Fellowship with the world through close friendships and marriage is dangerous to us and to children that may come later.
Non-believers do not share the same standards that Believers do. In marriage, business or club interactions, they will devise solutions for life issues that are against the standards of God.
A non-believer will love the movie industry and have little or no standard for what is shown on the screen.
A non-believer will follow the ways of psychology and ungodly attitudes of the modern professionals in their dealings with children and other adults.
A non-believer lacks the discernment of the Lord in matters of morals and relationships.
A non-believer will not see anything wrong with living together, smoking, bar hopping, drunkenness, filthy language, foolishness in adults, the entertainment mentality and immoral clothing. They will also be angry at the believer for disapproving of these things.
A non-believer will love the company of other non-believers while hating the company of godly believers.
Notice that when believers spend too much time with non-believers, they tend to take on the ways of the one who dishonors God. At the very least they remain silent in the face of sin and immorality indicating approval.
Diluting their Christian standards, while in the presence of the non-believer, a believer diminishes their own standard to gain the love and admiration of the non-believer.
1 Corinthians 15:33 “Do not be deceived: "Bad company corrupts good morals."
Deuteronomy 7:3-4 “3 Furthermore, you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your [a]daughters to[b]their sons, nor shall you take [c]their daughters for your [d]sons. 4 For [e]they will turn your [f]sons away from [g]following Me to serve other gods; then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you and He will quickly destroy you.”
God shows clearly in this passage that our children’s hearts will be turned away from God by the influence of the unsaved parent.
King Solomon was a good example of this, he married many pagan wives, they turned his heart away from God and toward the worship of their idols. He began determined to please God and throughout his life was influenced by his wives to practice their ways, even allowing their pagan gods into his house and bowing down to them himself.
1 Kings 11:1-13 “11 Now King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women,
2 from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the sons of Israel, “You shall not [a]associate with them, nor shall they [b]associate with you, for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods.” Solomon held fast to these in love.
3 He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away.
4 For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been.
5 For Solomon went afterAshtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and after [d]Milcom the detestable idol of the Ammonites.
6 Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not follow theLORD fully, as David his father had done.
7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable idol of Moab, on the mountain which is [e]east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon.
8 Thus also he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
9 Now the LORD was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice,
10 and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not observe what the LORDhad commanded.
11 So the LORD said to Solomon, “Because [f]you have done this, and you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant.
12 Nevertheless I will not do it in your days for the sake of your father David, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son.
13 However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.”
2 John 1:9-11
“9 Anyone who [b]goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; 11 for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.”
It is a serious matter, to follow after an unsaved person either to be their close friend or to marry them.
Dating is the pre-curser to marriage, to become emotionally close to someone who is not of the same mind as ourselves is playing with dynamite. Not only do we ruin our own lives when we walk with the unsaved, we bring hardship on our children as they are confused by the influence of the unsaved parent. We should not be surprised when an unbeliever walks away from a marriage, they do not have the same commitment as a strong believer would have. They are easily influenced by their unsaved friends and the media.
More often than not, children will follow the unsaved parent’s ways because they are enticing and natural to the child. The world has much encouragement for the child to ignore the advice and teaching of the righteous parent while praising ways of the unsaved parent.
When one is married to an unsaved person, they will either give in to their spouse in the ways of the world to avoid conflict, or they will remain lonely as they follow hard after Christ and their spouse remains angry at this choice. There is a separateness in the same household, a detached emotional experience because the married couple are not in agreement.
Proverbs 3:5-7 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and turn away from evil”
While the born again believer desires to seek the Lord in all things, the unsaved spouse will not join their spouse in this, they will do things out of God’s will because they want to follow their own heart in the matters of life.
James 1:22-25 “22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his [a]natural face in a mirror; 24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, [b]he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. 25 But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but [c]an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in [d]what he does.”
We are commanded by God to obey Him, but an unsaved person does not care about this and will become angry when we cannot follow after them in disobedience against God’s principles.
James 4:7-10 “7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.”
God commanded us to obey Him rather than man, Acts 5:29. When we need to obey God and our spouse does not want to do that, then there is conflict in the marriage.
Proverbs 3:5-10 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and turn away from evil.
8 It will be healing to your [a]body And refreshment to your bones.
9 Honor the Lord from your wealth And from the first of all your produce;
10 So your barns will be filled with plenty And your vats will overflow with new wine.”
When we marry outside our faith we open ourselves to much conflict and frustration, as we attempt to obey God and our spouse refuses to do so.
The same is true of friendships, we cannot walk with those who do not share our goal and principles of life as seen in God’s Word. They will either prevent us from fully following after Christ or they will turn us entirely away from Him. It is a constant struggle.
I believe I have presented some scriptures here that well support what I have been saying in the matter of dating and even friendship with unbelievers. There are many more Scriptures and accounts of lives mentioned in the Bible that clearly show the pitfalls of disobedience to God.
1 John 2:15 “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
Those who are in love with unbelievers have fallen in love with the ways of the world or they would not be attracted to an unsaved person.
When we are in love with Christ, we love the things of God to such a degree that an unsaved person is not spiritually or physically attractive to us. Outer beauty fades quickly when the character of the unbeliever loves the world.
Monday, November 24, 2014
To Be Unequally Yoked is Disobedience.
Fellowship with the world through close friendships and marriage is dangerous to us and to children that may come later.
Non-believers do not share the same standards that Believers do. In marriage, business or club interactions, they will devise solutions for life issues that are against the standards of God.
A non-believer will love the movie industry and have little or no standard for what is shown on the screen.
A non-believer will follow the ways of psychology and ungodly attitudes of the modern professionals in their dealings with children and other adults.
A non-believer lacks the discernment of the Lord in matters of morals and relationships.
A non-believer will not see anything wrong with living together, smoking, bar hopping, drunkenness, filthy language, foolishness in adults, the entertainment mentality and immoral clothing. They will also be angry at the believer for disapproving of these things.
