Christ’s teaching on Devorce: does adultery = guilt-free divorce?
Divorce, probably the one of the most sensitive topics in modern Christian circles.
Everyone has been exposed to teaching on devorce. It is a very relevant topic in our churches. Some studies show that there are as many marriages that end in devorce inside the church as outside. [However, a note on those statistics...they do not take into consideration individuals with multiple marriages. One person may account for 3 of the numbers being calculated. The statistics are based on marriages, not people. I would have to believe that people who have been devorced would be lower in the church.]
So, is there any reason for a believing couple to end their marriage? Are there any loopholes that God gives for marriages to end in devorce. Does he ever say, “Even though I don’t like it, under this circumstance, it would be ok.”? Well, let’s think. While there is no way this simple little blog is going to exhaust the topic, let us address the common “escape clause” for divorce, adultery.
For selected readings on this issue, see the passages surrounding these verses: Matt 5.27-32; Matt 19.3; Mark 10.2; I Cor 7.
In most of these cases the question was posed to Christ as a way of tripping him up. That should tell us something to begin with. The question of whether or not abandonment is grounds for devorce arrises in I Cor 7, but even there it would seem that devorce and remarriage are not condoned, only physical seperation. Also, Paul is quite clear that he is not speaking for God in those few verses, which opens it back up for conversation.
When posed the question of devorce in Mark, Christ replies with the teaching from Genesis that “they twain shall be one flesh”, and if they are one, how can they truly be seperated. No more can my own body be dismembered and remain wholly functional, than can a marriage.
So, what about adultery…the big question. When understood in the Jewis context of the scripture, it becomes clear that Christ never condones devorce because of adultery. Acutally, that is not even what he says, those are words we put into his mouth. Let’s take his teaching during the sermon on the mount as out text for this conversation.
“It hath been said Whoseoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: but I say unto you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.” (Matt 5.31-32)
It would almost seem as though Christ is quite clear that divorce is wrong except when adultery is involved, cheating on the part of the spouse. That is not the case. We must take into account each and every word of Scripture. Here, Christ says the only cause the allows divorce is “fornication”, a completely different word that the one he uses at the end of this same sentence “adultery”.
Why the different words? If we can take off our 21st century American glasses for a minute and look at the Bible from the perspective of the reader, a Jewis person in these days would have understood the implications of betrothal differently than Americans do today. To be enganged in those days, was to be legally bound to the person. In order to break off an engagement, you would “divorce” that person. Christ was basically saying the only kind of devorce that was acceptable was the “pre-conception” devorce that was brought about by impure actions. The word “forincation” carries the connotation of basic sexual impurity, and is the same root word from which we get our english “pornography”.
For further argument consider this: We see that Christ was adament that divorce thew the couple into the lap of sin, and he was anti devorce in every way. Yet in Matt 1.18-19 Joseph is preparing to divorce Marry when she was pregnant with Jesus (assuming foul play) and the Bible says he was “just” in that situation. How? Because their had been no conception, no becoming one flesh between the two of them. It is interresting here to also consider the OT story of Hosea…
So, Christ is never ok with Divorce. At best we may be able to say that for the deserted to remain unmarried is the best choice they have. Though this may sound narrow minded, think about the greater picture at stake here. Check out Eph 5. See all the pictures and comparisons between the husband and wife with Christ and the church. Imagine if God ever endorsed divorce, for ANY reason. We would lose much certainty about eternal security in our salvation. If the husband had provisions to divorce the unfaithful wife, then could Christ “divorce” or “put away” an unfaithful church? And if he could, would any of us still be in his bride? Every time we fall to tempations of the flesh, or world, or anything; each time we worship anything other than Christ; each time we are unfaithful to our Savior, we are subject to rejection and banishment as we are put away by the Great Groom. Thank God he is not that way. Praise God that he didn’t make any grounds for Devorce. That he would even go so far as to make provisions that when one deserted, and left off from their true spouse, that spouse was to remain as they were and not re-marry. How he puts up with our unfaithfulness is beyond me, and should cause us to strive for faithfulness to him, but that grace of remaining faithful to us, even when we are not faithful to him should cause us to all the more. How amazing is our Lord!
