Anyone feel game to define marriage biblically and culturally?

I reckon this is one of the big questions we face as the church in an era where cohabitation is the norm.

If two people who don’t call themselves Christians live together in a committed monogamous relationship with a view to being together for ever are they married?

Our law says yes (split up and you pay maintenance / divide the assets! etc) It would seem the scriptures would say yes to that too. It fits the biblical description of marriage. So… that’s all that is needed…

Feel comfortable with that?

No?… me neither.

Is it just my upbringing or is there something that a public ceremony brings that makes a marriage ‘more’ valid?

I know we have spoken of welcoming co-habiting couple into the church and allowing God to change them(belonging/believing/behaving yada yada yada…) but … what if they didn’t change? Or what if one of our young church couples decided they would cohabitate rather than marry?

Would we let them?

Is there a difference?antz online