A non-believer will love the company of other non-believers while hating the company of godly believers.
Notice that when believers spend too much time with non-believers, they tend to take on the ways of the one who dishonors God. At the very least they remain silent in the face of sin and immorality indicating approval.
Diluting their Christian standards, while in the presence of the non-believer, a believer diminishes their own standard to gain the love and admiration of the non-believer.
1 Corinthians 15:33 “Do not be deceived: "Bad company corrupts good morals."
Deuteronomy 7:3-4 “3 Furthermore, you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your [a]daughters to[b]their sons, nor shall you take [c]their daughters for your [d]sons. 4 For [e]they will turn your [f]sons away from [g]following Me to serve other gods; then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you and He will quickly destroy you.”
God shows clearly in this passage that our children’s hearts will be turned away from God by the influence of the unsaved parent.
King Solomon was a good example of this, he married many pagan wives, they turned his heart away from God and toward the worship of their idols. He began determined to please God and throughout his life was influenced by his wives to practice their ways, even allowing their pagan gods into his house and bowing down to them himself.
1 Kings 11:1-13 “11 Now King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women,
2 from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the sons of Israel, “You shall not [a]associate with them, nor shall they [b]associate with you, for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods.” Solomon held fast to these in love.
3 He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away.
4 For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been.
5 For Solomon went afterAshtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and after [d]Milcom the detestable idol of the Ammonites.
6 Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not follow theLORD fully, as David his father had done.
7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable idol of Moab, on the mountain which is [e]east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon.
8 Thus also he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
9 Now the LORD was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice,
10 and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not observe what the LORDhad commanded.
11 So the LORD said to Solomon, “Because [f]you have done this, and you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant.
12 Nevertheless I will not do it in your days for the sake of your father David, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son.
13 However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.”
2 John 1:9-11
“9 Anyone who [b]goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; 11 for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.”
It is a serious matter, to follow after an unsaved person either to be their close friend or to marry them.
Dating is the pre-curser to marriage, to become emotionally close to someone who is not of the same mind as ourselves is playing with dynamite. Not only do we ruin our own lives when we walk with the unsaved, we bring hardship on our children as they are confused by the influence of the unsaved parent. We should not be surprised when an unbeliever walks away from a marriage, they do not have the same commitment as a strong believer would have. They are easily influenced by their unsaved friends and the media.
More often than not, children will follow the unsaved parent’s ways because they are enticing and natural to the child. The world has much encouragement for the child to ignore the advice and teaching of the righteous parent while praising ways of the unsaved parent.
When one is married to an unsaved person, they will either give in to their spouse in the ways of the world to avoid conflict, or they will remain lonely as they follow hard after Christ and their spouse remains angry at this choice. There is a separateness in the same household, a detached emotional experience because the married couple are not in agreement.
Proverbs 3:5-7 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and turn away from evil”
While the born again believer desires to seek the Lord in all things, the unsaved spouse will not join their spouse in this, they will do things out of God’s will because they want to follow their own heart in the matters of life.
James 1:22-25 “22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his [a]natural face in a mirror; 24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, [b]he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. 25 But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but [c]an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in [d]what he does.”
We are commanded by God to obey Him, but an unsaved person does not care about this and will become angry when we cannot follow after them in disobedience against God’s principles.
James 4:7-10 “7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.”
God commanded us to obey Him rather than man, Acts 5:29. When we need to obey God and our spouse does not want to do that, then there is conflict in the marriage.
Proverbs 3:5-10 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and turn away from evil.
8 It will be healing to your [a]body And refreshment to your bones.
9 Honor the Lord from your wealth And from the first of all your produce;
10 So your barns will be filled with plenty And your vats will overflow with new wine.”
When we marry outside our faith we open ourselves to much conflict and frustration, as we attempt to obey God and our spouse refuses to do so.
The same is true of friendships, we cannot walk with those who do not share our goal and principles of life as seen in God’s Word. They will either prevent us from fully following after Christ or they will turn us entirely away from Him. It is a constant struggle.
I believe I have presented some scriptures here that well support what I have been saying in the matter of dating and even friendship with unbelievers. There are many more Scriptures and accounts of lives mentioned in the Bible that clearly show the pitfalls of disobedience to God.
1 John 2:15 “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
Those who are in love with unbelievers have fallen in love with the ways of the world or they would not be attracted to an unsaved person.
When we are in love with Christ, we love the things of God to such a degree that an unsaved person is not spiritually or physically attractive to us. Outer beauty fades quickly when the character of the unbeliever loves the world.
Non-believers do not share the same standards that Believers do. In marriage, business or club interactions, they will devise solutions for life issues that are against the standards of God.
A non-believer will love the movie industry and have little or no standard for what is shown on the screen.
A non-believer will follow the ways of psychology and ungodly attitudes of the modern professionals in their dealings with children and other adults.
A non-believer lacks the discernment of the Lord in matters of morals and relationships.
A non-believer will not see anything wrong with living together, smoking, bar hopping, drunkenness, filthy language, foolishness in adults, the entertainment mentality and immoral clothing. They will also be angry at the believer for disapproving of these things.
A non-believer will love the company of other non-believers while hating the company of godly believers.
Notice that when believers spend too much time with non-believers, they tend to take on the ways of the one who dishonors God. At the very least they remain silent in the face of sin and immorality indicating approval.
Diluting their Christian standards, while in the presence of the non-believer, a believer diminishes their own standard to gain the love and admiration of the non-believer.
1 Corinthians 15:33 “Do not be deceived: "Bad company corrupts good morals."
Deuteronomy 7:3-4 “3 Furthermore, you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your [a]daughters to[b]their sons, nor shall you take [c]their daughters for your [d]sons. 4 For [e]they will turn your [f]sons away from [g]following Me to serve other gods; then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you and He will quickly destroy you.”
