Marriage: Eternal?

QUESTIONS:

• Were man and woman made for each other?

• When was marriage established (during mortal or immortal state)?

• Is marriage for mortality only or does it exist forever (in heaven)?

• Are some marriages forever and some for mortality only?

• What is God’s view on divorce (the cancelation of the marriage union)?

VIEWS TO CONSIDER:

• EVANGELICAL VIEW: The union between man and woman was meant to be temporary only. After death/resurrection, the marriage unit, intercourse, procreation, parenthood etc. will no longer exist and all believers will exist as single beings in heaven forever.

• LATTER DAY SAINT VIEW: Men and women were literally made (by God) for each other . Their union was established during mankind’s immortal state and was intended to last forever. While that eternal union is naturally broken and limited to mortal life by sin, through the power and authority of Jesus Christ, marriages among God’s people (and performed by God’s authorized servants who have the authority to bind in heaven that which is bound on earth) will last for all eternity (conditional upon the faithfulness of the couple). For God’s people, the marriage, intercourse, procreation, parenthood, family etc. will continue forever in the next life.

CONTENTS:

• Adam & Eve were immortals when married

• Christ overcomes all negative affects of the fall

• Christ restores mankind to pre-fall condition

• Death separates marriages, but Christ gained victory over death

• Divorce (separation of spouses) is condemned (even "from the beginning")

• Gender in the resurrection

• God joined man and woman together (in the very beginning)

• Made for each other

• Made from each other

• Marriage ordained / commanded of God

• Marriage symbolizes the eternal love for Christ for his church

• Neither without the other "in the Lord"

• No man to put asunder

• Not good for man to be alone

• One, no more two (one flesh)

• Power given to bind heaven that which is bound on earth

• Unbound at death / remarriage

• Unmarried assists missionary work - 1 Cor. 7

• Wicked men are told that there is no marriage in next life (Matt. 22)

ADAM & EVE WERE IMMORTAL WHEN THEY WERE MARRIED: Marriage was established while mankind was immortal, before sin, death or the need for a Savior existed. All of this suggests that marriage was meant to last forever.

• Gen. 2:18 The Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him

• Gen. 2:22 God… made [man] a woman, and brought her unto man

CHRIST OVERCOMES ALL NEGATIVE AFFECTS OF THE FALL: While the fall of Adam & Eve (sin/transgression) brought negative affects to mankind, God sent Christ to overcome all of those negative affects for God's people. The fall brought separation of the body and spirit, separation from God and the separation of the marriage union., but through Christ all of those are reversed. The red passages below show the negative consequence of sin, the blue passages show how those are overcome through Christ:

• SEPARATION OF BODY & SPIRIT (DEATH): Gen. 2:17 From the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die - Rom. 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

• SEPARATION FROM GOD'S PRESENCE: Isa. 59:2 But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear - John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me

• SEPARATION OF MARRIAGE UNION: Rom. 7:3 So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law - 1 Peter 3:7 Husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife… being heirs together of the grace of life,;1 Cor. 11:11 Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord; Matt. 16:19 I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. (see more below).

CHRIST RESTORES MANKIND TO PRE-FALL STATE:

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DEATH SEPARATES MARRIAGE, BUT CHRIST GAINED THE VICTORY OVER DEATH: The Bible teaches that husbands and wives are no longer bound to each other at death, that death breaks that union. However, the Bible also teaches that Christ obtained victory over death for all those who believe in him, see below.

• 1 Cor. 15:24-26 Then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death.

• 1 Tim. 1:10 Now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel

• Isa. 25:8 He will swallow up death for all time, And the Lord GOD will wipe tears away from all faces, And He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth; For the LORD has spoken.

• Heb. 2:14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil

• Hosea 13:14 Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from death? O Death, where are your thorns? O Sheol, where is your sting? Compassion will be hidden from My sight.

• Rev. 1:18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

• Rev. 21:4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away

• Rev. 20:14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire This is the second death, the lake of fire.

DIVORCE (SEPARATE OF SPOUSES) IS CONDEMNED (EVEN "FROM THE BEGINNING"):

• Matthew 19:6-7 They are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.

GENDER IN THE RESURRECTION: As seen in the passages below, we will have the same physical bodies in heaven which we have now, physical bodies of flesh and bone. This indicates that we will still have gender and we will still have procreative/sexual organs. The idea that those parts of our body (those used for procreation, sexual intimacy between man and women, physical desire for the other gender etc.) will become inactive for all eternity seems strange and lacking in design. However, in LDS doctrine all such things continue in the next life.

