Divorce and Remarriage Has Ruined the Church

Those of you who think that remarriage after adultery is a valid marriage, don't realize that God called it an ongoing state of adultery in the original languages.

No where in the Word of God will you see any statements like "if you have remarried with a piece of paper by the law of the land it is now a real marriage."

First lets establish that it is commanded by God that we tell one another the truth when it comes to sin.

There are those who would say that God is the judge and we should let Him tell them. That is true only in part, God gave us the responsibility toward our fellow believers to be His spokesman. We are to tell others the truth of His principles as surely as we are to tell others the gospel, the bad news first that they are sinful and on their way to hell, and the good news that they can be saved from that by believing in Christ.

The church is rampant with divorce and remarriage because it has been widely accepted without real Biblical grounds. All excuses for divorce and remarriage have come about by twisting and misunderstanding Scripture.

I will probably lose friends over this, but I have remained silent on this subject too long lately. May the Lord spare those who are young and have not yet committed this sin, that they may begin their married life the correct way in obedience to Christ. And, may this knowledge prevent the legitimate young marriages from falling into the trap of divorce and remarriage.

It is likely that the young marrieds will not have encouragement to stay together from the older set, who have violated this and accepted it, based on whether or not the sins of the spouses are bad enough. They will not help you stay strong in your marriage most of the time.

It is best to go to God in prayer and those who have been committed to marriage, one man, one woman for life for wisdom on this subject. All others will help you wallow and take away your hope that God can work in your marriage. They will focus on our troubles rather than God's Power. They will twist scripture to discourage you from persevering through all kinds of injustice.

The world is full of injustice, we are not called to bail out when things get rough, we are admonished to go through with Christ.

First rule that God established is that we have a responsibility to our fellow believers to rebuke, admonish, correct and discipline those who are walking sinfully.

1 Timothy 5:20
20 Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear.

Titus 1:13 "This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith;"

Secondly, we are to speak the truth that others may avoid sin against God. If we love our brothers and sister in the Lord, then we warn from the Word, of pitfalls that may hinder their prayers.

1 Peter 3:7
"Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered."

Christ said this, in Mark 10:11-12
"11 And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her. 12 And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery."

Christ intended that two people are more than just living together sharing life in marriage, they have actually become one person, the connotation in the original languages is "glued together" with a spiritual glue that no man can separate.

Mark 10:8
"and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh."

Matthew 19:6
"Therefore they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder."

Divorce and remarriage has caused many family problems and children who live a superficial Christianity, believing that God's mandates and principles don't matter, since Mom and Dad have violated this very foundational matter of marriage.

Why would a child learn to persevere in persecution for Christ when he has been taught to bail out of anything that makes him uncomfortable?

We have taught our culture to abandon and kill anyone who gets in the way of our happiness. We kill babies that inconvenience us, we throw away spouses that frustrate us, we dishonor authorities that require things of us.

We are a nation that takes only one thing seriously, our freedom to do as we please, no matter who it hurts.

Chivalry is dead! The willingness to be hurt for the sake of another is now considered foolish in our apostate and selfish culture.

Those who would defend their divorce and remarriage on the basis of "grace", does not understand God's grace.

Grace was extended to give us the ability to avoid sin. Grace was not extended so that we can be absolved of it, while still living in it.

1 Peter 5:10
"10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you."

2 Peter 3:18
"but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen."

Romans 6
"1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin."

No where in the bible does God say that it is alright to sin as long as you are born again.

When we continue in sin, we are an example to others, especially the younger more impressionable people.

Luke 17:2
"It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones."

The passage in Luke is speaking of children, our influence over young minds by our actions is much greater than we realize.

Our lifestyle teaches children even more than our words do. When we take God's Word lightly, so will our children. Why are our modern apostate churches filled with superficial and flippant entertainment seeking youth? The answer is in the lifestyles of their adult influences.

May those who justify their sin remember they will be accountable to those they lead astray. May they repent, now before they have to face Christ on judgement day.

My Personal Testimony

This morning another sister asked for testimonies of our salvation experiences. As I was writing mine it occurred to me that I had never really done that here and that perhaps it was time to do that. Here is my story, in a nutshell, feel free to ask questions after reading it. Blessings to all of you!

