Can You Test Drive A Marriage Through Cohabitation?

Summary: This my friends is the age old question that cuts through all categories of class, race, pedigree and culture. The question of whether to live with someone before marriage in order to see if the marriage would work. In my travels I have heard both sides of this argument and have heard some very strong points to support the claims of the opposing sides. But it always comes down to what is the correct thing to do according to Holy Scripture and even then many have their points in working around that. Now you are wondering how in the heck could someone work around an issue that is clearly defined in the Word of God? I recently had someone say to me that once you have sex with someone, then THAT'S you spouse as the divine forces of the universe and soulties have been activated to join you in a special way. So in essence, this throws the "piece of paper" marriage situation out of the door. So much for that! Does it really mean that you will truly get to know what this person is like merely because they have agreed to live under the same roof with you? Many feel that if you give away the milk for free then why should your mate buy the cow? After "test driving" the union for a stretch of time, does it make it easier to leave with no legal commitment when the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence? What about that proverbial couple that has lived together for many years and have all but forgotten about their plan to marry after a "while" but have become too complacent with things as they are? Some will say that if you have to live with someone before marrying them that you need to date them a little longer to find out what attributes or weak traits you are looking for in order to make the decision to take the plunge. So as you can see, we have a lot of ground to cover tonight as this issue is NOT as simple as it appears.