Can Christian members marry if they had sexual relations before marriage?

Question:

What should the pastor do when two church members want to marry, but when they were asked, they confessed that they had sexual relations before marriage?

My opinion is that they should marry to enter into the covenant of  marriage and thereby legalize their relationship before God and men.

The pastor (priest) must keep the secret of their confession, rebuke them, urge them to repentance from heart and purity and immediately to start seriously study the Scriptures so that these Christians may grow in faith and may not somehow be enticed to commit adultery again outside marriage. Their sin of fornication has already drawn judgment on them them and they will suffer the consequences that will begin to emerge sooner or later.

The course “Marriage without regrets” is an urgent need to be studied with this couple who had sexual relations before their marriage.

Translated by Felicia Rotaru