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5 REASONS WHY CHRISTIANS SHOULD NOT OBTAIN A STATE MARRIAGE LICENCE
SOURCE: http://www.mercyseat.net
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5 Reasons Why Christians Should Not Obtain a State Marriage License

by Pastor Matt Trewhella

Every year thousands of Christians amble down to their local county
courthouse and obtain a marriage license from the State in order to marry
their future spouse. They do this unquestioningly. They do it because their
pastor has told them to go get one, and besides, "everybody else gets one."
This pamphlet attempts to answer the question - why should we not get one?

1. The definition of a "license" demands that we not obtain one to
marry. Black's Law Dictionary defines "license" as, "The permission by
competent authority to do an act which without such permission, would be
illegal." We need to ask ourselves- why should it be illegal to marry
without the State's permission? More importantly, why should we need the
State's permission to participate in something which God instituted (Gen.
2:18-24)? We should not need the State's permission to marry nor should we
grovel before state officials to seek it. What if you apply and the State
says "no"? You must understand that the authority to license implies the
power to prohibit. A license by definition "confers a right" to do
something. The State cannot grant the right to marry. It is a God-given
right.

2. When you marry with a marriage license, you grant the State
jurisdiction over your marriage. When you marry with a marriage license,
your marriage is a creature of the State. It is a corporation of the State!
Therefore, they have jurisdiction over your marriage including the fruit of
your marriage. What is the fruit of your marriage? Your children and every
piece of property you own. There is plenty of case law in American
jurisprudence which declares this to be true.

In 1993, parents were upset here in Wisconsin because a test was
being administered to their children in the government schools which was
very invasive of the family's privacy. When parents complained, they were
shocked by the school bureaucrats who informed them that their children were
required to take the test by law and that they would have to take the test
because they (the government school) had jurisdiction over their children.
When parents asked the bureaucrats what gave them jurisdiction, the
bureaucrats answered, "your marriage license and their birth certificates."
Judicially, and in increasing fashion, practically, your state marriage
license has far-reaching implications.

3. When you marry with a marriage license, you place yourself under a
body of law which is immoral. By obtaining a marriage license, you place
yourself under the jurisdiction of Family Court which is governed by
unbiblical and immoral laws. Under these laws, you can divorce for any
reason. Often, the courts side with the spouse who is in rebellion to God,
and castigates the spouse who remains faithful by ordering him or her not to
speak about the Bible or other matters of faith when present with the
children.

As a minister, I cannot in good conscience perform a marriage which
would place people under this immoral body of laws. I also cannot marry
someone with a marriage license because to do so I have to act as an agent
of the State! I would have to sign the marriage license, and I would have
to mail it into the State. Given the State's demand to usurp the place of
God and family regarding marriage, and given it's unbiblical, immoral laws
to govern marriage, it would be an act of treason for me to do so.

4. The marriage license invades and removes God-given parental
authority. When you read the Bible, you see that God intended for children
to have their father's blessing regarding whom they married. Daughters were
to be given in marriage by their fathers (Dt. 22:16; Ex. 22:17; I Cor.
7:38). We have a vestige of this in our culture today in that the father
takes his daughter to the front of the altar and the minister asks, "Who
gives this woman to be married to this man?"

Historically, there was no requirement to obtain a marriage license
in colonial America. When you read the laws of the colonies and then the
states, you see only two requirements for marriage. First, you had to obtain
your parents permission to marry, and second, you had to post public notice
of the marriage 5-15 days before the ceremony.

Notice you had to obtain your parents permission. Back then you saw
godly government displayed in that the State recognized the parents
authority by demanding that the parents permission be obtained. Today, the
all-encompassing ungodly State demands that their permission be obtained to
marry.

By issuing marriage licenses, the State is saying, "You don't need
your parents permission, you need our permission." If parents are opposed to
their child's marrying a certain person and refuse to give their permission,
the child can do an end run around the parents authority by obtaining the
State's permission, and marry anyway. This is an invasion and removal of
God-given parental authority by the State.

5. When you marry with a marriage license, you are like a
polygamist[more accurately polyandrist or having two husbands at the same
time]. From the State's point of view, when you marry with a marriage
license, you are not just marrying your spouse, but you are also marrying
the State.

