This does not mean that Paul was saying that it is wrong to marry—indeed, he said that marriage was good and condemned those who were “forbidding to marry” (1 Tim. 4:3); but it is true that for those who have the the necessary enthusiasm, energy and courage, there are wider opportunities for the single person than for the married person with responsibilities at home. I have a feeling that many of those in our community who do not marry until after the age of, say thirty, have been influenced by this teaching of Paul. They should not be decried, especially if they are putting their opportunities to good use.

On the other hand, society is structured (still) on the basis of a majority of the adult population being married, and the opportunities for service are not all one way: for example, the married couple is far better able to offer hospitality than is the single person; and marriage provides the guarantee of homes in which to nurture the next generation.

I therefore submit that, in exhorting ourselves to good marriages, we do not need to restrict our search to those passages which have a specific application, but as we read the Scriptures we shall find verses of general application which are nevertheless helpful in the context of marriage. For example, Philippians 1:26:

As a community it has always been our claim to believe the doctrines and try to practise the precepts just as the earliest Christian disciples believed and practised them. Nowadays we live and practise our religion against the background of a world in which there seems to be a continual erosion of moral standards, let alone traditional Christadelphian standards, and we are bound to be influenced by modern trends, even if only to a slight degree. The restraints imposed by knowledge of Biblical teaching have been cast aside, but we ignore it at our peril. In the beginning we read that the Lord God provided Adam with a suitable companion for all his needs and Adam gratefully availed himself of the woman whom God provided (Gen. 2:18, 21–24). This is the way it was at Creation and this is the way it has been, or should have been, ever since. Thus, even before man’s fall, marriage was instituted and is one of the laws forming the basis upon which life itself was founded by God, so that to destroy marriage would be to strike at the very roots of creation. Indeed, the opinion that society could not continue in its present form if marriage were to be abandoned is well founded.

God intended marriage to be for life, with both partners faithful to each other until death parts them or until Christ comes. Since Christian marriage may be expected to last for a long time, it should not be entered into lightly and the choice of a partner becomes very important. Prospective partners will be advised to take account of their relative ages and backgrounds, their manner of life and personalities, their temperaments and health, their tendencies and weaknesses, their families and occupations. But when all is said and done, there is no such thing as total compatibility, and the only sound and enduring basis for marriage is a partner in the faith—and love. “Love suffers long, and is kind; love does not envy, does not vaunt itself, is not puffed up, does not behave itself unseemly, seeks not her own, is not easily provoked, thinks no evil; rejoices not in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Cor. 13:4–7). Those words, which have general application, apply especially in marriage. Would that we could always put them into practice!

The question may arise in some minds: “Should a wife submit to her husband when she knows he is wrong?” We could call that the “64,000 dollar question”, and the classic case of Ananias and Sapphira comes to mind. If only Sapphira had not submitted to her husband, she would have saved herself and, possibly, her husband as well. Obviously (in my opinion), the wife is not debarred from trying to persuade her husband to see the error of his ways—and if he is a truly Christian husband he will undoubtedly change course. It is amazing what problems can be solved with patience, kindness and a determination to succeed. And, married brethren: always remember what a responsibility we have standing in some measure as it were representative of Christ to our wives!

Finally, there may not be a great deal that some of us can do to witness for Christ in the way of standing on a soap-box at the street corner, but our marriages in the Lord, if they are harmonious, can be witnesses just as powerful, if less eloquent, to those about us. The teaching of Christ and the apostles makes clear the potential for good or evil of every disciple’s example. It follows that the influence of the example of two disciples, acting as one, will be even more powerful. When a brother and sister marry and set up home, a new centre of influence begins, a further sanctuary for other disciples, another outpost for the Truth. We may think particularly of Aquila and Priscilla (see Romans 16:3–4) and some modern counter-parts of our acquaintance, for whom we have cause to give thanks for all their labours in the service of Christ and his Gospel.