God shows clearly in this passage that our children’s hearts will be turned away from God by the influence of the unsaved parent.
King Solomon was a good example of this, he married many pagan wives, they turned his heart away from God and toward the worship of their idols. He began determined to please God and throughout his life was influenced by his wives to practice their ways, even allowing their pagan gods into his house and bowing down to them himself.
1 Kings 11:1-13 “11 Now King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women,
2 from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the sons of Israel, “You shall not [a]associate with them, nor shall they [b]associate with you, for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods.” Solomon held fast to these in love.
3 He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away.
4 For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been.
5 For Solomon went afterAshtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and after [d]Milcom the detestable idol of the Ammonites.
6 Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not follow theLORD fully, as David his father had done.
7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable idol of Moab, on the mountain which is [e]east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon.
8 Thus also he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
9 Now the LORD was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice,
10 and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not observe what the LORDhad commanded.
11 So the LORD said to Solomon, “Because [f]you have done this, and you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant.
12 Nevertheless I will not do it in your days for the sake of your father David, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son.
13 However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.”
2 John 1:9-11
“9 Anyone who [b]goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; 11 for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.”
It is a serious matter, to follow after an unsaved person either to be their close friend or to marry them.
Dating is the pre-curser to marriage, to become emotionally close to someone who is not of the same mind as ourselves is playing with dynamite. Not only do we ruin our own lives when we walk with the unsaved, we bring hardship on our children as they are confused by the influence of the unsaved parent. We should not be surprised when an unbeliever walks away from a marriage, they do not have the same commitment as a strong believer would have. They are easily influenced by their unsaved friends and the media.
More often than not, children will follow the unsaved parent’s ways because they are enticing and natural to the child. The world has much encouragement for the child to ignore the advice and teaching of the righteous parent while praising ways of the unsaved parent.
When one is married to an unsaved person, they will either give in to their spouse in the ways of the world to avoid conflict, or they will remain lonely as they follow hard after Christ and their spouse remains angry at this choice. There is a separateness in the same household, a detached emotional experience because the married couple are not in agreement.
Proverbs 3:5-7 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and turn away from evil”
While the born again believer desires to seek the Lord in all things, the unsaved spouse will not join their spouse in this, they will do things out of God’s will because they want to follow their own heart in the matters of life.
James 1:22-25 “22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his [a]natural face in a mirror; 24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, [b]he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. 25 But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but [c]an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in [d]what he does.”
We are commanded by God to obey Him, but an unsaved person does not care about this and will become angry when we cannot follow after them in disobedience against God’s principles.
James 4:7-10 “7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.”
God commanded us to obey Him rather than man, Acts 5:29. When we need to obey God and our spouse does not want to do that, then there is conflict in the marriage.
Proverbs 3:5-10 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and turn away from evil.
8 It will be healing to your [a]body And refreshment to your bones.
9 Honor the Lord from your wealth And from the first of all your produce;
10 So your barns will be filled with plenty And your vats will overflow with new wine.”
When we marry outside our faith we open ourselves to much conflict and frustration, as we attempt to obey God and our spouse refuses to do so.
The same is true of friendships, we cannot walk with those who do not share our goal and principles of life as seen in God’s Word. They will either prevent us from fully following after Christ or they will turn us entirely away from Him. It is a constant struggle.
I believe I have presented some scriptures here that well support what I have been saying in the matter of dating and even friendship with unbelievers. There are many more Scriptures and accounts of lives mentioned in the Bible that clearly show the pitfalls of disobedience to God.
1 John 2:15 “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
Those who are in love with unbelievers have fallen in love with the ways of the world or they would not be attracted to an unsaved person.
When we are in love with Christ, we love the things of God to such a degree that an unsaved person is not spiritually or physically attractive to us. Outer beauty fades quickly when the character of the unbeliever loves the world.
To Be Unequally Yoked is Disobedience.
Fellowship with the world through close friendships and marriage is dangerous to us and to children that may come later.
Non-believers do not share the same standards that Believers do. In marriage, business or club interactions, they will devise solutions for life issues that are against the standards of God.
A non-believer will love the movie industry and have little or no standard for what is shown on the screen.
A non-believer will follow the ways of psychology and ungodly attitudes of the modern professionals in their dealings with children and other adults.
A non-believer lacks the discernment of the Lord in matters of morals and relationships.
A non-believer will not see anything wrong with living together, smoking, bar hopping, drunkenness, filthy language, foolishness in adults, the entertainment mentality and immoral clothing. They will also be angry at the believer for disapproving of these things.
A non-believer will love the company of other non-believers while hating the company of godly believers.
Notice that when believers spend too much time with non-believers, they tend to take on the ways of the one who dishonors God. At the very least they remain silent in the face of sin and immorality indicating approval.
Diluting their Christian standards, while in the presence of the non-believer, a believer diminishes their own standard to gain the love and admiration of the non-believer.
1 Corinthians 15:33 “Do not be deceived: "Bad company corrupts good morals."
Deuteronomy 7:3-4 “3 Furthermore, you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your [a]daughters to[b]their sons, nor shall you take [c]their daughters for your [d]sons. 4 For [e]they will turn your [f]sons away from [g]following Me to serve other gods; then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you and He will quickly destroy you.”
God shows clearly in this passage that our children’s hearts will be turned away from God by the influence of the unsaved parent.
King Solomon was a good example of this, he married many pagan wives, they turned his heart away from God and toward the worship of their idols. He began determined to please God and throughout his life was influenced by his wives to practice their ways, even allowing their pagan gods into his house and bowing down to them himself.
1 Kings 11:1-13 “11 Now King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women,
2 from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the sons of Israel, “You shall not [a]associate with them, nor shall they [b]associate with you, for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods.” Solomon held fast to these in love.
