God instituted marriage and the family and as such He alone is qualified to determine its standard for us. You know already that man’s standard on marriage has fallen so much over the years and is still falling today. God’s standard is much higher than man’s and this is obvious in all areas of human endeavour.

When you consider things that are connected with our eternal welfare like marriages and family life among others, God’s ways stand in stark contrast to that of man. The approach of human beings generally is usually distinctly alluring. If you are not very thoughtful and vigilant it would seem right in your eyes.

The man’s ways, his plans and standard concerning marriage, for instance, even though it has fallen so low appears to be reasonable to many people. While it may be acceptable to majority of the people, including those that go to church, it remains offensive to God. Believers must ensure that they observe and follow all they are being taught from the word of God, whether on marriage or any other area of life.

As there is only one true God and one true gospel, there is only one true standard to follow, and this is binding on every believer. There is no other gospel to obey, but a perversion meant to deceive men. If you hear anything different from the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ presented to us in the word of God, it is not a saving gospel, but a destructive contraption. And on this standard on marriage you will meet many great motivational speakers, read many books that seek to present an alternative to the word of God.

These are perversions that must be avoided, if you intent to follow Jesus Christ. There are people that may claim to have the understanding of an angel and will give you another standard, man’s standards concerning marriage. These too are deceptive. God’s standard is ever the same, while man’s standard changes with the time, people, tribe, or for different categories of men and women. Man’s standard is usually popular because it is very easy to carry out. You do not have to pray, neither do you need to stress for the grace of God. You do not need the power of God to live out man’s standards, but God’s standard can only work through the help of God.

There are more preachers who are preaching the standard of men more than the standard of God, because the stand of men does not need the grace, power or the Holy Ghost nor stress or endurance. It is just easy; permissive and carefree, and because of that, many people uphold it. Only very few are seeking God’s standard. Majority of the churches, nations and the world, prefer man’s fallen standards without taking time to consider what they do in the light of eternity.

In deciding what to accept or reject, it is important to remember that all men would be judged on the basis of God’s standard. When you preach the word in season and out of season, when you talk about God’s standard in marriage it is only those that are committed that would keep coming. If you have been in the standard of man for many years in marriage, and suddenly, you encounter a church that turns on the light to enable you see the standard of God, it will be inconvenient at least, at first. It will trouble your mind, unsettle and make you unhappy a little. But when you continue in the light, your heart will readjust to God’s word.

We are not going to be judged by the standards around or by what people say, including some who declare deceptively that the voice of men is the voice of God, but by God’s standard. God’s standard is different and higher than that of man. If we forsake that standard or remove it, you will be disappointed on the last day. Therefore, to escape punishment, eternal and everlasting punishment, you must repent, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and wholeheartedly live by God’s holy standard as revealed in the scripture.

• Further Reading (King James Version): Isaiah 55:8,9; Proverbs 14:12; Romans 16:17,18; Galatians 1:6-9; 2 Corinthians 11:13-15; 2 Timothy 4:1-5; John 5:22; 12:46-48.