The purity covenant
Some have asked and others were wondering what the fathers and daughters acutally pledge and sign. So here is a copy of the covenant. Remember that this is a church sponsored event and we try to support our statements with Biblical reasoning. This posting is definately more Christian in nature and is not meant to offend any of the non-christian readers but provide insight into the covenant.
The Father
I, __________________as your Father, do solemnly swear and covenant with you this night, to love you with a pure heart. I covenant to help you, protect you, lead, guide and direct you to remain pure and innocent in body, soul and mind. These things we shall accomplish together until such a time that I give leadership and authority of you over to your husband. I further covenant that:
I will study God’s Word and be accountable to It’s directions, using It as the measure of Truth. (Acts 17:11)
I will acknowledge that God desires the marriage relationship to be the priority after my relationship with Him and that I will make efforts to grow this relationship based on God’s principles. I also acknowledge my children are a welcome addition to the family God has established for me. (Ephesians 5:25)
I will establish boundaries and accept the role as my family’s protector under the authority of the Scripture and to instruct you based on God’s principles. (Col. 3:21, Proverbs 22:6)
I will respect and love you as my daughter and spiritually as my sister-in-Christ. (1 Peter 1:22)
I will, as an earthly model of your heavenly Father, love you in good times and in times of trouble, fear and heartbreak. (Deut. 6:1-9, Romans 8:15.)
I will expect, encourage and help you remain pure until your wedding day. (Proverbs 1:7-9)
I will pray for you in your spiritual growth and for the purity of your mind, body and spirit. (Ephesians 1:16-18)
The Daughter
I,___________________, as your daughter, do solemnly swear and covenant with you this night, to love you with a pure heart, to turn to you in times of trouble, confusion and fear. I covenant with you to follow your lead as my spiritual guide and spiritual authority. Tonight I covenant with you to keep myself spiritually, physically and emotionally pure until my wedding day. I place my trust in you to help me choose a man designated by God to be my husband. I further covenant that:
I will study God’s Word and be accountable to It’s directions, using It as the measure of truth. (Acts 17:11)
I will remain sexually pure until I am married. (Corinthians. 7:34)
I will acknowledge this covenant in my courting relationships, and the fact that my heart is entrusted to you until the day I marry. (Matthew 15:4)
I will accept and celebrate you as God’s choice for my earthly father, submitting to the authority and boundaries you establish until I marry. (Ephesians 6:1)
I will conduct myself in a manner that minimizes any challenge or risk of sexual impurity; honoring God’s plan for relational wholeness and health for a lifetime and bringing honor to my God and you, my dad.
I will bless you with prayer as you lead our family. (Ephesians 1:16)
These things we covenant together as father (sponsor) and daughter until the day of her engagement or marriage.
Signed in the presence of God and His Angels,
_________________________
Father (sponsor)
_________________________
Daughter
The Father
I, __________________as your Father, do solemnly swear and covenant with you this night, to love you with a pure heart. I covenant to help you, protect you, lead, guide and direct you to remain pure and innocent in body, soul and mind. These things we shall accomplish together until such a time that I give leadership and authority of you over to your husband. I further covenant that:
I will study God’s Word and be accountable to It’s directions, using It as the measure of Truth. (Acts 17:11)
I will acknowledge that God desires the marriage relationship to be the priority after my relationship with Him and that I will make efforts to grow this relationship based on God’s principles. I also acknowledge my children are a welcome addition to the family God has established for me. (Ephesians 5:25)
I will establish boundaries and accept the role as my family’s protector under the authority of the Scripture and to instruct you based on God’s principles. (Col. 3:21, Proverbs 22:6)
I will respect and love you as my daughter and spiritually as my sister-in-Christ. (1 Peter 1:22)
I will, as an earthly model of your heavenly Father, love you in good times and in times of trouble, fear and heartbreak. (Deut. 6:1-9, Romans 8:15.)