3 He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away.
4 For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been.
5 For Solomon went afterAshtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and after [d]Milcom the detestable idol of the Ammonites.
6 Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not follow theLORD fully, as David his father had done.
7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable idol of Moab, on the mountain which is [e]east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon.
8 Thus also he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
9 Now the LORD was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice,
10 and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not observe what the LORDhad commanded.
11 So the LORD said to Solomon, “Because [f]you have done this, and you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant.
12 Nevertheless I will not do it in your days for the sake of your father David, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son.
13 However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.”
2 John 1:9-11
“9 Anyone who [b]goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; 11 for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.”
It is a serious matter, to follow after an unsaved person either to be their close friend or to marry them.
Dating is the pre-curser to marriage, to become emotionally close to someone who is not of the same mind as ourselves is playing with dynamite. Not only do we ruin our own lives when we walk with the unsaved, we bring hardship on our children as they are confused by the influence of the unsaved parent. We should not be surprised when an unbeliever walks away from a marriage, they do not have the same commitment as a strong believer would have. They are easily influenced by their unsaved friends and the media.
More often than not, children will follow the unsaved parent’s ways because they are enticing and natural to the child. The world has much encouragement for the child to ignore the advice and teaching of the righteous parent while praising ways of the unsaved parent.
When one is married to an unsaved person, they will either give in to their spouse in the ways of the world to avoid conflict, or they will remain lonely as they follow hard after Christ and their spouse remains angry at this choice. There is a separateness in the same household, a detached emotional experience because the married couple are not in agreement.
Proverbs 3:5-7 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and turn away from evil”
While the born again believer desires to seek the Lord in all things, the unsaved spouse will not join their spouse in this, they will do things out of God’s will because they want to follow their own heart in the matters of life.
James 1:22-25 “22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his [a]natural face in a mirror; 24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, [b]he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. 25 But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but [c]an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in [d]what he does.”
We are commanded by God to obey Him, but an unsaved person does not care about this and will become angry when we cannot follow after them in disobedience against God’s principles.
James 4:7-10 “7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.”
God commanded us to obey Him rather than man, Acts 5:29. When we need to obey God and our spouse does not want to do that, then there is conflict in the marriage.
Proverbs 3:5-10 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and turn away from evil.
8 It will be healing to your [a]body And refreshment to your bones.
9 Honor the Lord from your wealth And from the first of all your produce;
10 So your barns will be filled with plenty And your vats will overflow with new wine.”
When we marry outside our faith we open ourselves to much conflict and frustration, as we attempt to obey God and our spouse refuses to do so.
The same is true of friendships, we cannot walk with those who do not share our goal and principles of life as seen in God’s Word. They will either prevent us from fully following after Christ or they will turn us entirely away from Him. It is a constant struggle.
I believe I have presented some scriptures here that well support what I have been saying in the matter of dating and even friendship with unbelievers. There are many more Scriptures and accounts of lives mentioned in the Bible that clearly show the pitfalls of disobedience to God.
1 John 2:15 “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
Those who are in love with unbelievers have fallen in love with the ways of the world or they would not be attracted to an unsaved person.
When we are in love with Christ, we love the things of God to such a degree that an unsaved person is not spiritually or physically attractive to us. Outer beauty fades quickly when the character of the unbeliever loves the world.
Non-believers do not share the same standards that Believers do. In marriage, business or club interactions, they will devise solutions for life issues that are against the standards of God.
A non-believer will love the movie industry and have little or no standard for what is shown on the screen.
A non-believer will follow the ways of psychology and ungodly attitudes of the modern professionals in their dealings with children and other adults.
A non-believer lacks the discernment of the Lord in matters of morals and relationships.
A non-believer will not see anything wrong with living together, smoking, bar hopping, drunkenness, filthy language, foolishness in adults, the entertainment mentality and immoral clothing. They will also be angry at the believer for disapproving of these things.
A non-believer will love the company of other non-believers while hating the company of godly believers.
Notice that when believers spend too much time with non-believers, they tend to take on the ways of the one who dishonors God. At the very least they remain silent in the face of sin and immorality indicating approval.
Diluting their Christian standards, while in the presence of the non-believer, a believer diminishes their own standard to gain the love and admiration of the non-believer.
1 Corinthians 15:33 “Do not be deceived: "Bad company corrupts good morals."
Deuteronomy 7:3-4 “3 Furthermore, you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your [a]daughters to[b]their sons, nor shall you take [c]their daughters for your [d]sons. 4 For [e]they will turn your [f]sons away from [g]following Me to serve other gods; then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you and He will quickly destroy you.”
God shows clearly in this passage that our children’s hearts will be turned away from God by the influence of the unsaved parent.
King Solomon was a good example of this, he married many pagan wives, they turned his heart away from God and toward the worship of their idols. He began determined to please God and throughout his life was influenced by his wives to practice their ways, even allowing their pagan gods into his house and bowing down to them himself.
1 Kings 11:1-13 “11 Now King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women,
2 from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the sons of Israel, “You shall not [a]associate with them, nor shall they [b]associate with you, for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods.” Solomon held fast to these in love.
3 He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away.
4 For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been.
5 For Solomon went afterAshtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and after [d]Milcom the detestable idol of the Ammonites.
6 Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not follow theLORD fully, as David his father had done.
7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable idol of Moab, on the mountain which is [e]east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon.
8 Thus also he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
9 Now the LORD was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice,
10 and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not observe what the LORDhad commanded.
11 So the LORD said to Solomon, “Because [f]you have done this, and you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant.
12 Nevertheless I will not do it in your days for the sake of your father David, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son.
13 However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.”
2 John 1:9-11
“9 Anyone who [b]goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; 11 for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.”
It is a serious matter, to follow after an unsaved person either to be their close friend or to marry them.