Conclusion: If provision was ever made for divorce, our eternal security would be thrown into a downward spiral of doubt. God did not make provision for such activity, because there is no place for it between His Son and His church.
Amen.
Jesus – subject to the basest human condition
Hunger.
Everyone knows what hunger is. Everyone experiences it in increments of just a few hours each day of their lives. Few will pass a meal for any reason. Americans are probably just a generation away from widespread epidemics of obesity related deaths. The natural desire for hunger has become a slave-master to most. Fasting is all but disappeared from the Christian culture in America because of our insatiable appetites. Miss a meal? Hardly.
What is ironic about this whole issue is the purpose of hunger in the first place. Hunger is one of many natural desires God has placed in man for our betterment and to help us. General Graces, are those things that cause us to naturally do the things needed for survival. Hunger, sexual drive, our relational nature, and curiosity are a few examples. These are things that provoke us to pursue that which will continue and better our lives. So, what happens when one of these things becomes a controlling factor in our lives, abused instead of appreciated? That’s when we have rapists, stalkers, serial killers, criminal minds, and obese people. That’s right, I just compared those in the same sentence. To be controlled by any desire is sin. There is little difference between the rapist, drunk, and glutton. I do not mean to be harsh, but truthful.
In Matthew 4, Jesus goes into a wilderness for a period of time to fast. 40 days into his fast, Satan begins to tempt him. His first temptation is one that you and I would likely have fallen to: eat. Most can barely control their hunger past a 3-4 hour fast, imagine 40 days. Imagine having the power to eat something, and choosing not to. Jesus could have easily have turned that stone into bread. Easily. The act of changing that stone into bread, in itself, would have been no harm. However, it was the conditions in which that would have occurred that caused our Messiah to choose otherwise.
The Scripture lets us into the mind of Christ for a moment in verse 2 of chapter 4. We are told that he was hungry. He was in that state of mind when humanity will act the most irrational. Everyone understands that. If a thief steals for their own selfish desires, society agrees punishment should be great. If a thief steals because they are starving and merely trying to satisfy their hunger and will to live, that arouses a different emotion among society. That crime, is even often overlooked. Why? Because we all understand that. We can empathize with that situation. Christ was there…starving. With the opportunity to satisfy that hunger, and did not. What discipline. What control. What an example. May we all learn to use those natural desires God has placed in us for our own good, and not allow them to use us.
The Hebrews writer tells us that we do not have a “high priest” [Jesus] who cannot be touched with the “feeling of our infirmity” [the struggles we face as humanity], but was “in all points tempted” just like we are, only he did it “yet without sin.” To think of the humanity that Christ subjected himself to raging inside while Satan mockingly suggested he eat is mind blowing. To conceive that Divinity would ever be subject to humanity is staggering. Nonetheless, it is true. Even the basest of human conditions plagued our Messiah, and for that we should be ever thankful. He can identify with us. No matter what, he can. Let me compare it this way. I like to exercise. I enjoy getting tips from people at the gym or who I can see have made strides in their fitness. However, one thing I can’t stand is when some guy who has such a gut that he probably has not seen his toes for years tries to instruct me in how to obtain physical fitness. That doesn’t fly. Though I may listen politely, everything being said is passing right by me. Such is not the case with Christ, and the human-Spiritual life. He has been in that gym for longer than the gym has existed, and he is the fittest around. You can head his instruction, and feel confident, because you can see the results for yourself.
I leave you with this note from one of the wisest men I know, my father. As a young boy I was obese. My freshman year of high school I was probably 35-45 lbs overweight, and my sophomore year probably packed a few more on. One day I was enjoying a snack far too much, and my father lovingly spoke this truth to me, “Son, you need to eat to live. Not live to eat.” What wisdom. So should be the case in our spiritual lives. We should allow those natural graces to push us to live, not live to satisfy those natural graces. May God grant us the privilege to fellowship with Christ in his discipline. May the American church submit to the control of Christ, and leave the slave-master of itself.
