I'm asking this because my partner and I have been together for about 7 years, we met in high school, we're fully committed to each other, and we've never been with anyone else but ourselves. We do not have the funds to have a nice wedding. And we don't want to get married in a courthouse.
1 Corinthians 6:9
ESV - 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.
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Biblically, there's nothing requiring an official presiding over a ceremony, or even any legal documents. Most traditions about marriage are cultural, being derived from exchanges of property and matters of inheritance. Socially, the benefit (not requirement) for most is that making the commitment public tends to discourage casual hookups. But in your case, this isn't an issue.
Also, aside from the spiritual aspect of it, there are legal protections and rights available to married individuals that do not apply to cohabiting couples. In addition, formal marriage (wherever it is performed) also represents an emotional commitment that involves a greater degree of maturity and a willingness to assume responsibility than is characteristic of cohabiting couples. (As an advice columnist used to put it when speaking of cohabiting rather than getting married, "Why buy the cow when the milk is free?")
We need to remember that the biblical idea of marriage Is not the same as the state's idea of marriage. The state's marriage is valid for homosexual couples as well as a man and woman. It is enacted by parliament and authorised by license. And it only applied in a given place at a given time. Biblical marriage is different. It is a universal institution, applicable in all places at all periods of history, from Adam and Eve until now, from Eden to London. And only for a man and a woman. It was never under the control of the state, but under God. If you think the state should control marriage rather than God, then you will have to accept the state's laws rather than Gods laws.
Yes it is wrong to have sex before marriage, and the Scripture that you shared makes it clear that it's wrong. God calls it sexual immorality! It is apparent that your conscience is bothering you. If not, I don't think that it would matter to you! As you have shared, you and your partner are committed to one another, then why not get married? To be honest with you, I believe that you are making excuses for not doing the right thing in the sight of God. We can never justify our disobedience to the Word of God! Hebrews 13:4 says, "Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge."
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