Our homes are to be maintained as centers of moral and spiritual renewal. To achieve this, each Christian family should establish a family altar, have love and respect, take time for companionship, show respect for God and His church, and consecrate itself to Christian witnessing. The article sets forth the following principles. The Scriptures are the authority concerning marriage and divorce. Marriage is a lifelong relationship and a covenant union made in the sight of God, taking priority over all other human relationships.
Human sexuality is to be expressed only within the monogamous, heterosexual framework of marriage.
Marriage is divinely designed for the birth and rearing of children. Man is created in the image of God and human sexuality reflects that image in terms of intimate love, communication, fellowship, subordination of the self to the larger whole, and fulfillment. We have witnessed a general decline of our culture's standards on both divorce and premarital sexual activity, but we reaffirm that divorce is a sin, sexual intercourse before marriage is a sin, and sexual intercourse with anyone except one's spouse after marriage is likewise a sin. In a day of easy divorce, we continue to stand firmly on the Bible's teaching that God's plan for marriage is for one man and one woman together for one entire life, and that sexual immorality is the only possible reason for divorce, and only then after serious spiritual counsel. We further call our members to flee from any dangerous relationships fraught with temptations toward a level of sexual intimacy short of actual intercourse, which are totally improper for God's holy people.