Dating is the pre-curser to marriage, to become emotionally close to someone who is not of the same mind as ourselves is playing with dynamite. Not only do we ruin our own lives when we walk with the unsaved, we bring hardship on our children as they are confused by the influence of the unsaved parent. We should not be surprised when an unbeliever walks away from a marriage, they do not have the same commitment as a strong believer would have. They are easily influenced by their unsaved friends and the media.
More often than not, children will follow the unsaved parent’s ways because they are enticing and natural to the child. The world has much encouragement for the child to ignore the advice and teaching of the righteous parent while praising ways of the unsaved parent.
When one is married to an unsaved person, they will either give in to their spouse in the ways of the world to avoid conflict, or they will remain lonely as they follow hard after Christ and their spouse remains angry at this choice. There is a separateness in the same household, a detached emotional experience because the married couple are not in agreement.
Proverbs 3:5-7 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and turn away from evil”
While the born again believer desires to seek the Lord in all things, the unsaved spouse will not join their spouse in this, they will do things out of God’s will because they want to follow their own heart in the matters of life.
James 1:22-25 “22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his [a]natural face in a mirror; 24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, [b]he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. 25 But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but [c]an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in [d]what he does.”
We are commanded by God to obey Him, but an unsaved person does not care about this and will become angry when we cannot follow after them in disobedience against God’s principles.
James 4:7-10 “7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.”
God commanded us to obey Him rather than man, Acts 5:29. When we need to obey God and our spouse does not want to do that, then there is conflict in the marriage.
Proverbs 3:5-10 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and turn away from evil.
8 It will be healing to your [a]body And refreshment to your bones.
9 Honor the Lord from your wealth And from the first of all your produce;
10 So your barns will be filled with plenty And your vats will overflow with new wine.”
When we marry outside our faith we open ourselves to much conflict and frustration, as we attempt to obey God and our spouse refuses to do so.
The same is true of friendships, we cannot walk with those who do not share our goal and principles of life as seen in God’s Word. They will either prevent us from fully following after Christ or they will turn us entirely away from Him. It is a constant struggle.
I believe I have presented some scriptures here that well support what I have been saying in the matter of dating and even friendship with unbelievers. There are many more Scriptures and accounts of lives mentioned in the Bible that clearly show the pitfalls of disobedience to God.
1 John 2:15 “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
Those who are in love with unbelievers have fallen in love with the ways of the world or they would not be attracted to an unsaved person.
When we are in love with Christ, we love the things of God to such a degree that an unsaved person is not spiritually or physically attractive to us. Outer beauty fades quickly when the character of the unbeliever loves the world.
No Whining When We Didn't Seek God!
When someone marries without consulting God, and then whines and cries when it is a terrible marriage, I have to believe these people married for reasons other than character, and, didn't wait on God for His counsel.
When someone purchases a car or house, without consulting God or waiting on Him, and it all turns into trouble, we cannot blame the person who sold us the items, we have only ourselves to blame for not seeking God's counsel.
God can fix our foolishness, and sometimes He even lets us live in it to show us what our own will brings when we leave God out of our lives to make our own decisions without Him.
Too often we bring trouble upon ourselves because we do not make God a priority in our lives, as though He really doesn't know what is best for us.
So let me get this right, God gave you a brain, so you don't need Him?
Let's take a look at what we did with that brain God gave us. He gave us the brain, we perverted it! He made a way to be able to correct the problem by learning to think as He thinks. Sometimes we are left with the consequences of the choices we made without Him, as a reminder how much we need Him.
1 Corinthians 2:16 "For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ."
Those who have been born again do have the mind of Christ, but we do not always avail ourselves to it. In fact, in our modern Christianity we have relegated Christ to an emergency stop gap for the "big" things after we have messed up royally, then we blame others and run to God to fix it.
When we will not consult Christ, He will not bail us out, He wants us to learn to seek Him first before we make decisions. To leave Him out of the decision making process is to say to Him that He doesn't know what is needed or right, that we know better than He does.
Joshua 24:15 ""If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.""
Will we serve our culture and ourselves rather than Christ Who lives in us?
Isaiah 30:2 "Who proceed down to Egypt Without consulting Me, To take refuge in the safety of Pharaoh And to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!"
Egypt is a picture of the world and the occult. When we seek the advice of the worldly psychologists and the self esteem advocates, or even the occultists, we are looking to ungodly men and women for our instruction, simply for no other reason than to be able to justify our sin.
Often we run to those who will say what we want to hear. If we love God we will seek God first and also the counsel of those who love Him. If we are worldly, we run to those who will encourage us in our sin, justifying what we want.
Isaiah 8:20 "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them."
Luke 6:46 "“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?"
In most cases we ignore God, if He happens to attempt to redirect us, we do not hear.
When we ignore God long enough, fostering rebellion in our hearts, then He will not hear us when we do look for His help. Notice I said "look for His help", but not really looking for Him.
Micah 3:4 "Then they will cry out to the LORD, But He will not answer them. Instead, He will hide His face from them at that time Because they have practiced evil deeds."
When we live a life of rebellion against God, refusing to seek Him in all things, desiring to please and love Him, then we will not have His help when we cry out in the devastating matters. God wants our heart and He does not help those who only want to use Him, but have no love for Him.
Jeremiahs 29:13 "You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart."
When someone purchases a car or house, without consulting God or waiting on Him, and it all turns into trouble, we cannot blame the person who sold us the items, we have only ourselves to blame for not seeking God's counsel.
God can fix our foolishness, and sometimes He even lets us live in it to show us what our own will brings when we leave God out of our lives to make our own decisions without Him.
Too often we bring trouble upon ourselves because we do not make God a priority in our lives, as though He really doesn't know what is best for us.
So let me get this right, God gave you a brain, so you don't need Him?
Let's take a look at what we did with that brain God gave us. He gave us the brain, we perverted it! He made a way to be able to correct the problem by learning to think as He thinks. Sometimes we are left with the consequences of the choices we made without Him, as a reminder how much we need Him.