I had been living a lifestyle of sin in my twenties. One day I decided to read the Bible I had at age 12. I began to sense deep sorrow over the way I was living and sought God for forgiveness.

I was raised in a home that had little love in it but all the family members attended church every Sunday. The teachers at church, in Sunday School, showed me the love I didn't get at home.

At age 12 I repented from my sinfulness at day camp, but I didn't live for the Lord then. I was convicted about my sin, but allowed my emotional state to keep me in it.

I married a Catholic man, and became Catholic at age 16 to marry him when I was 18.

While in that church I began to be prompted to read the Bible that I received as a confirmation gift from the church I grew up in. when I was 12. The Lord began to show me all the things in the Catholic church that were wrong.

I believe I was saved at 12, but was too immature to live for Christ, while under the oppression of my family. They all claimed to be Christians, but didn't follow the Bible in many ways.

After the Lord got hold of me in my twenties, I began to run hard after Him. I lost the companionship of all family members on both sides. But continued to follow Him.

Then along the way God sent me friends to help me, one at a time, never more than one. Those friends have moved on and some have followed after false doctrine and we drifted away.

For one year after discovering the heresies in the Catholic church, I was completely alone, no friends, no family who loved me. Even my husband was angry at me all the time. I praise God to this day for that time. I can stand alone now, and not feel anything but joy to be with my Savior. After ten years of marriage my husband became born again too.

I know now, more than ever, that being alone is preferable to being with superficial believers who detract from our walk. I also know that all that rejection I experienced in my life trained me for the road ahead.

If we cannot boldly speak the truth without being devastated by the cruelty of others, then we will be continually beaten down and useless for the kingdom.

When I began to be rejected early on, I was frequently emotionally ravaged. It made me shrink from telling the truth at times, and even backing down when there was blasphemy spoken.

As I grew in strength through Bible reading and prayer, I acquired a kind of emotional vigor that sustained me through the rejection of others. Of course I prefer not to be rejected, but the possibility of it does not deter or rule me.

The Lord has been growing me ever since that day that He got hold of me at children's camp. I remained in sin for awhile before realizing that Christ could be all I needed and He could cleanse me.

Then is when He began to work in me in an immense way, showing me things I had never heard, even things most believers wouldn't admit to. As I grew I realized how little of the Word most believers follow and how much they ignore from God's Word.

I am no scholar, but I do desire to know Him and to follow what He tells me. When I fail, I want to know it, to correct the wrong and proceed to grow.

One thing for sure, if we desire to know Him above all else, then we will have to set aside our desire to be loved by others, and to be satisfied in being loved by Christ.

Our goal should not be to get others to like or love us, our goal is to love others so much, through Christ, that we are willing to be hated by the entire world to lead one soul out of hell and into glory.

Privacy is not an Option for the Believer

I have had believers tell me that their Christianity is a personal thing, that we should not correct others, God will do that.

The devil loves this! The Bible is replete with Scriptures that tell us to love our brothers and the way to do that, of which is to correct, rebuke, exhort and admonish in all longsuffering.

Why would God say "in all longsuffering"? Perhaps it is because there will be much correction and many people do not like correction, and even their friends will not accept those who correct others.

Two of my previous posts explain what real love looks like and it is nothing like all the things we have been taught in public school and even in most churches now.

No where in the Word does God say that our Christian walk is a personal thing. God makes us a family when we become born again and we should be deeply involved with and caring about the lives of our brothers and sisters.

I realize that is very hard these days because there are so few in the church who understand this and love to keep their lives private.

1 John 3:14
"We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death."

Seek God's Word for His kind of love!

God's Kind of Love

Thessalonians 4:1-12

"For, in fact, we told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation, just as it happened, and you know. 5 For this reason, when I could no longer endure it, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter had tempted you, and our labor might be in vain."

"6 But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and brought us good news of your faith and love, and that you always have good remembrance of us, greatly desiring to see us, as we also to see you— 7 therefore, brethren, in all our affliction and distress we were comforted concerning you by your faith. 8 For now we live, if you stand fast in the Lord."

"9 For what thanks can we render to God for you, for all the joy with which we rejoice for your sake before our God, 10 night and day praying exceedingly that we may see your face and perfect what is lacking in your faith?"

"11 Now may our God and Father Himself, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way to you. 12 And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, 13 so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints."

