Pastor Chris: “God does not approve or disapprove of marriages”

LoveWorld members from all over the world send questions to Pastor Chris Oyakhilome about everything from Bible verses to marriage and divorce.

Megan from Canada once asked the pastor the following question:

Does God recognize all marriages? Does God ever disapprove of a marriage union, thereby nullifying the marriage spiritually even though the couple got married legally?

According to Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, God has no role in approving or disapproving of marriages.

“God does not approve or disapprove of marriages. Marriages are man-made. Individuals decide to get married, and so, it has got nothing to do with God approving or disapproving. The Bible does not tell us that God would disapprove of someone’s marriage after the marriage has taken place and then nullify it spiritually. That is not God’s job,” he said.

Pastor Chris: “You made a decision – just that your decision was wrong”

Pastor Chris Oyakhilome also mentioned that people will get in trouble if they make the wrong decisions when it comes to marriage.

“You have to understand that in a marriage, you have bound yourself in a union to somebody. That means that you have ordered words. That God holds you over. That is an important thing you have to consider. The thing is, does God approve of a marriage to a chimpanzee? These are the things that you may be asking,” he said and added:

“That means that the law of God, the word of God is violated in such cases, and He does not need to nullify such a marriage spiritually. He does not. That is why He can hold you guilty of an offense because it is not His to nullify. It is an action you have taken. So, you can actually marry yourself to a dog or to a goat, but then you will be the one in trouble because that is up to you. You made a decision. Just that your decision was wrong.”

Notifying the church before getting married

Pastor Chris Oyakhilome has previously said that people need God’s guidance in finding a person to get married to. When that person has been found and the couple has gotten married, they should love each other.

“Love the one you marry,” he stated.

The pastor has also made it clear that it is important to inform one’s minister before getting married.

Even if you are a member of a big church, it should somehow be possible to get through to the leadership and inform them of the upcoming marriage.

To Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, having God’s blessing before marriage through one’s pastor is very important.

When the marriage has taken place, only the couple and God in companionship can determine whether it is a successful one or not.

Pastor Chris Oyakhilome believes that it is impossible to measure what a successful marriage is. That is also why the Bible does not mention a word about successful marriages, according to him.

Instead, God really cares about a person living a successful life, he says.