Discovering How to Define Covenant Marriage

Defining Covenant Marriage

• The Beholding of the Marriage Definition
• Is Marriage a Covenant or Contract? Society’s dilemma
• A Snapshot in Defining a Covenant Marriage
• Relational Characteristics of a Covenant
• Searching Below the Surface – Look at unexpected Islamic ideas.
• En Route to Defining a Covenant Marriage – Countering Contract
• Essence of the Covenant Matrix
• Priority of Sacredness in Weddings – A Covenant Uniqueness
• A Covenant Marriage Prayer
• Searching for the Sacrificial Lover’s Identity
• Discovering How to Define Covenant Marriage

Defining Marriage: Sketching the difference between Covenant and Contract is not your typical Marriage book. Despite contrasting marriage with Islamic contract marriage, the content will help couples understand what the Bible says about marriage. A summary of Defining Marriage using AI tools appears below. Listen to the podcast or the YouTube video to give you insights into how to define marriage best.

Podcast summarizing how to Define Marriage by the resources of Nakhati Jon.

Here is a summary of covenant marriage, drawing on the provided sources, suitable for a blog post:

Understanding Covenant Marriage: Insights from Nakhati Jon^[1]an AI summary from Nakhati Jon’s resources made by Notebook LM – July, 2025

Have you ever considered the foundational differences between a “contract” and a “covenant” when it comes to marriage? Nakhati Jon, an expert who examines marriage, Islamic culture, and church history, sheds light on this crucial distinction in his latest publication, “Defining Marriage: Sketching a Difference between Covenant and Contract”. This book, which is also part of the series “Exploring Marriage in an Islamic Context,” identifies profound differences between biblical covenant marriage and Islamic contract marriage.

What is Covenant Marriage? According to Nakhati Jon, a covenant marriage is not merely a social agreement or a legal transaction. Instead, it portrays a sacred unity between one man and one woman established in God’s presence. This unity is formed through a mutual public declaration, establishing a new, sacrificial, relational oneness based on unconditional promises. This bond is intended to be unalterable and permanent in its commitment until death, and breaking it would violate its sanctity.

Foundational Concepts of Covenant Marriage:

1. Reflection of the Divine-Human Relationship: Nakhati Jon emphasizes that marriage reflects the divine-human relationship. In this relationship, God acts as a sacrificial lover pursuing a bond with His beloved people. Just as God desires relational unity, acceptance, intimate knowing, and dwelling together in oneness with His people, covenant marriage expects the same between spouses. The God-human covenant displays a total commitment based on promise, not constant obedience.
2. New Identity in Christ: Every believer receives a new identity in Christ, becoming a son or daughter of God and drawing near to a loving Father. Similarly, a covenant marriage changes individual identity, moving spouses from seeking to protect their own role to becoming sacrificial servants of each other. This Christian identity emphasizes who believers are in Christ rather than just what they do, shaping their lives through Christlikeness and values.
3. Created in God’s Image and for Oneness: God created both male and female in His image, imbuing them with spiritual essence, relational ability, and value. Marriage unity reflects in a sense God’s unity. God, as the active agent, initiated the first marriage by creating Eve for Adam, depicting a relationship “made for each other”. Adam’s poetic words, “bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh,” fostered emotional closeness and oneness, signifying his emotional commitment to being her sacrificial loving husband.

Leaving and Cleaving

1. Leaving, Cleaving, and Becoming One Flesh: The principles of marriage outlined in Genesis 2:24-25 state that a man shall “leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh”.
   • Leaving and cleaving initiates a God-given bond, with the initiative often coming from the man and involving a public declaration, prioritizing the wife over parents.
   • Becoming one flesh is a central descriptor of marriage, affirmed by Jesus, and represents a continuous process toward transparency and intimacy in all areas of a person’s life—body, mind, and spirit.
2. Divine Witness: God is the primary witness to a covenant marriage. His presence establishes the sacred bond and provides accountability for faithfulness. This makes the marriage sacred and more significant than any human-made agreement.
3. Permanence and Unconditionality: A covenant, unlike a contract, is unalterable and permanent. God’s promises in His covenants are resolute and firm, even when human disobedience alters the relationship. Similarly, in covenant marriage, spouses commit to a lifetime bond under God’s authority, and their commitment depends on God’s power and enabling.

Covenant Marriage vs. Contract Marriage

Nakhati Jon explicitly contrasts covenant oneness with a contractual view of marriage.

• Covenant oneness is built on mutual commitment, spiritual sacrifice, and divine presence, reflecting God’s relational nature. It emphasizes lasting faithfulness grounded in spiritual depth and divine enablement.
• Contract marriage, often found in legalistic or cultural models (like some Islamic marriage views), centers on agreement and legal obligations, performance, and conditional rights based on a dowry.

For those from an Islamic background who convert to Christianity, Nakhati Jon’s work is particularly helpful in understanding the profound changes available to their marriage as they move from expected obligations (contract) to unconditional promises (covenant).

Why Does This Matter? Marriage, under the covenant view, becomes a living metaphor of Christ’s relationship with His Church, where unity is rooted in love, mutual submission, and covenant loyalty. It mirrors God’s internal unity of distinct persons, encouraging spouses to serve each other selflessly and depend on God’s grace to sustain sacrificial love.

To dive deeper into these insightful comparisons and understand the profound implications for marriage today, explore Nakhati Jon’s website: www.nakhatijon.com. You can also find his book, “Defining Marriage,” on Kindle or in book form.