1 John 5:2

"2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments."

Acts 20:28

"28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood."

Titus 3:10-11

"10 A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject;

11 Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself."

2 Thessalonians 3:15

"15 Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother."

2 Timothy 4:2

"2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine."

1 Timothy 5:20

"20 Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear."

Romans 16:17

"17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them."

James 5:20

"20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul[a] from death and cover a multitude of sins."

All our attempts at sparing the feelings of those who live in sin, has caused the apostasy that dwells in the organized church today. The most damaging mantra that has taken hold in the church is; "just love them." As though; if we show enough friendliness the person will like us and Jesus Christ too. This couldn't be farther from the truth.

Many people are hurting because they have not sought God for His ways and truth. When we do not speak the truth boldly, these people are left to feel comfortable in their sin.

Hebrews 4:12

"12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."

We are not called to spare someone's feelings, we are called to tell the truth, loving God and His truth more than we love to be loved.

The modern church flatters people to gain the advantage over them, hoping the flattery will make them do what is right, but the opposite is the result, more sin and guilt relieved.

Do not seek to avoid bad feelings, seek to honor God through the spreading of His truth. The feelings are an indication that there is guilt, let the guilt do it's work, then is when we can reach someone with truth.

Sloppy Christianity

There are so many people who have been brain washed into the sloppy modern Christianity that they think they would be mean to someone for chastising them.

The devil has managed to convince the church to adhere to principles opposite of what God said, mostly because they avoid those "hard" scriptures" that place us at risk of emotional persecution.

God calls us to keep believers in line, through the truth of His Word for the good of the whole body and for the good of the person who sins.

James 5:20
"20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul[a] from death and cover a multitude of sins."

Hebrews 4:12
"12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."

1 Corinthians 5:6
"6 Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?"

We can see what flippancy has done to the church, it has caused the entire lump to become leavened.

The church in America used to discipline the sinning brother and more of society acted properly, even those who were not born again, knew right from wrong.

Now, the church doesn't know right from wrong and will persecute those who attempt to bring back the principles of Christ that foster holiness in the body.

Many believers do and say the opposite of what God says. They have been so greatly impacted by the world that they no longer understand God's standards. And, they do not read their Bibles or ask the Holy Spirit for understanding, so they remain ignorant of God's principles and mandates.

The church needs to repent before they can properly impact the world for Christ.

Luke 11:22-30
"22 But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils."

"23 He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth."

"24 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out."

"25 And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished."

"26 Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first."

"27 And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked."

"28 But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it."

"29 And when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say, This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet."

"30 For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation"

Let's stop saying things like "I think" and begin saying "What does God say?"

Adultery is More than an Action

For those who think there is an innocent party in a marriage where there has been the acting out of adultery!

No one has been perfectly faithful to God. We have all been unfaithful many times in our lives, when we opted to do things our own way rather than seeking God for the answer.

Romans 3:10
"As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:"

When we realize that not one of us has been perfectly pure in our hearts, we know that anything that is not of God is sin and anything that is not of God is adultery. To make ourselves the authority in our own lives, even sometimes, pushes God out, making ourselves above Him.

Adultery is loving another, whether it be self or another idol, is unfaithfulness against God.

Matthew 16:4
"A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed."

Those who place their trust in their comfort, their pleasure or their personal gain, anything other than Christ, are adutlerous.

Romans 8:6-11 "Matthew 5:27-28
King James Version (KJV)
27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:

28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart."

God sees our heart before we ever do the actions, if we never do the actions, but have adultery in our hearts we have sinned against God and are adulterers. The actions are merely evidence of what has already been in the heart.

Those who will not forgive their adulterous spouses, have unforgiveness in their hearts, are in sin, and those who will not wait on their spouses for their repentance, are harboring self righteousness and bitterness in their hearts.

Christ died for us while we were yet sinners, can we not also be willing to suffer, waiting for our spouses to repent, willing to get on with our lives in the Lord apart from sin to relieve our own discomfort.

A Man Abandons His Wife

This morning my husband and I were having coffee in front of the living room window, enjoying the sun peaking through the fog on this cold winter day.

The discussion was on the marriage vows and the state of the world we live in. We are of the old school, that marriage is for life and that we are to take care of one another no matter what the hardship.

