In a legal development that has stirred national attention, Liberty Counsel, a prominent evangelical legal organization, has formally asked the United States Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 decision that imposed same-sex marriage on all fifty states. This request is embedded in the ongoing legal defense of Kim Davis, the former Rowan County, Kentucky clerk who, in obedience to her Christian convictions, declined to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples following the ruling.

The petition represents a growing chorus of voices seeking to reestablish a national understanding of marriage that aligns with the created order revealed in Scripture and upheld throughout church history. While the cultural landscape has shifted dramatically in favor of so-called marriage equality, the biblical witness remains unchanged.

“Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female… For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?” — Matthew 19:4–5

This was Christ’s affirmation of the divine institution of marriage, rooted in the created order (Genesis 2:24) and upheld throughout redemptive history. Any civil redefinition of marriage is, at its core, a rejection of God’s authority and an attempt to place man’s will over God’s Word.

A Stand for Conscience and Justice

Kim Davis’s refusal in 2015 to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples was not an act of rebellion, but of faithfulness. Her case is once again at the nation’s highest court, this time accompanied by a petition that asks the justices not merely to review the judgment against her, but to correct what Liberty Counsel describes as a grave constitutional error in the Obergefell ruling itself.

Mathew Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, stated, “Obergefell is an illegitimate decision. It has no constitutional foundation. It must be reversed.” Staver’s legal reasoning hinges not only on the lack of historical precedent for such a definition of marriage but also on the judicial overreach of five justices who redefined an institution that predates the state itself.

When the State Legislates Sin

Reformed theology has long maintained that the magistrate is a minister of God for good (Romans 13:4), but not a lawgiver in moral matters above the authority of Scripture. When civil authority sanctions sin and demands the conscience of believers to conform, resistance becomes not only permissible, but necessary. As the apostles declared before the Sanhedrin, “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).

The Obergefell decision was not merely a judicial misstep—it was a moral rebellion. It codified into law what God has clearly called sin. Leviticus 18:22 and Romans 1:26–27 both identify homosexual relations as against nature and contrary to God’s design. That does not warrant hatred, nor does it justify hostility. But it does demand clarity, conviction, and a refusal to bend the knee to Caesar when Caesar sets himself against the Lord.

The Fallout of Cultural Compromise

Since Obergefell, Christians in civil service and the private sector alike have faced increasing pressure to abandon their convictions. Kim Davis was jailed for her faith. Others have been fined, sued, or harassed for refusing to affirm same-sex marriage. This is the cost of conscience in a culture where tolerance has become tyranny.

And yet, history reminds us that reform often begins with a faithful remnant willing to stand. The Reformation itself was born from a protest against unbiblical authority. Now, the call to reform reaches into the judiciary. If Obergefell is overturned, it will not be the end of the struggle, but it will mark a milestone in the return to moral order and God-honoring law.

“Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.” — Proverbs 14:34

The pursuit of righteousness in public life must include the defense of natural marriage—not as a political wedge, but as a moral imperative grounded in God’s truth.

Rebuilding on a Sure Foundation

The legal petition before the Supreme Court is more than a case—it is a cultural crossroads. One path leads deeper into moral relativism, where marriage means whatever the courts decide this year. The other path returns to the fixed foundation of God’s created order, where marriage remains a sacred covenant between one man and one woman, for life, before God.

The question before the Court is not whether society should be inclusive, but whether the nation can endure when it legislates confusion in place of clarity, sin in place of righteousness, and rebellion in place of obedience.

“If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” — Psalm 11:3

They can speak. They can stand. They can plead for justice. And they can pray that God will move the hearts of judges and nations alike to repent, return, and restore.

Calvary Herald is committed to reporting national developments through the lens of truth, Scripture, and historic Christian orthodoxy.