Violations of God's Word

Some important ways the church ignores Christ and claims to love Him.

DIVORCE AND REMARRIAGE is accepted as normal for most Christians today. Those who do not do it approve of those who do it.

Luke 16:18 "18 Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and he who marries a divorced woman commits adultery."

The connotation here in the original language is "is committing ongoing adultery. The adultery does not end by marrying according to society, it remains adultery until that relationship ends.

WOMEN LEADERS IN THE CHURCH are accepted as normal among many mainline denominations now.

1 Timothy 2:12 "“I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.”

However in 1 Corinthians 11 women are told they can pray and prophesy in the gathering as long as their heads are covered. There are many gatherings who forbid this because of the command that woman cannot lead. The confusion is that women cannot lead but there is no command that she never speak. Many denominations have dropped the head covering as the culture becomes more liberal and fashion conscious.

In the matter of women remaining silent in the church to ask their husbands at home is the connotation that women are not to chatter and be disruptive during the preaching.

1 Corinthians 14:33-35 "…33 For God is not a God of disorder, but of peace. As in all the congregations of the saints, 34 women are to be silent in the churches. They are not permitted to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. 35 If they wish to inquire about something, they are to ask their own husbands at home; for it is dishonorable for a woman to speak in the church.…"

If we are to believe 1 Corinthians 11 that woman must be covered when she prays and prophesies in the gathering then it can't mean that she can never speak. The woman is not to be chattering, disruptive and out of order as the passage in 1 Corinthians 14 denotes.

FORGIVENESS BEFORE THERE IS CONFESSION IS another violation of the word of God is the matter of forgiveness having become about self rather than the resolving of problem relationships. Forgiveness never stands alone, it must be preceded by confession of sin. Those who forgive without anyone confessing are not concerned about the welfare of their friend, they only care that they feel better momentarily.

Confession is required as an expression of a heart that wishes they had not sinned and do not want to repeat that sin again. When we leave this step out and forgive before this happens we have further enabled someone to be comfortable in their sin. Christ is our ultimate example to follow, Christ will never forgive someone who is not repentant. Is Christ bitter because He will not forgive the unrepentant, no He is not. The desire for all to be saved remains in Christ always.

1 John 1:9 1
"9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

When we hold others accountable it does not mean we will become bitter or that we are asking too much, it is the deepest concern and love for the offender. When all we do is care about "results" that is our own feelings, we cannot be helpful for the offender to reach the point of conviction over their sin. Letting them off the hook is no help at all to them. Our entire culture is evidence that this does not work. We are in terrible chaos as accountability is absent the sin is growing worse.

THE HEAD COVERING has been negated to the level of insignificance when God clearly commanded it. 1 Corinthians 11

NEGLECTING THE LORD'S SUPPER as insignificant even though it was a command of Christ to do it to remember Him and what He did on the cross. 1 Corinthians 11

Using the mantra, "don't judge" when Christ clearly commanded that we judge righteously. John 7:24 "24 Stop judging by outward appearances, and start judging justly.” ' AND, 1 Corinthians 5:12-13 "12 What business of mine is it to judge those outside the church ? Are you not to judge those inside? 13 God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.”…"

There are probably many more things the modern church is violating. The important thing to remember is that if we say we believe the Bible then we ought to ask God to show us all the things we are disobeying so we can walk more fully on the narrow path.

Just saying we believe the Bible does not make it so. We must seek Christ by reading His word, believing it and obeying what we read. This is huge, when we say we believe the Bible and violate the principles of it then we are lying.

FINAL WORD: Ask the Holy Spirit to guide your thinking as you read the Bible, believe what He and it says, obey it, stand for it and question all things you were taught to replace the wrong things with truth from God's Word. Many people are following traditions of men thinking it is God's way when in fact many are disobeying God because of the traditions of men.

Mark 7:7-9 "…7 They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’ 8 You have disregarded the commandment of God to keep the tradition of men.” 9 He went on to say, “You neatly set aside the commandment of God to maintain your own tradition."

LAST AND FINAL THOUGHT: it is very hard to let go of human tradition that God never commanded, when our focus is on what people might think of us or the way they might treat us. Does God prevail over man in our hearts?

John 12:42-44 "42 Nevertheless, many of the leaders believed in Him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue. 43 For they loved praise from men more than praise from God. 44 Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in Me does not believe in Me alone, but in the One who sent Me.…"