1 Corinthians 2:16 "For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ."
Those who have been born again do have the mind of Christ, but we do not always avail ourselves to it. In fact, in our modern Christianity we have relegated Christ to an emergency stop gap for the "big" things after we have messed up royally, then we blame others and run to God to fix it.
When we will not consult Christ, He will not bail us out, He wants us to learn to seek Him first before we make decisions. To leave Him out of the decision making process is to say to Him that He doesn't know what is needed or right, that we know better than He does.
Joshua 24:15 ""If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.""
Will we serve our culture and ourselves rather than Christ Who lives in us?
Isaiah 30:2 "Who proceed down to Egypt Without consulting Me, To take refuge in the safety of Pharaoh And to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!"
Egypt is a picture of the world and the occult. When we seek the advice of the worldly psychologists and the self esteem advocates, or even the occultists, we are looking to ungodly men and women for our instruction, simply for no other reason than to be able to justify our sin.
Often we run to those who will say what we want to hear. If we love God we will seek God first and also the counsel of those who love Him. If we are worldly, we run to those who will encourage us in our sin, justifying what we want.
Isaiah 8:20 "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them."
Luke 6:46 "“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?"
In most cases we ignore God, if He happens to attempt to redirect us, we do not hear.
When we ignore God long enough, fostering rebellion in our hearts, then He will not hear us when we do look for His help. Notice I said "look for His help", but not really looking for Him.
Micah 3:4 "Then they will cry out to the LORD, But He will not answer them. Instead, He will hide His face from them at that time Because they have practiced evil deeds."
When we live a life of rebellion against God, refusing to seek Him in all things, desiring to please and love Him, then we will not have His help when we cry out in the devastating matters. God wants our heart and He does not help those who only want to use Him, but have no love for Him.
Jeremiahs 29:13 "You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart."
Sunday, November 23, 2014
Rejection is Expected
For all those who are feeling the brunt of rejection and oppression from the world and even those in the church, this Psalm may be encouraging to you.
Psalm 56
"56 Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresseth me.
2 Mine enemies would daily swallow me up: for they be many that fight against me, O thou most High.
3 What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.
4 In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.
5 Every day they wrest my words: all their thoughts are against me for evil.
6 They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps, when they wait for my soul.
7 Shall they escape by iniquity? in thine anger cast down the people, O God.
8 Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?
9 When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me.
10 In God will I praise his word: in the Lord will I praise his word.
11 In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.
12 Thy vows are upon me, O God: I will render praises unto thee.
13 For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living"
Psalm 56
"56 Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresseth me.
2 Mine enemies would daily swallow me up: for they be many that fight against me, O thou most High.
3 What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.
4 In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.
5 Every day they wrest my words: all their thoughts are against me for evil.
6 They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps, when they wait for my soul.
7 Shall they escape by iniquity? in thine anger cast down the people, O God.
8 Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?
9 When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me.
10 In God will I praise his word: in the Lord will I praise his word.
11 In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.
12 Thy vows are upon me, O God: I will render praises unto thee.
13 For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living"
The Spankings Help Us to Restoration and Healing
Proverbs 20:30 "The blueness of a wound cleanseth away evil: so do stripes the inward parts of the belly."
A true friend will be a "peacemaker", through correction to bring a brother or sister back onto the right path of thinking again. In order to make peace with man and God we must deal with sin and get it out of the way to progress toward holiness.
A "peacekeeper", is nothing more than someone who cares only about superficial happiness for the moment. Keeping the peace so that everyone can feel good about themselves, no matter what their condition.
Proverbs 27:6 "Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful."
Correction and confession can be very embarrassing and hurtful in the beginning, but the healing that can occur after the dust settles is far more satisfying when we realize we are back in fellowship with our God again.
The person who has cancer can feel fine for a long time, until the end when the cancer takes over and snuffs out the life of its' victim.
In order to cure the patient of the cancer the doctor must cut out the cancer, causing severe wounds sometimes, for the healing to begin.
Our Christian walk is like this, it hurts to have the sin in ways we don't like to admit, and the cure of admitting it hurts, but that pain will cause permanent healing and a healthier life, not to mention the restoration of relationships, God's and others we love.
A true friend will be a "peacemaker", through correction to bring a brother or sister back onto the right path of thinking again. In order to make peace with man and God we must deal with sin and get it out of the way to progress toward holiness.
A "peacekeeper", is nothing more than someone who cares only about superficial happiness for the moment. Keeping the peace so that everyone can feel good about themselves, no matter what their condition.
Proverbs 27:6 "Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful."
Correction and confession can be very embarrassing and hurtful in the beginning, but the healing that can occur after the dust settles is far more satisfying when we realize we are back in fellowship with our God again.
The person who has cancer can feel fine for a long time, until the end when the cancer takes over and snuffs out the life of its' victim.
In order to cure the patient of the cancer the doctor must cut out the cancer, causing severe wounds sometimes, for the healing to begin.
Our Christian walk is like this, it hurts to have the sin in ways we don't like to admit, and the cure of admitting it hurts, but that pain will cause permanent healing and a healthier life, not to mention the restoration of relationships, God's and others we love.
Saturday, November 22, 2014
Cherry Picking is Dishonest
I am amazed at how readily our culture has accepted divorce and remarriage as easily as they have buying a new car or changing their cloths.
I have known since I was born again that divorce and remarriage was sin against God. What is astonishing, is how many people have been told there is no problem with either, and believers who have been told that it is acceptable for certain reasons.
This is what happens when people listen to preachers, writers and theologians rather than the Holy Spirit. I questioned this matter intently for a couple of years because of all the rudeness I experienced when I proclaimed that divorce and remarriage was a sin before God.
