The following "Question" was asked by a member of the congregation at Grace Community Church in Panorama City, California, and "Answered" by their pastor, John MacArthur Jr. It was transcribed from the tape, GC 70-14, titled "Questions and Answers--Part 42."  A copy of the tape can be obtained by writing, Word of Grace, P.O. Box 4000, Panorama City, CA 91412 or by dialing toll free 1-800-55-GRACE. Copyright 1993 by John MacArthur Jr., All Rights Reserved.

Question

Where did we get our marriage vows from? I mean you know this saying of the marriage vows when people get married, where did this come from? What the ministers use. You know “for better and for worse; in sickness and health.”

Answer

That’s sort of a traditional thing. I think you can trace most of that back to the English Church, for the most part. When I started in ministry, the basic format that I used came out of the Scottish Presbyterian Book of Marriage--just a very dignified expression.

But I think that the root of all of those vows, however you articulate them, whatever may be the traditional or national source of those; the root of those marriage vows is tied to what Scripture affirms to be necessary to make that relationship what God wants it to be. In other words, they all relate to the leaving aspect of marriage, or the cleaving aspect of marriage, or they relate to the mutual respect of marriage. They relate to the protectorship and savior role that the husband plays, as according to Ephesians 5. They relate to the nourishing and cherishing. They relate to submission that the wife is to bring. They relate to the permanence of marriage: the fact that God has designed one man one woman to cleave together for life. So all of those components, no matter how they’re framed up or verbalized in a given ceremony, I think are reflected of what the Bible has to say about what marriage is. Now, if you go back into pagan history you’ll find all sorts of different things that don’t necessarily relate to Christianity, but within any Christian service there would be some connection with a Biblical view of marriage.

Added to Bible Bulletin Board's "MacArthur’s Questions and Answers" by:

Tony Capoccia
Bible Bulletin Board
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