Does marriage in the eyes of God have to be legalized?

[baptistgirl21]

My friend wants to know if it's a sin to marry without a marriage license. She is planning on marrying her boyfriend but she said all of her Christian friends and family are giving her a hard time about it because her boyfriend can't sign a marriage license or he'll lose his disability check. They pretty much tell her that if she doesn't have a marriage license, she'll be living in sin and will no longer be considered a Christian. But she doesn't believe that. She thinks it's not a sin but her Christian friends will not stop pestering her about it. What are your opinions?
I can understand if someone is capable of signing a paper and doesn't do it, then that wouldn't be right. But if the person legally can't do it and that person is deeply in love, what do they do? Suffer all because of what one Christian thinks? I personally think denominations ruin Christianity. They all have different beliefs and if you don't listen to one of those beliefs, you're considered not a Christian. For example, The non denominational church believes it's not a sin to drink alcohol and yet the baptists do. Which one is right? Which one is wrong? Who's going to hell and who isn't? It's not right that the baptists get to point fingers at a person for believing differently. Am I right?

 

[maintenance man]

Which one is right? Which one is wrong?

The Bible is right.

her boyfriend can't sign a marriage license or he'll lose his disability check.

I think you could make a case that marriage is a promise to God and not a promise to the Government; however, avoiding the marriage license to in essence defraud the Government is in fact a lie and wrong. I don't know of any denomination that doesn't believe lying is wrong.

 

[RDKirk]

Lying to the government about your marital status in order to get money would be wrong as a Christian. In this case, you owe the government the truth to get their money--see Romans 13

Now if you find a congregation that doesn't believe in getting a government marriage certificate, and if they're willing to replace the government support themselves, that would be a different subject.

 

[JackRT]

traditionally in Christianity it is people who marry each other. In early Christian times a "church wedding" was somewhat unusual. Church weddings were usually between the wealthy and powerful for the purpose of officially consolidating wealth and power. Church weddings did not become mandatory until the eleventh century. Even today the church and/or state serve only to witness the marriage.

 

[Radagast]

traditionally in Christianity it is people who marry each other. In early Christian times a "church wedding" was somewhat unusual.

Church weddings actually go back 1800 years or so. They were especially important when Christian slaves married free citizens, because that wasn't legally valid under State law.

 

[JackRT]

Church weddings actually go back 1800 years or so. They were especially important when Christian slaves married free citizens, because that wasn't legally valid under State law.

Thank you, I was unaware of that particular aspect.

 

[Radagast]

because her boyfriend can't sign a marriage license or he'll lose his disability check

That seems odd. What's going on there?

If he's physically unable to sign, there are ways of dealing with it (otherwise disabled people couldn't get married).

If he's pretending to be unable to sign in order to get a payout, that would be dishonest.

 

[Radagast]

The non denominational church believes it's not a sin to drink alcohol and yet the baptists do.

You make it sound like the "non denominational church" is a denomination.

In fact, a denomination is just a bunch of Christians who agree on stuff. Without denominations, everybody would be a denomination all on their own, agreeing with nobody.

 

[vinsight4u]

/nvm

 

[Blade]

Unless it goes against the word of God we obey the laws. And the word says.. we leave our mother and father and become one.. the Jewish people did this.. got married. For me.. to just go live with my girlfriend and call it marriage .. would be lying.. and in Gods eyes.. would be living in sin..

Its the NOT WANTING TO SIGN <----this is in the land we live in. Its sounds like one is trying to get around something that OTHERS can not. Its their free choice.. God is not going to judge or condemn. But.. we only serve one. Can not serve both. There IS always a price in this world for sin.

Is wise to be faithful to Him..the Father of our lord Jesus Christ. And in this land.. we are told we need a paper to get married.. GOD sticks to this.. it is NOT against His word

 

[StrivingFollower]

I don't think the government needs to get involved in a sacred union. And why should they take the disability from a guy that needs it just because their law has an ugly hole? God supported people rebelling to the point of getting executed.. i think he'd accept this. If lying could never be right then Esau would've been a prophet. That would've been bad. When the midwives lied in the beginning of Exodus about not getting to the boys in time to kill them, God was pleased.

Lying for good reasons is always good. The way sinful lying is described is taking advantage of someone. A disabled person should get disability. The government's not gonna fall apart from one disabled person getting his due.

 

[vinsight4u]

/nvm

 

[sfs]

What lying? As far as the law is concerned, they're not getting married. Period. The government has no interest in how they view their relationship and no power to say whether they are married in the eyes of God or not.

