Say jane and.michael were both virgins.when they met and decided to commite themselves to each other for life without getting legally married, would they be sinning? Say they both died in old age still together.Furstentum Liechtenstein wrote:Prostitution is a perversion of God's original intent for men and women. An analogy may help: if you load your car's interior - seats and trunk - with firewood and begin deliveries to your customers, you are perverting the car designer's intent.
There are many verses on marriage in the Bible. None say that a marriage has to be before an official of some sort. A succinct verse might be Exodus 22:16,17.
You bring up some interesting points re: scripture.
Is the legal part of marriage 'just a piece of paper' to God?