Can you have the religious wedding without civil marriage?

Because many young people today are going to work or study abroad, and it is harder for them to have the necessary documents for marriage in order, these questions arise for many people:

Is it good or normal for two young people to marry in another country, but only have the religious wedding without civil marriage? Are they allowed to live together as husband and wife without a civil marriage? If they want to marry in another country, how does the wedding take place? Should they ask for permission from their pastors in Moldova? Or can they just tell them they decided to get married abroad? Why is it necessary? What is the process? Thanks for the reply.

No, my dear ones, no pastor who fears God will accept having such a wedding. The marriage is the official conclusion of the marriage covenant. Previously, the wedding only took place at the Church and was immediately written in the documents of the state. With the coming of communism in Russia and secularism in the West, the marriage act issued by the Church is no longer considered as having the same power in the state. Therefore, no church servant will officiate the religious ceremony until the wedding couple also presents the act of registration of marriage to the Civil Status Office. Every minister of the church wants to be sure that the man and woman who marry have the most serious intentions and that they marry for all their life, as God asks us to do. You must make every effort to bring your acts in order and register your civil marriage, then have the religious marriage, and only then live together. Otherwise, it would mean to defile the marriage, and this is said in the Holy Scriptures:

Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge. (Hebrew 13:4) (NASB)

God can help you prepare the documents, register the marriage, have the marriage, not regret it when you stand before God. On this occasion, I recommend that you take the course “Marriage without Regrets” and study it, for you will be prepared for all aspects of marriage and you will not make the mistakes that some did, destroying or filling their marriage with bitterness from the beginning. This was not their intention, but they did it out of ignorance. Do not ignore the truth of God’s Word and prepare well for the marriage so you can enjoy it, live it according to the will of God, and not have regret when you come before God.

Read this article in Romanian.

Translated by Liza Birladeanu.