I will expect, encourage and help you remain pure until your wedding day. (Proverbs 1:7-9)
I will pray for you in your spiritual growth and for the purity of your mind, body and spirit. (Ephesians 1:16-18)
The Daughter
I,___________________, as your daughter, do solemnly swear and covenant with you this night, to love you with a pure heart, to turn to you in times of trouble, confusion and fear. I covenant with you to follow your lead as my spiritual guide and spiritual authority. Tonight I covenant with you to keep myself spiritually, physically and emotionally pure until my wedding day. I place my trust in you to help me choose a man designated by God to be my husband. I further covenant that:
I will study God’s Word and be accountable to It’s directions, using It as the measure of truth. (Acts 17:11)
I will remain sexually pure until I am married. (Corinthians. 7:34)
I will acknowledge this covenant in my courting relationships, and the fact that my heart is entrusted to you until the day I marry. (Matthew 15:4)
I will accept and celebrate you as God’s choice for my earthly father, submitting to the authority and boundaries you establish until I marry. (Ephesians 6:1)
I will conduct myself in a manner that minimizes any challenge or risk of sexual impurity; honoring God’s plan for relational wholeness and health for a lifetime and bringing honor to my God and you, my dad.
I will bless you with prayer as you lead our family. (Ephesians 1:16)
These things we covenant together as father (sponsor) and daughter until the day of her engagement or marriage.
Signed in the presence of God and His Angels,
_________________________
Father (sponsor)
_________________________
Daughter
posted by Anonymous at 6:07 AM
14 Comments:
"until such a time that I give leadership and AUTHORITY OF YOU over to your husband."
Why did you leave out the part requiring a full body and head covering when outside the house?
Sometimes I am embarassed to be a member of the blog community. Anon 7:42 sure makes me feel that way this morning.
HB and I disagree on most things theological in nature but it is their church, their beliefs and their right as citizens to do this pledge.
Now if HB wanted to make such pledges mandatory, per the government, all bets are off. I do not believe that is what he would advocate.
HB, does your wife submit to your authority? If she doesn't, is she impure or sinful? Do you really feel like you're in charge of her? Have you taught your sons that they have leadership and authority over women?
I don't know if your daughter is married or not but should she always submit to her husband's wishes, even when she feels strongly that they're wrong? If she came to you and expressed disgust with her husband's decisions, would you council her to obey him?
I'm just trying to figure this out. It seems to totally contradict my ideas of what Jesus represents.
Ok, here is a mini bible study for the critics on this one word that seems to aggravate so many. In Ephesians 5, the apostle Paul explains to Christians how to live the Christian life: "Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ" (verse 21).
The word “submit” is surely one of the most difficult, disliked, and divisive words in the Bible, but Paul was trying to get these new Christians to "Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ." Whatever the word submit meant in biblical times, it was something Paul thought every Christian could and should do. He then illustrated using examples of how wives and husbands, children and fathers, and slaves and masters could all submit. Submission is a two way relationship and not one way as most people interpret it.
Submission is personal
Submission is a doctrine you apply to yourself. Notice Paul doesn't say, "Husbands, tell your wife to submit"—or, "Wives, tell your husband to step up and be spiritual head of the home." Instead, he speaks to each person and asks each to work on his or her own attitude.
Submission is spiritual
Unless you are faithful and believe in the biblical doctrine and the spirit in which it is written, it makes zero sense to submit to another person. Why would you ever do that?
In Ephesians 5:21, Paul says, "Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ,". The word submit in Greek isn't a command. The command was stated in verse 18, when it said "Be filled with the Spirit."
Submitting is an expression of that and what your response is when you believe and submit to having Christ be your Lord. So the text should read; "Be filled with the Holy Spirit … submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ."
If you're a follower of Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit, then when you hit a power struggle in your marriage, you'll submit to your spouse because it is what Jesus would want. But, again, this works both ways in the marriage and with your kids. It is a mutually respectful relationship.
Submission is mutual
In Ephesians, Paul actually introduced a concept that was very radical to the culture: that people with more power have responsibilities, too. Paul says to husbands, "Yes, you've got authority, but you've also got responsibility." In fact, Christian teachers from the earliest centuries, such as John Chrysostom, have pointed out that what Paul asks the husband to do is actually harder than what he asks the wife to do. He asks the wife to show respect and submit; he asks the husband to die if necessary for his family.
Paul wrote, "Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” That was actually saying that like Jesus who chose to submit himself to the whip, the thorns, and the nails for our benefit, husbands are to do the same for their wives. We as husbands and fathers have a tremendous responsibility to be good leaders and sacrifice for our families.
"Show me a man who lays down his life for his wife, and I'll show you a wife who has no problem with submission."
Submission is beneficial
Many people think submission is a terrible doctrine, but they don’t grasp the full understanding of the true meaning. God didn't give us this doctrine to put us in prison; he gave it to us to set us free.
