TEXT: "You shall not commit adultery" (Exodus 20:14).

IDEA: Christian marriage is a contract, but it is more than a contract.

PURPOSE: To help listeners think about the commitments made in Christian marriage.

Is marriage primarily a religious or a civil institution?

I. When you think of marriage customs in other parts of the world, are they primarily religious or primarily civil?

In Chinese law for 4,000 years, it was neither religious or civil; it was arranged between families who agreed on when the marriage would take place. Now the government has established who can get married at what age, and divorce is an option.

In Russia, the law stipulated that a wife should love her husband and show “boundless compliance” to him. The laws now are that persons entering marriage must sign three statements:

• the intent to marry