If this is the correct interpretation then what happens if a pastors wife dies? If he remarries what would keep him from being disqualified? He was married twice. You can't say one thing and mean another, especially when you said it meant "married only one time."

Most of the confusion comes from the fact that the majority of people do not check the Bible to see what a marriage is in the eyes of God.

The idea that the essence of marriage is a vow or ceremony is actually a Roman Catholic idea. Catholics believe marriage is one of the sacraments the church can grant to a couple. And since they believe the church can grant a marriage, they also believe it can annul one. Since to them the act of marriage is a decree of the church and not the physical union of the man and woman, the church can easily dissolve a marriage as if it never existed by simply decreeing it. As unbiblical as this position is, many Fundamentalists have been swept away by tradition and agree with the Catholics in insisting the act of marriage is essentially a sacramental ceremony God uses to join a man to his wife.

The first indication of a marriage in the Bible is, of course, the union of Adam and Eve. In Genesis 2:23-24 Adam makes a prophetic statement: "And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." Adam says a man is to leave his father and mother (Adam had neither in the common sense) and cleave unto his wife, and this would make them "one flesh." Ephesians 5:28-29 states that the one flesh is the man's flesh: "So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church."

So, from the very beginning it is clear God declares the defining act of marriage as the physical union. There is no vow, ceremony, or ritual even hinted. Nearly all marriages in the Bible would be today considered "common law" marriages. The two parties simply agree to live together as man and wife and join as "one flesh." According to the World Book Encyclopedia, some states still recognize common law marriage as a valid, legal marriage and treat the couple as "husband and wife" apart from any ceremony or "vows." Throughout history, and in nearly every culture, the physical union of a man and woman has been considered the act of marriage.

Another passage which shows the act of marriage is physical is the account of Abram and Hagar in Genesis 16:3-4: "And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife. And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes." Here Sarai simply gives Hagar to Abram to be his wife and Hagar becomes such when Abram "went in unto" her. No vow, no ceremony, not even any love or affection is mentioned or implied, but nonetheless, the physical union made Hagar Abram's wife.

Quoted from the book From Marriage to Remarriage. Timothy S. Morton.

I believe we should encourage others to follow the laws of the land ( Rom 13:1) and go through the marriage ceremony. The fact is that there are many who have only had one ceremony but have been married more than once. Many pastors and deacons would be disqualified if what God says a marriage is were applied to our text. This is the "pig in the poke" so to speak. This is why so many teach that marriage is a ceremony instead of flesh joining flesh. If what the Bible says were applied, there are a whole bunch of pastors and deacons who were married in High School and College by God's standard that wouldn't qualify for the ministry according to (1 Tim 3:2). I know that is plowing a little close to the cotton but this verse is being used constantly in a wrong way and many men who love the Lord are being held in bondage by the wrong interpretation of this verse.

In the Bible there are three reasons for divorce. ( Matt 19:9) Fornication, (Rom 7:1-3) Death, and Desertion (1 Cor 7:15,28). If a pastor falls into one of these categories he has Biblical backing to stay in the ministry.

Don't let a preacher or teacher put you into bondage by taking a verse and giving his private interpretation. The text in 1 Timothy is obviously speaking of poligamy. As a side note the Bible says that God divorced his bride (Jer 3:14, Isa 50:1). According to many "well meaning" preachers He would be disqualified from the ministry. This is why it's best to compare what men say about the Bible with what the Bible actually says.