Think about how much submission helps the person with less power. In Paul's day, women were considered property and had no rights. The author Jill Briscoe wrote, "The Christian wife was about to be offered her first opportunity to have her husband ask her what she felt about selling their 13-year-old daughter into slavery. She'd never been asked before." The person with less power was empowered, a process that's only grown in its beneficial effects up to our time.
Richard Foster also wrote that submission also benefits the person with more power. He explains that "submission leads to liberty, the liberty to be able to let go of the terrible weight and burden of always needing to get my own way."
If you and your spouse are doing submission properly, you both are becoming better people. If you're not, then there's something wrong, because submission is beneficial.
Submission is practical
One reason people see submission as The Text of Terror is because they treat it as some absolute law that has no limitations.
Submission doesn't mean you give up your brain and it doesn't mean that if the person you're submitting to wants to do something illegal, you can do it and say before God, "Hey, I was just submitting to my authority."
Scripture teaches (in Romans 13) that Christians must submit to the governing authorities, yet Christ's apostles directly disobeyed a government order (in Acts 4). Why? Obeying that order would have meant disobeying God.
Submission doesn't mean you go along when you're being asked to do something that violates Scripture, your conscience, or common sense.
Submission is countercultural
The Quest Study Bible puts it this way: "A submissive spirit runs counter to society's values and it always has. However, it remains God's standard for all believers—male and female—for all time."
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Sometimes I am embarassed to be a member of the blog community.
Well, quit hanging out at the Luddite (wink).
This, being America, anyone can believe what he wants. I would point out though that what you refer to ("He then illustrated using examples of how wives and husbands, children and fathers, and SLAVES AND MASTERS could all submit.")was used by many of the "faithful" to justify black slavery in the United States until the mid-1860's. If I were female, I would want a reinterpretation of the submissive wife business along the lines that rethought the scriptural justifications for human slavery.
NA,
Right back atcha!!
Just an editorial/theological nit to pick.
The covenant item that reads I will study God’s Word and be accountable to It’s directions needs work.
I suppose this was assembled by a focus group or committee (perhaps even at a denominational level), but it troubles me to think of millions of these being published as written here.
To me, as an evangelical, if not an Evangelical, the capitalizing of "Word" indicates Christ. The apostrophe(probably a typo) in "It's" reinforces the possessive (belonging to "It"), as in the directions of a genderless "It." The Word is a "he," so shouldn't it be "His" directions?
If "God's Word" means the scriptures, I quibble with the capitalization. Jesus is the Word (logos); the bible is a book, instructive but only to be interpreted through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Scriptures edify, but don't direct. Only the Spirit does that.
And maybe it's (it is) just a typo in using the apostrophe where the authors meant to write "its" is just evidence of someone not paying attention before publishing millions of copies of the "purity" covenant.
Told you it was a nit.
I must have taken a wrong turn at Albuquerque.
How'd we get from the hospital administration to sexual impurity?
HB, you may not have seen my question yesterday, or you have answered and I missed it, but exactly how is "Sex ... more than just a physical act for most women?"
NA,
Mrs. NA is wondering the same thing!
Dang Doc, what was the name of that drug for impulse control?
For all those wondering, the physical responses to sexual stimulation is very similar in both sexes with the refractory period being the greatest difference.
However, multiple studies comfirm that the emotional and psychological responses to sex is very different in men and women.
Areas of the brain that have to do with emotions and memory are stimulated in much greater levels in women.
Men's brains are not nearly as active with sexual stimulation.
Brandon, I do not disagree with your interpretation. The only thing we disagree on is that I think your interpretation does fit into Biblicaal interpretation.
The more selfless we become, the more Christ-like we become and submission is not in conflict
Brandon,
"When the plain sense makes common sense, seek no other sense" is a good rule here. Why would God write a book for us and not make it literally and historically true? Submission is required in all areas of life, and those who can submit to the authorities placed over them by God, as long as they don't disobey God Himself, will surely have more freedom, more joy and great peace than those who do not.
The Centurion who came to Jesus said "I too, am a man under authority.... so, just give the command." See, he realized that there is authority, power and freedom in submission. They seem to be opposites in our perspective, and yet one is a requirement for the other. A Centurion who was not in proper subjection to the one over him would have no authority over those under him.
Just some thoughts... 20 months later.
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