That being the case what are your thoughts when people who as you say are continually sinning by getting remarried stand before God.
Not being obtuse, just interested to know your thoughts because truth is we will all stand before God.
Everything that is not of faith is a sin. I would say for myself that I lack faith every day in some area, therefore am I continually sinning?
To me, Jesus said that he had to die and go back to the Father so the Holy Spirit would come to convict the world of sin, that sin was/is unbelief in him.
What are your thoughts John 4:1-26. The woman who had five husbands?
What are your thoughts John 8:1-12. The adulterous woman?
In both cases it seems to me that Jesus did not condemn either.
What worries me is that given your view it can heap condemnation.
To the Samaritan who has remarried for reasons other than adultery it could come across "Yes your sins are/have been forgiven but just so you know as you have remarried you are continually sinning" In this case Jesus points to faith in him and that one day we can worship him whoever we are, wherever we are. It's beleiveing in him for salvation.
To the Christian in the same situation of remarrying you are saying the same thing in that, their sin is forgiven but they are continually sinning.
What are your thoughts on 1 Corinthians 6:9 which mentions adulterers?
As I said what worries me is that in either case we can heap condemnation on both scenarios, to the believer we can hinder their faith and fruit and walk, to the non Christian we could hinder them from believing but also bring about a wrong birth in Christ.
As I said I'm not being obtuse but just trying to reconcile your comment with my thoughts.
Hi Wrg,
Had to go back and read my post no. 81. I said divorce and remarriage is a continual sin but that I agreed with two other posters that the divorce could be put under the blood of Jesus for forgiveness. So, if you really want my thoughts on this, here they are.
Why is it a continual sin? Because it never stops!
I could lie today, ask God for forgiveness and be forgiven. I'd have to mean it though - God cannot be made a fool of. I have to believe that I won't lie again. Well, a week goes by and I lie again! I must ask for forgiveness again and God will forgive me again - I determine not to lie anymore, but, lo and behold, I do lie again. This type of sin is like dust. It falls on the furniture, you remove it, it falls back down again, and so forth.
With divorce and remarriage, the dust never goes away. How can you ask forgiveness for having divorced and remarried when you're LIVING in the sin you are confessing. Getting married is serious business. When you get married in a church, you make an alliance with God. God is present as a witness when you make your marital vows. Marriage is not a contract; it's a covenant, as I stated above.
What's the difference?
A Contract:
It's between two men
There's an exchange of property, goods or services
It says: This is mine-That is yours / I do this-You do that
A Covenant
It's between God and man
What is being exchanged is persons
It says: I am yours - You are mine
An example would be a marriage (or the covenants between God and man)
Exodus 6:7 Leviticus 26:12 Jeremiah 30:32
A contract creates customers, clients, employees etc.
A covenant creates spouses, parents, children - it creates a family
(we're in the lounge so I won't give a lot of scripture, I think we all know it well enough)
Jesus said Moses allowed a "certificate of divorce" because the people's hearts were hard. This is repeated several times in the bible. Like when it says that God gave them over to something or other. It just means that God let them do what they wanted without interfering. It's as though He said, Go ahead, do it your way.
Now when Jesus taught the apostles and disciples, He corrected different ideas that are found in the O.T. Like when he said, "you have heard it said an eye for an eye" but then He corrected what God wanted and said "but I tell you...". So here is Jesus, the Messiah, the Christ with full authority from God, God in the flesh telling us what is really wanted by God.
He says in Mathew 5:32, and other places, that divorce is not allowed except for the cause of unchastity and that anyone who divorces his wife will cause her to commit adultry. Why? Because as Jethro Bodine has been saying, it's not easy to stay alone and she'll probably end up marrying again and she would then be committing this continuous sin of adultry. Same would hold true for the husband.
Now, if you really want to get deep into this, there are some theologians who say that not even in the case of unchastity is divorce allowed Mark 10:3-9 1 Corinthians 7:8.17
So where does that leave us? Am I supposed to stay with my husband if he beats me up every day? If he mistreats the children? If the family has to live in poverty because he gambles his money away? Etc.
I truly doubt God would want this for us. So we have to go with the light God gives us and our conscience.
If it becomes IMPOSSIBLE to remain married, the rest will have to be between you and God since that is Who you have the relationship with - not necessarily any church that would have you remain in such a situation.
So now you're divorced. Now what? And here comes part two. If you're sincerely sorry, are 35 with two small children to raise - what are you to do? Stay alone for the rest of your life? Didn't Jesus die so we could be covered by His blood? Could we not put this divorce under His saving blood? If we meet someone and wish to remarry and remain remarried and seek the face of God, will He not forgive us?
This is why I said in the earlier post that it's a matter of the heart. God will always forgive and be just, if the situation is sincere and our heart is sincere. I don't see how it could be otherwise. When we stand before God, He will judge our heart.
Wondering
This should answer the 2 John scriptures you brought up.
The Samaritan woman would apply.
The adulturess woman would not apply - she wasn't married and divorced
The Corinthians passage would not apply
I knew i did not want to be alone so i stuck it out..