Why Marriage Is Only Between A Man and A Woman

Why Marriage Is Only Between A Man and A Woman

“The truth does not require your belief in it to be so.” -Spike Spencer

To understand why marriage must be between a man and a woman we first must  understand some basic eternal truths. 

1.  We are all literal children of Divine parents.  “. . . And I, the Lord God, had created all the children of men; and not yet a man to till the ground; for in heaven created I them; and there was not yet flesh upon the earth, neither in the water, neither in the air;”1  Yes, we were all born spirit children of a God who is eternal and tangible. We are created after Their image, the image of our Godly parents.  “And God said let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion . . .”2  Man and woman, husband and wife, just as it is with God.

2.  God created the earth and all things pertaining to it in the likeness of our heavenly home, only earth is in a mortal state versus a perfected, eternal, and glorious one. Yes, I am saying that marriage did not originate with mortality but is an eternal truth. Established on earth, patterned after the Life God lives.  “And I, the Lord God, formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul, the first flesh upon the earth, the first man also . . .”3 “And I, the Lord God, caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam; and he slept, and I took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh in the stead thereof; And the rib which I, the Lord God, had taken from man, made I a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said: This I know now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man.  Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one flesh.”4

What mother and father did Adam have?  Where did Adam come from?

3.  The work and glory of God is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. Through the Plan Of Salvation, we are born into mortality so that we can learn how to become like God.  Through eternal marriage we work in a sacred alliance with God, our Father, to provide an environment where our spiritual brothers and sisters, His spirit children, our mortal children, can come and gain the experience and learn the eternal truths they need, whereby they might choose to use their agency to follow Gods plan.  

4.  God has a plan.  “Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was;. . .”  These intelligences were the spirit children of a loving heavenly Father and Mother. We are the intelligences that were organized.  We are God’s spirit children. “. . . and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones; And God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were good; and he said unto me: Abraham, thou art one of them; thou wast chosen before thou wast born.  And there stood one among them that was like unto God, and he said unto those who were with him: We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell;  And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them; [This life is a test] And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; . . .”  This first estate was our pre-earth life.  When we lived with god as spiritual beings.  The fact that we are here teaches us that we kept our first estate.  “. . .and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; [Meaning they did not receive bodies] and they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever. . .”  This second estate spoken of is our mortal life, or earth life.  “. . .And the Lord said: Whom shall I send? And one answered like unto the  Son of Man: Here am I, send me. And another answered and said: Here am I, send me. And the Lord said: I will send the first.  And the second was angry, [Lucifer, the devil] and kept not his first estate; and, at that day, many followed after him.”5

5.  The Devil has a plan too. “And I, the Lord God, spake unto Moses, saying: That Satan, whom thou hast commanded in the name of mine Only Begotten, is the same which was from the beginning, and he came before me, saying: Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all man kind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor.  But, behold, my Beloved Son, which was my Beloved and Chosen from the beginning, said unto me: Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever.  Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I the Lord God, had given him, and also, that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be cast down;  And he became Satan, yea, even the devil, the father of all lies, to deceive and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his will, even as many as would not hearken unto my voice. And now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which I, the Lord God, had made.  And Satan put it into the heart of the serpent, (for he had drawn away many after him,) and he sought also to beguile Eve, for he knew not the mind of God, wherefore he sought to destroy the world.”6  What better way to destroy the world then to destroy the very reason and meaning of marriage.

6.  When a nation or a people break their alliance with God He will destroy them and raise up another.  “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.  And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.  And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.  But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.”7

   These words found in Genesis are very telling. “And the men rose up from thence, and looked toward Sodom: and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way.  And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?  For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgement; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.  And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;  I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.”8  Here is the Lord preparing to destroy a people who’s sin is grievous but preparing to build up a people through Abraham who shall keep the way of the Lord. The eternal way.

7.  We must remember that God’s views are eternal. We must remember Gods plan.  His spirit children must have an opportunity to come to this earth, gain the experience they need and learn eternal truths so that they may choose eternal life.  This is best accomplished through the marriage of a man and a woman. When there are no people left on the earth or amongst a nation to help them in their search for eternal salvation, then what good is that nation or that earth. God, in His mercy will send them to a place where they may learn the error of their ways and then he will bring forth a nation that will follow His plan.  The Lord said it best through Isaiah the Prophet.

“Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.  The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib:”  You’ve heard the saying dumb as an ox?  The Lord is telling us that we are dumber then an ox.  That even an ass knows where to go to be fed. But we are another story: ...but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.  Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.  Why should ye be stricken anymore?  Ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.  From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.  Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire; your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as over thrown by strangers.  And the daughter of Zion [we are the daughter of Zion] is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.  Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, ( that is the righteous amongst us) we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah. [Meaning already destroyed.] Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.”9

   This is a stern rebuke from The Lord, our God, to those who have distorted and made a mockery of His great plan for the eternal life of His children. Both in times past and today.  But marvel at His great mercy: “Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.  Come now, let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.  If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:  But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.”10

8.  The Federal Government has no authority or power to dictate the terms of marriage nor do the states.  It is a religious institution and should be between the Churches and their congregations.  

Now, one may say “Leave religion out of it.”  However, without religion there is no marriage!  Marriage is a covenant between man, woman, and God.  Marriage came from God and without God there is no marriage.  Performed in the proper way and under the proper authority, marriage is eternal.  “Therefore what God hath joined together, let no man put asunder.”11  The Lord said to Peter: “And 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.”12  It is by this authority, by this power, the power given from God to man, that binds a man and a woman together in marriage for time and all eternity.

We must allow all people everywhere the right to live their lives as they choose; to pursue what ever course they believe will bring them happiness.  But we must all understand the eternal consequences of our choices. “Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator [Jesus Christ] of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.”13

When we begin to open our minds to these great eternal truths we will begin to understand why marriage is only between a man and a woman.

¹ Pearl of Great Price: Moses 3:5.

² The Old Testament: Genesis 1:26.

³ Pearl of Great Price: Moses 3:7.

⁴ Pearl of Great Price: Moses 3:21-24.

⁵ Pearl Of Great Price: Abraham 3:22-28.

⁶ Pearl Of Great Price: Moses 4:1-6.

⁷ The Old Testament: Genesis 6:5-8.

⁸ The Old Testament: Genesis 18:16-21

⁹ The Old Testament: Isaiah 1:2-10.

¹⁰ The Old Testament: Isaiah 1:16-20.

¹¹ The New Testament: Mark 10:9

¹² The new Testament: Mark 16:19

¹³ The Book Of Mormon: 2 Nephi 2:27