Overcoming Laodecia
We know we live in this “Laodicean” age of the church (rev 3).
At times, it seems as though we are doomed to apathy and lethargy. Why? How? How do we counter this social beast that is by all practical observations too big to move. One man with a canoe couldn’t have turned the titanic. How are we to turn this age of ours? Do we just jump ship and give up? Just focus on those in our canoe? Surely not. But what then? God does say in that same passage that he will grant all those who “overcome” the opportunity to sit with him. So, how do we overcome? Is it simply in our own daily disciplines of winning those battles with sin and the world we live in? Is it overcoming self? the devil? Lukewarmness? What?
It is interesting to note the proper context from Rev 3.15. When God refers to those at Laodecia as being “neither hot nor cold” and says “I would that you were hot or cold”, he is not saying, “I wish you would just get HOT and on FIRE for me.” To explain this as an interpretation of these words is to do a discredit to scripture. Contextually and culturally looking into the text reveals that Laodecia had no water source of it’s own. Hieropolus and Colosse were the two nearby villages where the water was piped in through a system of aqua-ducts, to Laodecia. One of these towns was known for it’s natural hot springs, which were said to be therapeutic to the ailing body, the other was known for mountain spring water that was flowing at a chilled temperature, most refreshing. When God chooses this phrase, he is saying, “I wish you were good for something, but you serve no purpose.” Just as you and I today would like a “hot” tea, or a “cold” drink, each form of the same substance serves a purpose. Rarely will you find someone that rejoices in a room temperature drink. God wants his people to know their purpose and move that way! Maybe that’s how we overcome…discovering that purpose??? anyone reading this have any thoughts?
Mixed Blessings – a Christmas reality
Mary was given the express privelidge of bringing the Son of God into the world.
She was “highly favored” of God to be selected for such a comission.
Surely she lept for joy with this assignment. Or did she?
Luke describes mary as a “virgin espoused” to be married. Mary even asks the angel Gabriel how she is going to cincenve a child ”seeing I know not a man.” So let’s think.
Virgin.
It is likely she had no plans or provisions for a baby as of yet. Learning about surprise pregnancies can be daunting to say the least. I’m sure most young mothers are fill with a coctail of excitement, joy and fear. The experience doesn’t exactly gain a lot of good press does it. Hence epidurals. I’m sure this was as far from her plans as a thing could get. No bride-to-be longs for the day when she walks around with shame as eyes pierce through the atmosphere as they gaze upon her enlarged abdomen. The social aspects of what God is calling her to is simply intimidating. Imagine the things she had heard from the women in her life about those unwed mothers. The filet of reputation that was feasted upon at the Sunday afternoon lunch table by those proper church ladies. And now, her. She was on the choping block. We know people must have talked, as they always will. Later in Jesus life, the pharisees wanted to cut deep our Messiah, and they brought up the well known story of his birth. In their exchange, they strike a blow to Jesus with, “Well, at least we’re not born out of fornication. We have just one father.” (see John 8.41). So, if the story was noted by pharisees 30 something years later, it must have be rigorus during Mary’s pregnancy.
Espoused.
What 12 year old girl in the world doesn’t dream about her prince charming? Would Marry have been any differnt? The courtship would have been like any other. Filled with stories of moonlit dancings in the streets, and extravagant memories of butterflies in their stomach on the day of the engagement. And now, Mary is going to have to go to her love, her betrothed, the one she promised herslef to, and explain to him this situation. She was a virgin. She was pregnant. Two mutually exclusive truths, yet in this case mutually complementary. What man in his right mind would buy that. (we understand God would speak to Joseph as well, but it wasn’t until after he purposed to divorse her. it must have been a tough time for a while, and keep in mind Mary did not know Joseph would ever get that message from God.) Culturally at this time engagements were as binding as marriage. It was a preperation time, and still the union wasn’t consumated until the wedding. Divorce was required to break an engagement in these days. Also, according to Jewish law, unfaithfulness on the part of a wife was punishable by death.
