CIVIL GOVERNMENTS SHOULD DEFINE MARRIAGE FOR ALL CITIZENS excluding homosexual marriages
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Defining and regulating marriage fits the purposes of government according to the Bible
Among the most important purposes of civil government, according to the Bible, are (1) to restrain evil, (2) to bring good to society, and (3) to bring order to society. In all three of these grounds, a Christian should conclude that it is right for government to define and regulate marriage.
First, marriage restrains evil by promoting sexual faithfulness between a man and a woman, by establishing a legally binding commitment for parents to care for their children, by establishing a legally binding commitment for spouses to be financially responsible for and to care for one another, and by providing a legal protection to keep women from being exploited by men who might otherwise enjoy a sexual relationship for a time and then abandon a woman and any children she may have borne from that union.
Second, marriage brings good to society in multiple ways—in promoting social stability, economic well-being, educational and economic benefits for children, the transmission of moral and cultural values to the next generation, and a stable social unit for interactions within society.
Third, the establishment of marriage brings order to society so that the general public will know who is married and who is not. Marital status can be established as a matter of public record, so that in various ways the society as a whole can honor and protect individual marriages and can know who is responsible for the care and protection and training of children, and for the care of spouses who have medical or financial or other needs. In this way, defining and regulating marriage gives stability and order to a society. It is an extremely important social good that government should encourage and protect.
Defining and regulating marriages is morally right
The definition of marriage as a lifelong faithful union between one man and one woman, as found in the Bible, provides a moral standard in which God tells us what is right to do. Defining and regulating and protecting marriage as this kind of institution is thus something that is morally right in God’s eyes. It is not merely something that brings benefits to society, but also something that a society should do, according to God’s own definition of right and wrong as given in the Bible.
Grudem, W. A. (2010). Politics according to the Bible: A Comprehensive Resource for Understanding Modern Political Issues in Light of Scripture (221–222). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