I began to pray that the Lord would show me if I was wrong about this,it seemed so very clear to me, even in the face of all the excuses and explanations to negate what God said to me in His Word.
The Lord began showing me the details of what He had already told me. I was in my early thirties when I was battling the divorce and remarriage mentality. I was rejected and hated by nearly everyone I encountered when this subject came up.
Then the Lord began to open the floodgates of truth concerning this matter of marriage. I had heard the Lord correctly, He really does hate divorce and remarriage.
Here are some of the things He showed me a little at a time as I prayed and studied. Later with the onset of internet, I began to find others who thought as I did, and as adamantly. They too had sought the Lord on this matter and were told the same things I was told by the Holy Spirit.
There are many people using the Matthew 19:9 as an excuse to divorce.
"And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery."
The passage in Matthew that refers to "except for adultery", is not the proper rendering of that verse. In the original language it is "except for fornication", which is before marriage.
In the times of the bible the Jews had a custom of betrothal, which meant that their marriages were arranged from childhood. The betrothed parties were considered husband and wife during this bethrothal period, they were even called husband and wife, even though the ceremony had not yet occurred and they were not living together.
In order to break that betrothal, they had to receive a certificate of divorcement from the engagement and it could only be broken if one of the parties were unfaithful before the marriage.
The reason you do not see it in the other gospels, is because Matthew was written to the Jews and the other gospels were written to Gentiles who did not have this custom.
There was a day in this country when someone could sue for "breech of promise", if their engaged partner chose not to marry after promising to do so. This too was evidence that engagement was once much more binding in the United States in years past than it is now.
Our lax and flippant attitude toward engagement has led to a lax and flippant attitude toward marriage. God takes promises very seriously. When we promise to remain faithful in marriage to a spouse at a wedding, that is when God makes us into ONE! God says "you are no longer two but one." The word for "ONE" denotes in the original language a sort of spiritual glue done by God that no man can undo.
The condition of marriage is a picture of our status as born again believers. When God declares us His and seals us with the Holy Spirit of Promise as is stated in Ephesians 1:13-14, we belong to Him and nothing can undo that.
"13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory."
One can leave an engagement condition but no one can dissolve the glue that God used to make us one in marriage. There is an old saying: "when two divorced people get into bed, there are four people in bed together.
When Joseph was betrothed to Mary, he was going to divorce her quietly and she was called his wife, even though they had not been married to one another. He did not want to publicaly disgrace her even though he believed her to be unfaithful to him in the engagement. The Lord explained it to him and they got married. The term wife and woman were interchangeable in the Jewish custom of betrothal.
Also the words "not under bondage" do not mean divorce at any stretch. The word "bondage" here has to do with being in submission to or under authority. We are no longer bound to submit or consider the other person if they are no longer around, but this is not divorce.
When "Moses" allowed for divorce it was not God's command that he did it, it was a protection for the woman in those days a woman had no means of income unless she was married. Moses gave them what they wanted, but it was because they had hard hearts.
Sometimes God gives us what we want, even if it is against His will, and we will pay the price for our decision to rebel against Him.
Only about 70 years ago in the church in our country everyone knew divorce and remarriage was against the Word of God. What had changed? Our culture has twisted and lied about the Word, remained willfully ignorant so that the culture within the church can have what they want.
Being divorced is not adultery unless one remarries. God hates divorce, but God said, if you are divorced, then you are to remain single because you are still glued to the spouse you are not with, until he dies.
1 Corinthians 7:11 "But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife."
There are only two options from God for a divorced person, to remain single or to be reconciled to their spouse.
Remarriage is ongoing adultery in God's eyes. It is not just a one time thing as an act of remarriage but the adultery continues as long as the person remains with that second person.
The original word for "adultery" in the context of remarriage denotes an "ongoing state of adultery."
Again, we have all been brainwashed to believe that second marriages are legitimate marriages, they are not in God's eyes.
Sometimes people do not want a divorce but their spouse does and now days there is nothing that can be done about it. That person does not sin while divorced if they didn't want it, but they do sin if they remarry.
Once again I realize I may take a hit for this post, but I have become weary of the lies that have permeated the church on this matter. The ones who get beat up are those who desire God's best in obedience to Him.
I have actually heard testimonies of churches encouraging divorced people to remarry against God's will, when they have resolved that they are going to remain alone in obedience to God. The people who encourage the divorced person to remarry are harming their divorced brothers and sisters and for no other reason than to feel good about the sin of divorce and remarriage for themselves.
Shame on all those people who encourage divorced people to remarry. Why not come along side them to help them obey God.
I have met people who have bludgeoned a woman for speaking doctrine to others, but have completely accepted divorce and remarriage in their gatherings, how perverted this is. There is no mandate forbidding a woman to speak doctrine to women, children and men on the street, but there are mountains of verses in God's Word that show God's hatred for divorce and remarriage.
All the details of God's hatred for divorce and remarriage are not in this post, but there is enough for each humble and seeking person to go to prayer and dig deeper to see if what I am saying is true.
Please read the account of Gomer and Hosea, it will give more insight into the character of God and His desire for those He loves.
Check out the promises to Israel that God made and will keep until He comes for us.
Study the condition of the believer after we have become a new creation and born again.
All the ways of God, His dealings with Israel and those He has saved, give us very important clues as to what our attitude about marriage should be.
We are to be humble, noble and sacrificial in our dealings with a spouse. We are not to seek revenge or our pound of flesh when we are wronged. All the scriptures that speak of the character of the believer will answer any questions about remaining with a spouse.
We must take the Bible as a whole,without cherry picking to make God say what we want, that He did not say.
Do we want to obey God or do we want to use the Bible to justify our sinfulness?
I have known since I was born again that divorce and remarriage was sin against God. What is astonishing, is how many people have been told there is no problem with either, and believers who have been told that it is acceptable for certain reasons.