The most blatant declaration of this fact that I have ever found is a
brochure entitled "With This Ring I Thee Wed." It is found in county
courthouses across Ohio where people go to obtain their marriage licenses.
It is published by the Ohio State Bar Association. The opening paragraph
under the subtitle "Marriage Vows" states, "Actually, when you repeat your
marriage vows you enter into a legal contract. There are three parties to
that contract. 1.You; 2. Your husband or wife, as the case may be; and 3.
the State of Ohio."

See, the State and the lawyers know that when you marry with a
marriage license, you are not just marrying your spouse, you are marrying
the State! You are like a polygamist! You are not just making a vow to your
spouse, but you are making a vow to the State and your spouse. You are also
giving undue jurisdiction to the State.

When Does the State Have Jurisdiction Over a Marriage?

God intended the State to have jurisdiction over a marriage for two
reasons - 1). in the case of divorce, and 2). when crimes are committed
i.e., adultery, etc. Unfortunately, the State now allows divorce for any
reason, and it does not prosecute for adultery.

In either case, divorce or crime, a marriage license is not necessary
for the courts to determine whether a marriage existed or not. What is
needed are witnesses. This is why you have a best man and a maid of honor.
They should sign the marriage certificate in your family Bible, and the
wedding day guest book should be kept.

Marriage was instituted by God, therefore it is a God-given right.
According to Scripture, it is to be governed by the family, and the State
only has jurisdiction in the cases of divorce or crime.

History of Marriage Licenses in America

George Washington was married without a marriage license. Abraham
Lincoln was married without a marriage license. So, how did we come to this
place in America where marriage licenses are issued?

Historically, all the states in America had laws outlawing the
marriage of blacks and whites. In the mid-1800's, certain states began
allowing interracial marriages or miscegenation as long as those marrying
received a license from the state. In other words they had to receive
permission to do an act which without such permission would have been
illegal.

Blacks Law Dictionary points to this historical fact when it defines
"marriage license" as, "A license or permission granted by public authority
to persons who intend to intermarry." "Intermarry" is defined in Black's Law
Dictionary as, "Miscegenation; mixed or racial intermarriages."

Give the State an inch and they will take a 100 miles (or as one
elderly woman once said to me "10,000 miles.") Not long after these licenses
were issued, some states began requiring all people who marry to obtain a
marriage license. In 1923, the Federal Government established the Uniform
Marriage and Marriage License Act (they later established the Uniform
Marriage and Divorce Act). By 1929, every state in the Union had adopted
marriage license laws.

What Should We Do?

Christian couples should not be marrying with State marriage
licenses, nor should ministers be marrying people with State marriage
licenses. Some have said to me, "If someone is married without a marriage
license, then they aren't really married." Given the fact that states may
soon legalize same-sex marriages, we need to ask ourselves, "If a man and a
man marry with a State marriage license, and a man and woman marry without a
State marriage license - who's really married? Is it the two men with a
marriage license, or the man and woman without a marriage license? In
reality, this contention that people are not really married unless they
obtain a marriage license simply reveals how Statist we are in our thinking.
We need to think biblically.

You should not have to obtain a license from the State to marry
someone anymore than you should have to obtain a license from the State to
be a parent, which some in academic and legislative circles are currently
pushing to be made law.

When I marry a couple, I always buy them a Family Bible which
contains birth and death records, and a marriage certificate. We record the
marriage in the Family Bible. What's recorded in a Family Bible will stand
up as legal evidence in any court of law in America. Both George Washington
and Abraham Lincoln were married without a marriage license. They simply
recorded their marriages in their Family Bibles. So should we.

(Pastor Trewhella has been marrying couples without marriage licenses
for ten years. Many other pastors also refuse to marry couples with State
marriage licenses.

This pamphlet is not comprehensive in scope. Rather, the purpose of
this pamphlet is to make you think and give you a starting point to do
further study of your own. If you would like an audio sermon regarding this
matter, just send a gift of at least five dollars in cash to: Mercy Seat
Christian Church 10240 W. National Ave. PMB #129 Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53227.

 

Will you run to Romans 13 when the Govt. tells you you have to hire a sodomite at your church? Or how about when they tell you the gospel is a hate message against Jews and Muslims and can't be preached becuase it excludes salvation from them apart from Christ? I think this fellow has some points. I intend to study it further.