Sharon Reformed Presbyterian Church · Sermon study sheet

Confusion about Marriage

Bryan Schneider · June 10, 2023

Mark 10:1-12

sharonrpc.org/sermons/confusion-about-marriage

Summary

The Pharisees ask about divorce to test Jesus, using Moses' protective concession as though it were permission to discard a spouse.
Jesus identifies hardhearted sin as the reason divorce had to be regulated and returns the discussion to God's creation design.
God created humanity male and female and joins husband and wife into a one-flesh covenant that human beings must not casually tear apart.
Marriage is a lifelong commitment of mutual love and service rather than a relationship sustained only while it produces personal happiness.
The sermon identifies sexual immorality and desertion by an unbelieving spouse as biblical grounds for divorce and treats coercive, violent, or destructive abandonment as a serious matter requiring protection and accountability.
A wronged spouse is not commanded to remain in danger or forced to reconcile; church leaders and civil authorities have responsibilities when abuse or unrepentant abandonment occurs.
Marriage points to Christ's steadfast love for his church: the Savior does not abandon his bride, and nothing can separate believers from his love.

Am I reading God's commands to seek faithful obedience or looking for permission to serve my own desires?
Do my marriage commitments rest on covenant love or on the expectation that my spouse must continually make me happy?
How can I serve, communicate with, and cherish my spouse in a concrete way this week?
Am I hiding conduct or history that violates trust and needs honest repentance and wise counsel?
If abuse, coercion, or danger is present, what immediate steps are needed to protect the harmed spouse and children and involve appropriate authorities?
How can the church support a wronged spouse without blaming the victim or pressuring an unsafe reconciliation?
How does Christ's inseparable love for his people give hope amid the sin and pain that affect marriage?

One flesh: The covenantal union in which God joins husband and wife into a shared life of embodied, emotional, and faithful intimacy.
Hardness of heart: Sinful stubbornness that turns a protective concession into an excuse for selfishness and covenant-breaking.
Covenant marriage: A solemn, lifelong commitment before God rather than a merely sentimental expression of present feelings.
Sexual immorality: Conduct that violates the exclusivity and integrity of the marital one-flesh union.
Desertion: An unbelieving spouse's refusal to live faithfully in the marriage, including conduct that forces separation through danger or severe abandonment.
Gospel picture: Marriage as a lived sign of Christ's faithful, sacrificial, and inseparable love for his church.