Playlist:

playlist Go to the Marriage (topic) playlist

Filter by Categories

Marriage—A God-Plane Relationship (Part Two)

CGG Weekly by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

When God introduces marriage, the first thing He does is to put it on a spiritual plane. Our relationships should include this God-plane quality.

In Defense of Marriage

CGG Weekly by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

If the definition of marriage is opened up to combinations of people other than one man and one woman, we can mark it as the death-knell of the nation.

Marriage—A God-Plane Relationship (Part Four)

CGG Weekly by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

When the fear of the Lord forms the basis for a marriage, the couple is starting out their marriage properly, and they can expect good results in time.

Marriage—A God-Plane Relationship (Part Seven)

CGG Weekly by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

God does not consider the sexual union of man and wife as cheap. To Him, it is so valuable that every time a person engages in it, he more intimately binds himself to his spouse.

Marriage—A God-Plane Relationship (Part Six)

CGG Weekly by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

The marriage union works to restore the the oneness of humanity; the man is incomplete without the woman, and the woman, without the man.

The Sacredness of Marriage

Article by James Beaubelle

Scripture holds the divinely ordained institution of marriage in high regard. Here is why God considers marriage to be so important to us, society, and His purpose.

Marriage—A God-Plane Relationship (Part One)

CGG Weekly by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

As the end draws near, those who are married seem to have the deck stacked against them. Even in good times, marriage has its difficulties!

Christian Marriage (Part Two)

Sermon by Martin G. Collins

The evil of the mixed marriages in the Book of Malachi was a spiritual defilement, yoking spiritual and worldly elements, intrinsically unequal.

The Perfect Marriage

Sermon by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

Under the best of conditions, marriage takes work to make it succeed. Next to baptism, marriage is the most important decision we could ever make.

Marriage—A God-Plane Relationship (Part Three)

CGG Weekly by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

It is God's involvement that provides the blessings and advantages to the Christian marriage. With God in our marriages, we have the power to make them successful.

Sex, Sin and Marriage

'Ready Answer' by Staff

Sex and marriage are God-given experiences that Christians need a proper perspective of. Thus, God gives us His seventh commandment: You shall not commit adultery.

Christian Marriage (Part One)

Sermon by Martin G. Collins

Cohabitation has led to increased divorce, marital violence, and lack of fidelity after marriage. Mass media has shamelessly used sex to promote materialism.

The Purpose of the Marriage Relationship

Sermon by Martin G. Collins

Marriage prepares God's called-out ones to collectively become the bride of Christ. God hates divorce but allows it on grounds of adultery and violence.

Marriage—A God-Plane Relationship (Part Five)

CGG Weekly by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

A chief purpose of marriage is to teach godly government. It provides an environment to learn both how to submit to authority and how to oversee others in love.

Marriage and the Bride of Christ (Part One)

Sermon by Martin G. Collins

Wives are admonished to submit to their husbands, children to their parents, servants to their overseers, and we all are admonished to submit to one another.

Homosexual Marriage?

Sermon by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

Homosexuality is not a lifestyle, but a sin directly against God, flouting God's creation of male and female, and perverting the natural use of the human body.

Why Bother With Fathers?

CGG Weekly by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

America should know better, yet for generations, the sanctity of marriage has steadily declined. Now divorce is routine and illegitimacy is commonplace.

The Seventh Commandment

Bible Study by Martin G. Collins

The seventh commandment protects family relationships from a sexual standpoint. Sexual sins are highly destructive, and God wants His children to be pure.

Christian Dating: Advice for Today

Article by Staff

How are the young people in the church of God supposed to approach the dating situation today? Here is advice on dating, sex and enjoying one's youth.

Divorce and Remarriage

Sermon/Bible Study by John W. Ritenbaugh

Any given doctrine must be built layer by layer, combining and comparing scriptures rather than allowing a single scripture to determine the doctrine. When we understand that porneia includes all the hideous perverted sexual sins that go beyond ordinary adultery- including bestiality, pedophilia, homosexuality, incest, and every other imaginable sexual perversion, we understand that Jesus gave a greater latitude and flexibility in these divorce decisions than we had earlier assumed (based exclusively upon adulterous 'fraud'). Any violence against the marriage contract (stemming from unconversion) would constitute grounds for divorce, and would permit the converted partner to remarry. Mutual access to the tree of life (God's Holy Spirit) gives marriage the best (actually the only) chance to succeed.