• Isa. 26:19 Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise.

• John 19:26 Destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God

• Luke 24:39 A spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have

GOD JOIND MAN AND WOMAN TOGETHER (IN THE VERY BEGINNING):

• Gen. 2:22 God… made [man] a woman, and brought her unto man

• Matt. 19:6 What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder

MADE FOR EACH OTHER

The bodies of men and woman were literally designed for each other, designed to unite and to have intercourse with each other. The marriage union is literally built into the design of our bodies. Some might agree that the spiritual distinctions between man and woman also compliment one another and therefore also support that we were made to be a unit.

• The Bible says that the woman was a “help meet” for the man. The Hebrew phrase for “help meet” is “ezer kenegdo“, which means “aid, help, prime root, to protect, to rescue, to save” (ezer) and “corresponding to, counterpart to, equal to matching, fit for” (Kenegdo)

MADE FROM EACH OTHER

• Gen. 2:22-24 And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man, And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man

MARRIAGE IN HEAVEN PASSAGES

• Marriage was initiated while Adam and Eve were in their immortal state without any hint of the union being temporary. Matt. 19:6 What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder

• 1 Peter 3:7 Husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife… being heirs together of the grace of life

MARRIED ORDAINED / COMMANDED OF GOD:

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UNMARRIED ASSISTS MISSIONARY WORK - 1 COR 7: This Pauline epistle below seems to present marriage at a lower level of importance and holiness than much of the rest of the Bible, not only suggesting that marriage is optional, but even suggesting that that being single is better than being married. Modern revelation clarifies that Paul is specifically answering questions regarding those who have been called on missions, stating that being single is helpful for missionary since you can focus your whole self on the work instead worrying about your family. This view is very supported by various statements in the letter, including: "that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction", "that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord: But he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife" etc.

• 7:1-2 Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.

• 7:7-8 For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that. I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I.

• 7:25-28 Now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord: yet I give my judgment, as one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful. I suppose therefore that this is good for the present distress, I say, that it is good for a man so to be. Art thou bound unto a wife? seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife? seek not a wife. But and if thou marry, thou hast not sinned; and if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned. Nevertheless such shall have trouble in the flesh: but I spare you.

• 7:29-31 But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none; And they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not; And they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away.

• 7:32-40 But I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord: But he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife. There is difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband. And this I speak for your own profit; not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is comely, and that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction. But if any man think that he behaveth himself uncomely toward his virgin, if she pass the flower of her age, and need so require, let him do what he will, he sinneth not: let them marry. Nevertheless he that standeth steadfast in his heart, having no necessity, but hath power over his own will, and hath so decreed in his heart that he will keep his virgin, doeth well. So then he that giveth her in marriage doeth well; but he that giveth her not in marriage doeth better. The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord. But she is happier if she so abide, after my judgment: and I think also that I have the Spirit of God.

WICKED MEN ARE TOLD THAT THERE IS NO MARRIAGE IN THE NEXT LIFE? (Matt. 22)

• Matt. 22:24-30 (Wicked men asking) Master, Moses said, If a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. Now there were with us seven brethren: and the first, when he had married a wife, deceased, and, having no issue, left his wife unto his brother: Likewise the second also, and the third, unto the seventh. And last of all the woman died also. Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her. Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven

• Note on Context: This question about marriage came from wicked/tempting men. Applying context, Jesus’ answer is possibly referring to marriages of non-believers, the wicked (like men that are presenting this trick question to Jesus), or simply those that are not part of God's true church in which God's priesthood authority (the power to bind in heaven that which is bound on earth) is found. It should be noted that the moment when Jesus stated that he gave the apostles the keyes of the kingdom to bind in heaven that which is bound on earth had not yet occurred in the New Testament history, so that authority had not yet been given to man. This view that Jesus is referring to marriages by persons that are not amongst his people makes sense since many other Biblical passages (those on this page) strongly suggest that the union of man and woman was mean to be forever.

Here is an article which explains Jesus answer in Matt. 22 from an LDS perspective:

https://www.lds.org/ensign/1986/02/i-have-a-question/how-do-we-explain-jesus-teachings-in-matthew-22-29-30?lang=eng

Here below is a table that compares what God has said to His people regarding marriage (believers, the saved etc.) to the Jesus said to the wicked regarding marriage: