The Bible authorises three groups for the promotion of human existence. They are the Nation the Church and the Family. All three are under attack. The Nation because we fear being subsumed into the EC. The Church because we want to live as we please. The Family because the marriage bond is thought to curtail our freedom. Underlying these complex issues is the assumption that we have matured, moved up the evolutionary scale and are better placed to rearrange our affairs without reference to what God has said in the Bible. Nowhere is this more evident than in the proposed Bill to give legal recognition to same-sex unions and to provide a “redress scheme” for long-term co-habiting opposite-sex couples. Whatever the justification for the former there can be no logical reason to provide a parallel legal entity to marriage for opposite-sex couples. So why is marriage unpopular? Has the sexual revolution of the last century spawned a generation that choose hedonism rather than fidelity? Of course marriage brings with it life-long vows, made in public, often before God, and shoulders the responsibilities inherent in making them. In recognition of this Government rightly grants financial assistance. To award almost the same financial benefits to those who shun the marriage bond, however much they may claim their relationship is intended to be life-long, does not ring true. This proposal from Government lends authenticity to these arrangements, bowing to a minority group, contrary to the wishes of the people enshrined in article 41 of the Constitution. St Paul in his first Corinthian letter deals bluntly with co-habiting opposite-sex couples; “Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body” a fact that those who transgress know all too well. But why do we look for counterfeit comfort outside marriage? We have moved from, or perhaps never known, the sufficiency of the life transforming love of Jesus. Bowing the knee to him and surrendering this will, enables the Holy Spirit to give you the self control to live a life of love – bonded in a life-long monogamous marriage that is the God given bedrock of society.
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