Regarding same-sex marriage, a man who would later become Vice President said, It’s going to be something we have to go through as a part of the maturation process of the nation. I agree with him that it is probably inevitable because the country has become convinced that homosexual behavior is a legitimate lifestyle choice. In an effort to head it off, Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act. They might as well have passed a law forbidding hurricanes from coming within one hundred miles of the American coast. Because if they really think they can turn back the tide on this issue, why not just command the weather? The die on this was cast a long time ago and there does not appear to be any way to turn it back.

The Defense of Marriage Act does two things. First, it allows all states to define marriage as they will and frees them from any responsibility to recognize marriages in any other state. The second substantive section of the bill amended the U.S. Code to make explicit what has been understood under federal law for over 200 years: that a marriage is the legal union of a man and a woman as husband and wife, and a spouse is the husband or wife of the opposite sex. More than a century ago, the U.S. Supreme Court spoke of the union of life for one man and one woman in the holy estate of matrimony. But just because the Supreme Court said that 100 years ago does not mean that’s what they’re going to say tomorrow.

And then there is the Bible to consider. The Bible has rather a lot to say about marriage and about appropriate sexual relationships. The Law of Moses, for example, has a long list of prohibited sexual practices of which, among which we find homosexual conduct. The New Testament has even more to say about marriage. Jesus used marriage as an illustration in three or four parables, He made water into wine at the marriage in Cana, and Paul had some explicit instructions regarding the marriage state. Now, being a minister I’ve had occasion over the years to give sermons on marriage. And you really can’t get through one without going to the one staple of every sermon on marriage: Paul’s admonitions that are found beginning in Ephesians 5:22. In these verses, we will discover something very important about marriage.