©1996 by Thomas F. Heinze
Reproduced by permission

The Bible makes it clear both in the Old Testament and the New, that marriage is not prohibited to those who would like to please God, even to those who want to serve Him full time. The New Testament makes this clear when it sets out the requirements for church officers. A bishop must be irreproachable, married only once… He must be a good manager of his own household, keeping his children under control (I Timothy 3:2-4). This is the same rule that is given for the deacons, Deacons may be married but once, and must be good managers of their children and their households (3:12). The priests of the Old Testament were also free to marry and were usually married, just as were the church leaders of the New Testament.

In addition, while severely condemning all sexual relations between people who are not married to each other, God explains that sexual contact between people who are married is not sin. Rather, He commands each person in the marriage union to give himself to the other. But to avoid immorality, every man should have his own wife and every woman her own husband. The husband should fulfill his conjugal obligations toward his wife, the wife hers toward her husband. A wife does not belong to herself but to her husband; equally, a husband does not belong to himself but to his wife. Do not deprive one another, unless perhaps by mutual consent for a time to devote yourselves to prayer. Then return to one another... (1·Corinthians 7:1-5). This passage makes it very clear that lack of desire at the moment, or even a feeling that sex is sin, is not sufficient reason for a married person to deprive his husband or wife. God wants married people to be satisfied at home, so as to be strengthened against temptation from without.

In Ephesians 5:22-23, God chose the relationship between husband and wife as an example of His relationship with the believers. He said, Wives should be submissive to their husbands as if to the Lord because the husband is the head of his wife just as Christ is head of His body the church, as well as its Savior. The passage goes on to command husbands to love their wives, and treat them tenderly, as nicely as they treat themselves. We are to be submissive to Christ, as the wife is to be submissive to her husband, and He cares for us in the way that he wants a husband to care for his wife. The use of this comparison shows that God approves of marriage.

It is true that an unmarried person is more free to do God's work, and the Bible states this clearly, but balances it with the teaching of 1·Corinthians 7:9, but if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. It is better to marry than to be on fire. So while the unmarried condition is the best way for some people to serve God, it is not the best for everyone. That is why God permits each one to marry or not, as seems best in his own case.

The Catholic church maintains that Peter was the first Bishop of Rome and the first Pope, yet he was clearly married as we see in Matthew 8:14 and 1·Corinthians 9:5. Since the Bible does not command celibacy for the church leaders, and the early church did not practice it, obviously it is not a commandment of God for all those who want to serve Him full time. It was imposed upon the Roman Catholic priests by certain synods (Elvira, Orange, Arles, Agde, Toledo) and by the Lateran Council of 1139, basically to eliminate nepotism in the Roman church which controls a great deal of property which some of the priests preferred to pass on to their children.

This condition does not exist in most Protestant churches, so there has been little need of this kind of regulation. In addition, many Protestant churches are too democratic in their organization to be able to impose a rule which has no Biblical basis. The Roman Church as an employer has the right to require celibacy of some of its employees; however, many priests are incapable of making it through life without having sexual relations. God considers these relations extremely sinful when practiced by those who are not married (1·Corinthians 6:9-10,18; Acts 15:28-29; Revelations 21:8). The poor priests who are not able to resist will not only be more severely condemned by God, but also scandalize many in their church, and bring other people into sin with them.