Here We Stand
An Evangelical Declaration on Marriage
As evangelical Christians, we dissent from the court’s ruling that
redefines marriage. The state did not create the family, and should not try to
recreate the family in its own image. We will not capitulate on marriage because
biblical authority requires that we cannot. The outcome of the Supreme Court’s
ruling to redefine marriage represents what seems like the result of a halfcentury of witnessing marriage’s decline through divorce, cohabitation, and a
worldview of almost limitless sexual freedom. The Supreme Court’s actions
pose incalculable risks to an already volatile social fabric by alienating those
whose beliefs about marriage are motivated by deep biblical convictions and
concern for the common good.
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John 20:31
Here We Stand
An Evangelical Declaration on Marriage
The Bible clearly teaches the enduring truth that marriage consists of one man
and one woman. From Genesis to Revelation, the authority of Scripture witnesses to
the nature of biblical marriage as uniquely bound to the complementarity of man and
woman. This truth is not negotiable. The Lord Jesus himself said that marriage is from
the beginning (Matt. 19:4-6), so no human institution has the authority to redefine
marriage any more than a human institution has the authority to redefine the gospel,
which marriage mysteriously reflects (Eph. 5:32). The Supreme Court’s ruling to
redefine marriage demonstrates mistaken judgment by disregarding what history and
countless civilizations have passed on to us, but it also represents an aftermath that
evangelicals themselves, sadly, are not guiltless in contributing to. Too often, professing
evangelicals have failed to model the ideals we so dearly cherish and believe are central
to gospel proclamation.
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John 20:31
Here We Stand
An Evangelical Declaration on Marriage
Evangelical churches must be faithful to the biblical witness on marriage
regardless of the cultural shift. Evangelical churches in America now find
themselves in a new moral landscape that calls us to minister in a context
growing more hostile to a biblical sexual ethic. This is not new in the history of
the church. From its earliest beginnings, whether on the margins of society or in
a place of influence, the church is defined by the gospel. We insist that the
gospel brings good news to all people, regardless of whether the culture
considers the news good or not.
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John 20:31
Here We Stand
An Evangelical Declaration on Marriage
The gospel must inform our approach to public witness. As evangelicals
animated by the good news that God offers reconciliation through the life,
death, and resurrection of His Son, Jesus, we commit to:
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John 20:31
Here We Stand
An Evangelical Declaration on Marriage
• Respect and pray for our governing authorities even as we work through the
democratic process to rebuild a culture of marriage (Rom. 13:1-7);
• the truth about biblical marriage in a way that brings healing to a sexually broken
culture;
• affirm the biblical mandate that all persons, including LGBT persons, are created in
the image of God and deserve dignity and respect;
• love our neighbors regardless of whatever disagreements arise as a result of
conflicting beliefs about marriage;
• live respectfully and civilly alongside those who may disagree with us for the sake of
the common good;
• cultivate a common culture of religious liberty that allows the freedom to live and
believe differently to prosper.
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John 20:31
Here We Stand
An Evangelical Declaration on Marriage
The redefinition of marriage should not entail the erosion of religious
liberty. In the coming years, evangelical institutions could be pressed to
sacrifice their sacred beliefs about marriage and sexuality in order to
accommodate whatever demands the culture and law require. We do not have
the option to meet those demands without violating our consciences and
surrendering the gospel. We will not allow the government to coerce or infringe
upon the rights of institutions to live by the sacred belief that only men and
women can enter into marriage.
WE BELIEVE
John 20:31
Here We Stand
An Evangelical Declaration on Marriage
The gospel of Jesus Christ determines the shape and tone of our
ministry. Christian theology considers its teachings about marriage both
timeless and unchanging, and therefore we must stand firm in this belief.
Outrage and panic are not the responses of those confident in the promises
of a reigning Christ Jesus. While we believe the Supreme Court has erred in
its ruling, we pledge to stand steadfastly, faithfully witnessing to the biblical
teaching that marriage is the chief cornerstone of society, designed to unite
men, women, and children. We promise to proclaim and live this truth at all
costs, with convictions that are communicated with kindness and love.
