Originally Posted by grace2U
I can't quite agree with you here, Pilgrim.
To be sure, Scripture is the only touchstone for the Christian. But the Bible is clear IMO that the primary purpose of marriage is the procreation of children. Mal. 2:15. 'But did He not make them one, having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring. Therefore take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.'

God designed sex, marriage and family life for the purpose of raising godly children, to give them the best start in life. All aberrant forms of sex are abhorrent to Him for precisely that reason.
Perhaps I should make clear that I do not deny that procreation is one of the aspects of marriage, although God has prevented some couples from being able to accomplish that. But I do believe that procreation is not the PRIMARY intent of marriage. For, in the beginning God wrote:

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Genesis 2:18-24 (ASV) "And Jehovah God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him. And out of the ground Jehovah God formed every beast of the field, and every bird of the heavens; and brought them unto the man to see what he would call them: and whatsoever the man called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And the man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the heavens, and to every beast of the field; but for man there was not found a help meet for him. And Jehovah God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof: and the rib, which Jehovah God had taken from the man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And the man said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
Therefore, it seems to me that the original inception of marriage was primarily one of companionship and a paradigm of federal headship illustrating the relationship that exists within the economic Trinity. In the NT, the relationship between Christ and His church is fundamentally one of union; bridegroom and bride... procreation not ever mentioned. Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians in chapter 7 discusses several topics concerning marriage. One of them is one's "need" to be married. There he wrote that he thinks it would be better if one remain single as he was. If procreation was the primary reason for marriage, it seems strange to me that he would encourage individuals to remain single and not marry in order to populate the earth.

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simul iustus et peccator

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