Called Their Name Adam

Sermon by Mark Schindler

God named both Adam and Eve 'Adam', signifying an unbreakable bond. This bond was secure until sin entered, creating enmity between men, women, and God.

Leadership and Covenants (Part Six)

'Personal' from John W. Ritenbaugh

Despite having served mankind well for millennia, marriage is crumbling under a three-pronged attack. Marriage is vital to understanding God's purpose.

Matthew (Part Twenty-Five)

Sermon/Bible Study by John W. Ritenbaugh

Jesus contrasts the enormity of what we are forgiven to what we forgive others. Our forgiveness is directly connected with our forgiveness of our brother.

Leadership and the Covenants (Part Six)

Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh (1932-2023)

Paul urges Euodia and Syntyche to follow the example of Christ rather than placing their desire to be right over unity. Godly leadership follows submission.

What's Wrong With 'Here Comes the Groom'?

Sermon by Martin G. Collins

Radical feminism has tried to empower one gender by disabling and marginalizing the other gender, creating a pathological, dysfunctional society.

Dating Outside the Church

Sermon by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

Dating outside the church is fraught with dangers, yoking a believer with an unbeliever and complicating the spiritual overcoming and growth process.

Choosing to Have a Good Relationship

Sermon by Martin G. Collins

The Bible emphasizes marriage as the primary bond of society. The purpose for the marriage relationship is to depict the marriage of Christ and His bride.

The Seventh Commandment (1997)

'Personal' from John W. Ritenbaugh

For decades, sexual sins have topped the list of social issues. The problem is unfaithfulness. The seventh commandment has natural and spiritual penalties.

'But I Say to You' (Part Four): Divorce

Sermon by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

When divorce takes place, spiritual growth from the relationship stops, but when conflict escalates within a dying relationship, no growth can occur either.

Malachi's Appeal to Backsliders (Part Two)

Sermon by Martin G. Collins

Malachi assures the people of Judah that if they repent, God's favor will resume, but if they continue defiling the Covenant, a day of reckoning will come.

The First Prophecy (Part Two)

'Prophecy Watch' by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

In Eve's curse lies the beginnings of both women's difficulties in childbearing and the battle of the sexes. The effects of this curse are still being felt daily!

The Lord's Nourishing and Cherishing

Sermon by Martin G. Collins

The marriage covenant must be elevated to the stature of Christ and the church. A caring husband must love his wife as he nourishes his own physical body.

'But I Say to You' (Part Three): Adultery

Sermon by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

In the current culture war, progressives have declared war against God's seventh commandment by encouraging free sex, homosexuality, and other perversions.

Strengthening the Family

Sermon by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

God ordained marriage and the family for the physical and spiritual growth and nurturing of children. God's goal is a Family composed of mature spirit beings.

Remembering Who We Are

Feast of Tabernacles Sermon by John O. Reid

When we consider the awesome contrast of what we were before God called us and what we are now, we cannot allow ourselves to commit spiritual fornication.

The Commandments (Part Sixteen)

Sermon/Bible Study by John W. Ritenbaugh

It is absolutely impossible for lust to bring about any kind of satisfaction. Adultery cannot be entered into without irrevocably damaging relationships.

The Seventh Commandment

'Personal' from John W. Ritenbaugh

The Seventh Commandment—prohibiting adultery—covers the subject of faithfulness. Unfaithfulness devastates many aspects of family and society life.

Dating (Part 1): The Purposes of Dating

Sermon by Martin G. Collins

A key ingredient in dating is faith in God's purpose. The relationship one has with God takes precedence over any relationship with any other human being.

Leadership and the Covenants (Part Five)

Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh (1932-2023)

Becoming equipped for leadership requires that we discipline ourselves in following God's way of life, allowing the mind of Jesus Christ to be in us in.

Paul's 'Politically Incorrect' Advice to Titus (Part Two)

CGG Weekly by Mike Ford

Paul was quite blunt in how he characterized the Cretans' traits. He had a higher purpose than to criticize them; he wanted to impart helpful instructions.

The Seventh Commandment: Adultery

Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh

In Amos' prophecy, faithlessness and sexual immorality loom large, like a a prostitute chasing after lovers. Faithlessness extends into not keeping one's word.