We remembered the foolishness of Pat Robertson when he took a question to answer on his show and advised a man to leave his wife.

The man who wrote the letter was asking Robertson if it was alright to leave his wife who had alzheimers to marry his girlfriend. Robertson answer that the wife was not really there anyway, she was like a dead person, therefore it was alright to divorce his wife, as long as he took care of her hospital needs, and marry his girl friend.

Never at any time did Robertson call what the man was doing "adultery." I was so agitated at his answer that I wanted to go to the back yard and scream out to the trees, the hateful injustice of this answer from a man who is revered by thousands of people all over the world. It was a travesty at best.

I would have asked the man with the inquiry, a number of important questions, the first one being, "what does God say." Then I would have answered with the words "in sickness and in health til death do us part." The answer would include all the scriptures about adultery and other scriptures having to do with self sacrifice.

The incredible wickedness of a man who would abandon his wife during her hardship, is despicable. More questions I would have asked would have been to the other woman, "what makes you think this man would stand by you in hardship when he cannot remain faithful with his first wife." Another question would have been to the man, "what kind of woman would want a man to abandon his ailing wife in favor of his fling in the sheets with her, while his wife is dying.

Can either of these selfish individuals make a good "new" marriage? First we have to understand that when this man divorces his wife, it does not sever the oneness that God created in them at marriage and even though he marries another by the law of the land, he remains in adultery with the other woman.

Robertson gave evil advice based on physical desire rather than on God's Word and His standard and principles.

Robertson removed the necessary guilt that leads one to repentance. He also endorsed fleshly selfishness while taking from the real wife, her need for companionship.

Here is what I would have told the man with the question:

"God made you one in marriage, what you are doing now is called adultery. Rather than stepping up to the plate to do the noble and sacrificial thing, in caring for your wife, you are indulging in fleshly lust. Your attitude toward you wife is hateful and mean." Then I would give him all the scriptures that pertain to self-sacrifice and God's view of marriage.

Robertson was basing his opinion, using no Scripture at all, on personal comfort and fleshly fulfillment.

This is one example of what happens when we are hiding the real us all our lives and one day without realizing it, God allows the real us to come forth in a big way.

Robertson was able to fool a lot of people for many years in his ministry, we could not see what was really inside of him. As he got older, God allowed his real self to emerge, exposing what he had been all his life. We do not all of a sudden change in our old age, all that happens is that God removes our ability to hide and exposes what our heart had been all along.

A clue that Robertson was a liar, was the prayer time when he would look into the audience of thousands of people and declare that someone "out there has cancer and is being healed right now." This was a huge violation of Scripture, divination is forbidden by God. He was using the standard technique of declaring a vague and general proclamation hoping that there would be someone who would match his prophesy, and it is lying.

This happened to Billy Graham, as well as Robertson. They were hiding inside who they really were until their old age exposed their real heart intent. They no longer had the ability to mask or hide what was in their heart, and their theology on the inside began to be exposed on the outside.

Both men were focused on fame and wealth, when they became very well known and popular, they began to let down their guard and the real self emerged. Graham spent a lifetime of compromise behind the scenes as did Robertson, until they were convinced they could say and do anything and still keep their following. They "went with the flow" of the culture.

It is best to ask the Lord to keep us in His will no matter the hardship, that our real selves are the same on the inside as they are on the outside. Eventually our old age will give us away, even if we don't know it or want it.

When we become too old and feeble to keep up pretense, then we will be exposed. People do not change as they get older, they merely are too tired to pretend anymore.

What we are in our old age is what we were inside all of our lives.

Do we become sweeter and kinder, or do we become angrier and more selfish when we are too weary to keep up the deceit?

I have given no scripture here because the post is long, but it is easy enough for each person to do their own research on these points. Please do not look at commentaries, read God's Word and pray as you read.

One might want to look up words like; marriage, selflessness, servant, put asunder, love, remain single, divorce, Love your wife as Christ loved the church, lay down life for wife and other scriptures pertaining to the attitude of the end times as written in Timothy.

In my answer to the man who was committing adultery, I would have included this; "instead of going off with that other woman, you should be spending every minute of every day with your wife until she dies, stroking her hair feeding her, dressing her and talking to her. It doesn't matter if she knows you or not, this is your duty and reasonable service to a life long companion."