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and have dominion over all the earth.

It is easy to see God’s plan for marriage is a man and a woman. There are no "civil unions" in the Bible.

To protect and encourage God’s plan for the family, the home and marriage.

Christians should protect and encourage God’s plan for marriage by knowledgeably promoting the many positive aspects of marriage.

Christians should conduct themselves in a Godly manner by abstaining from premarital sex. I Thessalonians 4:3,4 emphatically declares it is the will of God for his children to be physically pure. "For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: 4 That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour;"

The world approves and encourages sexual activity regardless of marital status, but this is not what the Bible teaches.

Parents should encourage their children to sexual purity, teaching them that premarital sex removes trust. Attorney David C. Gibbs, Jr. states in The Legal Alert, June 2002, "Many studies show that women who did not remain chaste prior to marriage had higher divorce rates, and the couples that moved in together to see if they were compatible for marriage did not find the key to marital success. According to one report, almost half of all unmarried couples that live together break up before the wedding day, and those who do marry are fifty percent more likely to divorce."

Divorce is another plague that is destroying the foundation of families. There are reasons for divorce, but it seems that many people get married with the idea that if the marriage doesn’t work out, they can get a divorce and start another marriage with another partner. Jesus said in Mark 10:6-9, "But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. 7 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; 8 And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. 9 What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder."

It is imperative that God’s children demonstrate God’s plan for marriage by daily following God’s Word as they raise their children, training them in the Word of God.

Deuteronomy 6:6-7 declares, "And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shall teach them diligently unto thy children, and shall talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up."

Proverbs 22:6 states, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

Followers of God are content with God’s plan for marriage, the home and the husband/wife relationship. Only those that have already denied what God has revealed to them want the definition of marriage changed.