Dating (Part 2): The Proper Order of Things

Sermon by Martin G. Collins

Many singles have found dating in the church difficult, consequently turning to the world for companionship, courting dangerous consequences.

God's Pattern of the Family

Sermon by Martin G. Collins

The family structure, with assigned orders of responsibility (not orders of importance implying superiority or inferiority), is paramount to God's plan.

The Perfect Wife

Sermon by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

Biblically ordained marriage roles are at odds or in conflict with cultural expectations, especially the influences of radical feminism and postmodernism.

Of God Appointed Life

Sermon by Mark Schindler

Responding to a poignant letter addressing theological questions about suffering, tragedy, and God's sovereignty, namely why innocent lives can be lost, and whether an omniscient God can feel sorrow or disappointment if He already knows the outcome, this message points to Romans 8:28 and Isaiah 46, affirming that all life is divinely appointed, existing within God's perfect unfolding plan. In the papal Humanae Vitae and the Theology of the Body warning of the fallout when humanity rejects God's design for life, sexuality, and family, it nevertheless offers hope that if people return to God's order, through chastity, stewardship, and faith, they can be healed from their grievous sins. We must trust God's sovereign timing even in grief and sore trials, realizing that life is not random, but God-appointed. Consequently, our task is to live faithfully, expectantly, and joyfully knowing that Almighty God is preparing for our resurrection and eternal life.

Biblical Loves

Sermon by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

Scripture draws from Koine Greek, offering four distinct words for 'love,' each relaying different dimensions of human connection, restoring clarity and depth.

Husbands, Love Your Wives

Sermon by Mark Schindler

Gratitude must be cultivated with expressions of thanksgiving in marriage, avoiding the pitfalls of materialism, entitlement, victimhood, and narcissism.

Leadership and Covenants (Part Five)

'Personal' from John W. Ritenbaugh

Universal in scope, the Edenic Covenant introduces God to mankind as his Creator and establishes the way human beings are to relate to Him and the creation.

Genesis 3:16: Consequences for Eve

Sermon by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

Spiritually, male and female have equal potential. Rights and legalities are far less important than spiritual development, subject to God-ordained gender roles.

Is It Salvational? (Part Two)

CGG Weekly by David C. Grabbe

Simply watching out for the so-called "big sins" suggests that we are not genuinely interested in conforming to God—just in not crossing a major red line.

Loyalty and Submission (Part 3)

Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh

As wives are admonished to emulate the ideal of the Proverbs 31 woman, husbands must emulate the sacrificial spirit of Jesus Christ.

Loyalty and Submission (Part 1)

Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh

In marriage, loyalty, trust and subjection are demanded of both partners. If we are not loyal to God and life, we are automatically subject to Satan and death.

Childrearing (Part Three)

Sermon/Bible Study by John W. Ritenbaugh

Our children internalize our values; we teach largely by example. If we do not take seriously the responsibility for rearing our children, somebody else will.

The Promise in the Fifth Commandment (Part One)

'Ready Answer' by David F. Maas

What is the connection between keeping the fifth commandment—honoring parents—and enjoying a long, fulfilling, productive life on earth?

Wonderful Women

Sermon by Martin G. Collins

According to God's vision of the institution of marriage, when man and wife follow the rule of submission and sacrificial love, patriarchy is a blessing.

Loyalty and Submission (Part 2)

Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh

Loyalty and submission to God (not always easy) empowers and guarantees ultimate success and leadership, actually freeing us from the fear of death.

Virtues Hard and Soft

Sermon by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

The 'hard' virtues displayed by men and 'soft' virtues displayed by women are partial traits of the God being. Both male and female are in His image.

The Purpose of Relationships

Sermonette by Ryan McClure

The marriage covenant was designed to bring incomplete components of the God image together in one flesh, from which other relationships developed.

Standing With God (Part Two)

CGG Weekly by Charles Whitaker

Wisdom counsels God's people not to rely on worldly conservatives to fight their battles for them. True Christians will find themselves using untempered mortar.

Hebrews (Part Fifteen)

Sermon/Bible Study by John W. Ritenbaugh

We dare not allow a root of bitterness to spring up in us as a result of trials - those burdens intended by God to strengthen us and perfect us.