 

[vinsight4u]

/nvm

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

My friend wants to know if it's a sin to marry without a marriage license. She is planning on marrying her boyfriend but she said all of her Christian friends and family are giving her a hard time about it because her boyfriend can't sign a marriage license or he'll lose his disability check. They pretty much tell her that if she doesn't have a marriage license, she'll be living in sin and will no longer be considered a Christian. But she doesn't believe that. She thinks it's not a sin but her Christian friends will not stop pestering her about it. What are your opinions?
I can understand if someone is capable of signing a paper and doesn't do it, then that wouldn't be right. But if the person legally can't do it and that person is deeply in love, what do they do? Suffer all because of what one Christian thinks? I personally think denominations ruin Christianity. They all have different beliefs and if you don't listen to one of those beliefs, you're considered not a Christian. For example, The non denominational church believes it's not a sin to drink alcohol and yet the baptists do. Which one is right? Which one is wrong? Who's going to hell and who isn't? It's not right that the baptists get to point fingers at a person for believing differently. Am I right?

Thousands of disabled people have gotten married without signing a thing, so they don't lose their benefits.

Tens of thousands more, single and married, have gotten disability benefits , or insurance benefits, to the tune of $2000(or more) per month for 30 years,
who didn't deserve them.

Go figure out the system if you can .... it appears to be unfixable, and very unrighteous, not even desiring the truth to be known.

 

[Messerve]

I would agree with those who say it's wrong to lie to the government in this case. Having the extra money in addition to your income is a good thing, but does it justify lying? I'm not convinced it does, personally. Perhaps God is asking you to take a step of faith by giving up his disability check so He can show His faithfulness to you by providing you with what you need regardless.

To start off your lives together by skirting the federal law does not feel right to me at all... Since what they are requiring is not inherently sinful I don't see a really strong argument for not signing the papers.

Is there a way you can push back against them taking away his disability check, however? That's always a third option. Contact someone or write a letter explaining your situation. I'm sure they've made exceptions before...

 

[Justbreathing]

Found an ariticle you might find helpful for your friends the link is:

What Constitutes a Marriage in the Eyes of God?

and the following is just a small portion of the article I thought might be useful for advice for your friends. I read through the whole page though and there are some interesting points, you should check it out. Hope it was helpful , and God bless you and your friends

(taken from the article on the link posted above)
The Blessing of Obedience


Here are some justifications people give to say marriage should not be required:

• "If we marry, we'll lose financial benefits."
• "I have bad credit. Getting married will ruin my spouse's credit."
• "A piece of paper won't make any difference. It's our love and private commitment to each other that matters."

We can come up with hundreds of excuses not to obey God, but a life of surrender requires a heart of obedience to our Lord. But, and here's the beautiful part, the Lord always blesses obedience:


"You will experience all these blessings if you obey the Lord your God." (Deuteronomy 28:2, NLT)


Stepping out in faith requires trust in the Master as we follow his will. Nothing we give up for the sake of obedience will compare to the blessings and joy of obeying.

 

[Maria Billingsley]

My friend wants to know if it's a sin to marry without a marriage license. She is planning on marrying her boyfriend but she said all of her Christian friends and family are giving her a hard time about it because her boyfriend can't sign a marriage license or he'll lose his disability check. They pretty much tell her that if she doesn't have a marriage license, she'll be living in sin and will no longer be considered a Christian. But she doesn't believe that. She thinks it's not a sin but her Christian friends will not stop pestering her about it. What are your opinions?
I can understand if someone is capable of signing a paper and doesn't do it, then that wouldn't be right. But if the person legally can't do it and that person is deeply in love, what do they do? Suffer all because of what one Christian thinks? I personally think denominations ruin Christianity. They all have different beliefs and if you don't listen to one of those beliefs, you're considered not a Christian. For example, The non denominational church believes it's not a sin to drink alcohol and yet the baptists do. Which one is right? Which one is wrong? Who's going to hell and who isn't? It's not right that the baptists get to point fingers at a person for believing differently. Am I right?

You are talking about a legal marriage vs a Spiritual marriage. In some states it is legal to have a same sex marriage however, it is not legal to keep your disability check if you get legally married. Thank God marriage is not a governmental edict, it is a God sanctioned union. So in that case the government is not complying with God's sanctioned union. Therefore, a Spiritual marriage that complies with God will over turn the legal marriage that has no interest in Gods will or definition of marriage.
Blessings

 

[Radagast]

And why should they take the disability from a guy that needs it just because their law has an ugly hole?

Well, one way of reading the OP is that he's not really disabled, and that signing something would prove that he can actually use his hand.

I hope that that's not what's going on.

Lying for good reasons is always good.

Lying for dishonest financial gain would not be "good."

 

[Sketcher]

It would be one thing if Christians were not allowed to marry at all, or if they were not allowed to marry without committing blasphemy or idolatry or something like that. This is not their situation. They are caught up in the regulations of the welfare state, hitting what is called a poverty trap. In their case, they should budget, and if they can make it without his check, marry honestly and forgo that check. If they cannot make it without his check, the both of them should look at what they can do to earn enough money to make up the shortfall, and marry honestly.