picture credits: Norman and Marina Major.
Here is some Bible truth for you in regards to marriage. Remember Jesus said “The truth shall set you free” in John 8:32.
“He who FINDS A wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor from the Lord.”
– Proverbs 18:22
Notice that this verse says “finds” and “a”, not “the”; those words imply free will. Notice also that after that God gives favour, meaning He agrees with it.
Holy apostle Paul states clearly:
“But even if you do marry, you have NOT SINNED; and if a virgin marries, she has NOT SINNED.”
– 1 Corinthians 7:28
In context Paul is talking about that he would prefer others to be single as he is so they can do missionary work, but he clearly stated that it is not a sin for two Christians to get married and he explicitly names both genders, you (male) + a virgin (female).
He also warned against false teachers and demons:
“THE [HOLY] SPIRIT clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. THEY FORBID PEOPLE TO MARRY and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.”
– 1 Timothy 4:1-5
Notice it is explicitly the Holy Spirit telling Paul to expose such deceiving demons and to write against such false teachers, those that denied free will were the same that were against sex within marriage and marriage itself, my BA thesis deals with this partly as well as other works, see also Jesse Morrell’s “IS SEX A SIN? Original Sin, Augustine, Gnosticism, Catholicism, & Calvinism” video on youtube.
To summarize and to make a long story short: The reason why you can ask a Christian of the opposite gender to marry you is because free will is a fact; God has created every man and woman in His image and likeness (Genesis 1:26-27). This means that every man and woman also has a free will. With that free will, a man can freely choose (“find”) a woman and she can choose to accept his offer of marriage or not (Genesis 1:28, following on verses 26 and 27, refers to marriage). Furthermore, Paul has clearly stated that it is not a sin to marry and that the deceiving demons and the false teachers forbade [Christian] couples to marry. This was the Holy Spirit speaking through Him. Who will you follow? False teachers? Deceiving demons? Or the Holy Spirit? Therefore, I believe it is your God-given right, if I can put it that way, to reserve a virgin for yourself, to commit yourself to her, to ask her to commit herself to you, and to ask her to marry you.
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