What Does the Bible Say About Marriage? 

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The creation of marriage is recorded in Genesis 2:23–24:

“And Adam said, This is now 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.”  God created man and then made woman to complement him. Marriage is God’s provision for the fact that “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him” (Genesis 2:18).

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The word “helper” (Genesis 2:20) carries the idea of one who surrounds, protects, or aids. Eve was created to be alongside Adam as his “other half,” to be his aid and his helper.  A man and woman, when married, become “one flesh.” This oneness is manifested most fully in the physical union of sexual intimacy.  The New Testament adds a warning regarding this oneness:  “Therefore they are no more two, but one flesh.  What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” (Matthew 19:6)

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There are several epistles written by the apostle Paul that refer to marriage and how believers are to live within the marriage relationship.  One such passage is 1 Corinthians 7, and another is Ephesians 5:22–33. When studied together, these two passages provide biblical principles that form a framework for a God-pleasing marriage relationship.

 

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 7:2:

“Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.”  The Ephesians passage is especially profound in reference to a successful biblical marriage: “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the Saviour of the body.” (Ephesians 5:22–23)  “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.” (Ephesians 5:25)  “So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies.  He that loves his wife loves himself.  For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourishes and cherishes it, even as the Lord the church.” (Ephesians 5:28–29)

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“For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.” (Ephesians 5:31).  When a believing husband and wife put God’s principles into practice, a biblical marriage results.  A biblically based marriage is one that is in balance, with Christ as the head of the man and wife together. The biblical concept of marriage is a oneness between two individuals that pictures the oneness of Christ with His church—marked by love, sacrifice, and unity.