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John 20:31
Biblical Survey
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John 20:31
Genesis 1:26-28
“26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And
let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the
heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every
creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply
and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea
and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on
the earth.” 29
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John 20:31
Genesis 2:21-25
“21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he
slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib
that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and
brought her to the man.
23 Then the man said,
“This at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman,
because she was taken out of Man.”
24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to
his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife
were both naked and were not ashamed.”
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John 20:31
Genesis 19:4-8 - Sodom and Gomorrah
4 But
before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both
young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house.
5 And they called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you
tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them.” 6 Lot went
out to the men at the entrance, shut the door after him, 7 and said, “I beg
you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. 8 Behold, I have two
daughters who have not known any man. Let me bring them out to you,
and do to them as you please.
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John 20:31
Leviticus 18:22 & 20:13
Leviticus 18:22 - “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an
abomination.”
Leviticus 20:13 - “If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have
committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.”
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John 20:31
Jesus on Marriage
Mark 10:2-9
“2 And Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, “Is it lawful for a man
to divorce his wife?” 3 He answered them, “What did Moses command you?”
4 They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send
her away.” 5 And Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he
wrote you this commandment. 6 But from the beginning of creation, ‘God
made them male and female.’ 7 ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and
mother and hold fast to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh.’ So
they are no longer two but one flesh. 9 What therefore God has joined
together, let not man separate.”
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John 20:31
Romans 1:18-32
“18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what
can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.
20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have
been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that
have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they
did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their
thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they
became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling
mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore God gave them up
in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among
themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped
and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
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John 20:31
Romans 1:18-32
26 For
this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women
exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the
men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with
passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and
receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. 28 And since they did not
see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought
not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil,
covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness.
They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful,
inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things
deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
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1 Corinthians 6:9-10
“9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?
Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor
adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the
greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom
of God.”
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John 20:31
Leviticus Linguistic Connection
1 Corinthians 6:9
οὔτε μαλακοὶ, οὔτε ἀρσενοκοῖται
“oute malakoi, oute arsenokoitai”
Leviticus 20:13 (LXX)
ὃς ἂν κοιμηθῇ μετὰ ἄρσενος κοίτην γυναικὸς
“hos an koimethe meta arsenos koiten gynaikos”
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John 20:31
1 Timothy 1:8-11
“8 Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, 9 understanding this,
that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for
the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their
fathers and mothers, for murderers, 10 the sexually immoral, men who
practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is
contrary to sound doctrine, 11 in accordance with the gospel of the glory of
the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.
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John 20:31
Leviticus Linguistic Connection
1 Timothy 1:10
πόρνοις, ἀρσενοκοίταις
“pornois, aresnokoitas”
Leviticus 20:13 (LXX)
ὃς ἂν κοιμηθῇ μετὰ ἄρσενος κοίτην γυναικὸς
“hos an koimethe meta arsenos koiten gynaikos”
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John 20:31
Ephesians 5:25-33
25 Husbands,
love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself
up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of
water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in
splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and
without blemish. 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as
their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever
hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the
church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “Therefore a man shall
leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall
become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it
refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife
as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
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Revelation 21:1-4
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first
earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city,
new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride
adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
“Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and
they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will
wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall
there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have
passed away.”
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John 20:31
Concluding Points
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John 20:31
1. We cannot expect non-Christians to live by Christian values.
2. In dealing with unbelievers, we must focus on the Gospel and unbelief
more than one fruit of unbelief, which is simply the logical outworking of our
sinful nature.
3. Sex outside of marriage and other distortions of marriage have been
around for a long time. We must teach the beauty and benefit of biblical
marriage.
4. Temptation or inclination is not the same things as participation. We will
walk with you through struggles and temptations urging you to overcome
the flesh by the power of the Spirit.
5. For most of church history, the Church has been counter-cultural.
6. The early church never received legislative help from the government. All
we should hope for is peace and the opportunity to present the Gospel to all
people.
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John 20:31