Q: Whilst chatting with a Christian about getting married she mentioned, “Marriage should only be in the Lord.” Does it mean that God approves of marriages in a church, but not those in a registry office?
A: No, the phrase has nothing to do with the location of the marriage service.
Plenty of marriages are performed in a church setting that are nonetheless doomed from the outset: The reason being, they are marriages that are not in the Lord: But marriages outside the Lord.
The phrase in the Lord is used by the Holy Ghost in 1 Co. 7:38-39 KJV, where He gives guidance on who is permitted to marry whom, for example here, writing of virgin daughters and widows;
So then he that giveth her in marriage doeth well; but he that giveth her not in marriage doeth better. The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord.
The meaning of in the Lord becomes crystal clear, when understood in conjunction with this precious passage…
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