This is what happens when people listen to preachers, writers and theologians rather than the Holy Spirit. I questioned this matter intently for a couple of years because of all the rudeness I experienced when I proclaimed that divorce and remarriage was a sin before God.
I began to pray that the Lord would show me if I was wrong about this,it seemed so very clear to me, even in the face of all the excuses and explanations to negate what God said to me in His Word.
The Lord began showing me the details of what He had already told me. I was in my early thirties when I was battling the divorce and remarriage mentality. I was rejected and hated by nearly everyone I encountered when this subject came up.
Then the Lord began to open the floodgates of truth concerning this matter of marriage. I had heard the Lord correctly, He really does hate divorce and remarriage.
Here are some of the things He showed me a little at a time as I prayed and studied. Later with the onset of internet, I began to find others who thought as I did, and as adamantly. They too had sought the Lord on this matter and were told the same things I was told by the Holy Spirit.
There are many people using the Matthew 19:9 as an excuse to divorce.
"And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery."
The passage in Matthew that refers to "except for adultery", is not the proper rendering of that verse. In the original language it is "except for fornication", which is before marriage.
In the times of the bible the Jews had a custom of betrothal, which meant that their marriages were arranged from childhood. The betrothed parties were considered husband and wife during this bethrothal period, they were even called husband and wife, even though the ceremony had not yet occurred and they were not living together.
In order to break that betrothal, they had to receive a certificate of divorcement from the engagement and it could only be broken if one of the parties were unfaithful before the marriage.
The reason you do not see it in the other gospels, is because Matthew was written to the Jews and the other gospels were written to Gentiles who did not have this custom.
There was a day in this country when someone could sue for "breech of promise", if their engaged partner chose not to marry after promising to do so. This too was evidence that engagement was once much more binding in the United States in years past than it is now.
Our lax and flippant attitude toward engagement has led to a lax and flippant attitude toward marriage. God takes promises very seriously. When we promise to remain faithful in marriage to a spouse at a wedding, that is when God makes us into ONE! God says "you are no longer two but one." The word for "ONE" denotes in the original language a sort of spiritual glue done by God that no man can undo.
The condition of marriage is a picture of our status as born again believers. When God declares us His and seals us with the Holy Spirit of Promise as is stated in Ephesians 1:13-14, we belong to Him and nothing can undo that.
"13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory."
One can leave an engagement condition but no one can dissolve the glue that God used to make us one in marriage. There is an old saying: "when two divorced people get into bed, there are four people in bed together.
When Joseph was betrothed to Mary, he was going to divorce her quietly and she was called his wife, even though they had not been married to one another. He did not want to publicaly disgrace her even though he believed her to be unfaithful to him in the engagement. The Lord explained it to him and they got married. The term wife and woman were interchangeable in the Jewish custom of betrothal.
Also the words "not under bondage" do not mean divorce at any stretch. The word "bondage" here has to do with being in submission to or under authority. We are no longer bound to submit or consider the other person if they are no longer around, but this is not divorce.
When "Moses" allowed for divorce it was not God's command that he did it, it was a protection for the woman in those days a woman had no means of income unless she was married. Moses gave them what they wanted, but it was because they had hard hearts.
Sometimes God gives us what we want, even if it is against His will, and we will pay the price for our decision to rebel against Him.
Only about 70 years ago in the church in our country everyone knew divorce and remarriage was against the Word of God. What had changed? Our culture has twisted and lied about the Word, remained willfully ignorant so that the culture within the church can have what they want.
Being divorced is not adultery unless one remarries. God hates divorce, but God said, if you are divorced, then you are to remain single because you are still glued to the spouse you are not with, until he dies.
1 Corinthians 7:11 "But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife."
There are only two options from God for a divorced person, to remain single or to be reconciled to their spouse.
Remarriage is ongoing adultery in God's eyes. It is not just a one time thing as an act of remarriage but the adultery continues as long as the person remains with that second person.
The original word for "adultery" in the context of remarriage denotes an "ongoing state of adultery."
Again, we have all been brainwashed to believe that second marriages are legitimate marriages, they are not in God's eyes.
Sometimes people do not want a divorce but their spouse does and now days there is nothing that can be done about it. That person does not sin while divorced if they didn't want it, but they do sin if they remarry.
Once again I realize I may take a hit for this post, but I have become weary of the lies that have permeated the church on this matter. The ones who get beat up are those who desire God's best in obedience to Him.
I have actually heard testimonies of churches encouraging divorced people to remarry against God's will, when they have resolved that they are going to remain alone in obedience to God. The people who encourage the divorced person to remarry are harming their divorced brothers and sisters and for no other reason than to feel good about the sin of divorce and remarriage for themselves.
Shame on all those people who encourage divorced people to remarry. Why not come along side them to help them obey God.
I have met people who have bludgeoned a woman for speaking doctrine to others, but have completely accepted divorce and remarriage in their gatherings, how perverted this is. There is no mandate forbidding a woman to speak doctrine to women, children and men on the street, but there are mountains of verses in God's Word that show God's hatred for divorce and remarriage.
All the details of God's hatred for divorce and remarriage are not in this post, but there is enough for each humble and seeking person to go to prayer and dig deeper to see if what I am saying is true.
Please read the account of Gomer and Hosea, it will give more insight into the character of God and His desire for those He loves.
Check out the promises to Israel that God made and will keep until He comes for us.
Study the condition of the believer after we have become a new creation and born again.
All the ways of God, His dealings with Israel and those He has saved, give us very important clues as to what our attitude about marriage should be.
We are to be humble, noble and sacrificial in our dealings with a spouse. We are not to seek revenge or our pound of flesh when we are wronged. All the scriptures that speak of the character of the believer will answer any questions about remaining with a spouse.
We must take the Bible as a whole,without cherry picking to make God say what we want, that He did not say.
Do we want to obey God or do we want to use the Bible to justify our sinfulness?
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