WrittenFromUtopia
Puritan Board Graduate
In regards to the thread on Sex/Marriage:
I must reiterate that no one really interacted with what either Tim or myself were trying to discuss. Tim was merely wanting to discuss the (as he clearly stated) flawed opinion of another as related to sex before marriage being "okay", and to also discuss the implications of sex as related to the marriage covenant.
With all that said, here is the point:
Sex is a sign and seal, the consummation, if you will, of marriage.
Sex does not equal marriage, and neither Tim or myself were trying to say this is the case (At least I was not, I will not speak for Tim). You have all wrongly jumped to conclusions, put words in our mouths, and made judgments and rebukes against something we were not arguing, without any patience or attempt at understanding prior to the fact.
So, if sex is the seal and consummation of the marriage covenant, and someone has sex outside of marriage, they are displaying the seal of the covenant of marriage with someone. Of course, this does not mean they are marrying that person. What it does mean, however (and this is why I related it to baptism before), that they are proclaiming, through having sex, that they are agreeing to the terms of the marriage covenant.
So, when they either have sex with someone else or get married to another person, they are, in a sense, "breaking covenant" with the person they willfully had sex with (rape doesn't count, that doesn't apply in this situation at all, neither does homosexual acts, as they are not real forms of intercourse).
I am also reminded of the fact that Adam and Eve never had a marriage ceremony, and no such ceremonies are mentioned for quite some time in the biblical record. What we do read about over and over is the act of sexual union.
With much love and respect as your equal and brother in Christ,
Gabe.
[Edited on 2-18-2005 by WrittenFromUtopia]
~Edited for content by admin
[Edited on 2-18-2005 by Scott Bushey]
I must reiterate that no one really interacted with what either Tim or myself were trying to discuss. Tim was merely wanting to discuss the (as he clearly stated) flawed opinion of another as related to sex before marriage being "okay", and to also discuss the implications of sex as related to the marriage covenant.
With all that said, here is the point:
Sex is a sign and seal, the consummation, if you will, of marriage.
Sex does not equal marriage, and neither Tim or myself were trying to say this is the case (At least I was not, I will not speak for Tim). You have all wrongly jumped to conclusions, put words in our mouths, and made judgments and rebukes against something we were not arguing, without any patience or attempt at understanding prior to the fact.
So, if sex is the seal and consummation of the marriage covenant, and someone has sex outside of marriage, they are displaying the seal of the covenant of marriage with someone. Of course, this does not mean they are marrying that person. What it does mean, however (and this is why I related it to baptism before), that they are proclaiming, through having sex, that they are agreeing to the terms of the marriage covenant.
So, when they either have sex with someone else or get married to another person, they are, in a sense, "breaking covenant" with the person they willfully had sex with (rape doesn't count, that doesn't apply in this situation at all, neither does homosexual acts, as they are not real forms of intercourse).
I am also reminded of the fact that Adam and Eve never had a marriage ceremony, and no such ceremonies are mentioned for quite some time in the biblical record. What we do read about over and over is the act of sexual union.
With much love and respect as your equal and brother in Christ,
Gabe.
[Edited on 2-18-2005 by WrittenFromUtopia]
~Edited for content by admin
[Edited on 2-18-2005 by Scott Bushey]