Was God going to ask her to give up her man? Her wedding? Her reputation? Her friends? Her right to go to the synagogue and worship him? Her life? Would he set her at odds against her whole world? Many uncertainties were circling the could of Mary’s life this night. Yet, notice her response…
“Behold, the handmaiden [servant] of the Lord; be it unto me according to your word.” (Luke 1.38)
That’s faith. May God grant it to me.
We tend to believe this gospel of prosperity that is so prevelant in our culture. What a joke. Obeying God, following his word, and serving him was directly responsible for hardships in Mary’s life. It was God who told the disciples to get into the boat and into the storm. It was God who sent Abraham up on the mountain to sacrifice his son Isaac. It was God who sent Joseph into slavery and prision. Let us not say that God will always make things more pleasureable in our lives. We find joy in serving him, and fulfillment that isn’t found anywhere else. However, we cannot say that will come through easy times and worldly gain. To say that, is to display biblical and spiritual ignorance for all to see.
Farleywoman’s Weblog
Today, my wife started blogging. It’s awesome. I can’t wait until all those who are close to me are doing this so that we can keep up to date and toss ideas around the blog community and hopefully make an impact for God around our community.
No pleasure
The Hebrew writer says in chapter 10, that God has no pleasure in the offerings of sacrifice from the people under the law(v.6-10). That poses a question to me. Is it the under the law aspect that he doesn’t like, or is it the act of the offering that seems to be trite? I think maybe both. If I was to force one of my children to come to me and tell me they loved me and give me their favorite toy, I would take no pleasure in that (unless I was some kind of tyrant megalomaniac of a father). However, the day my son walks into the living room, favorite action figure in hand, and crawls up into my lap and says, “Daddy, I don’t have a lot of things I can give you. My clothes don’t fit you. My bed is too short. I have no money to buy you anything, and I really don’t understand what you would want. So, I’ve decided to give you something that is my favorite. Here, take this. He is a very good toy, and he means a lot to me. Of all the toys in my chest that you and mom have given to me, this one is the very best I have, and I want to give it back to you. This is going to hurt me. I will use my other toys and be fine, but at times still miss this one. However, I’m sure you will do much better with it than I will. Please take this of me, it is all the best I have to give.”
Now, obviously no 6 year old will talk like that, but understand the heart behind it. That day, I am very proud of my son. I love my son. I feel my own worth in the eyes of my son. After all isn’t that what worship is all about? Declaring God’s Worth-ship? Now, as for the action figure, I take no real pride in the plastic. Rather, when a co-worker asks why there is a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle action figure preserved in a glass dome sitting on the middle shelf in my office, my heart will fill with warm pride as I explain who gave it to me and why.
May our worship, be true worship. May we not offer something to God that didn’t first cost us something, and hurt to give up.
Disqualified by a lack of self-discipline
At the end of I Corinthians 9, Paul says,
“Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incoruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: but I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be cast away.”
Paul takes on two roles here. He is speaking as the herald at a race (the one who tells the runners the rules before the race begins) and also as a runner. How hypocritical would it be for him to tell every athlete that rules to abide by and then not abide by those same rules when he runs? We all remember those kids at the pick-up games at the park from our childhood. They had a certain set of rules that always seemed to benefit them. How much higher would the ridiculous meter read when that was coming from our pulpits?
We can’t overlook two important words here that tell us something about God’s view of discipline and disqualifications. We would all understand that a false prophet would disqualify himself from Spiritual advancement/leadership/growth/etc. (ie, the Joel Osteens of the world who have chosen to compromise doctrine, the prophetic Word from God, and more in order to be a leader of men – then again, I think someone pretty wise said to be leery if all men speak well of you, see Luke 6.26) Here, Paul adds that his BODY could play a part in his disqualification. He doesn’t say he brings his spirit or soul into subjection – as would seem to make sense. Maybe he doesn’t mention those because they are assumed and logical. What he does expressly mention though, is his body. Those natural appetites that we face daily. While the implications to lustful appetites for power, satisfaction, pleasure, fulfilment, and such are obvious, not to be overlooked are his literal physical appetites. Could Paul be saying that by giving into his actual appetite for food he could be disqualified? In certain ways, I believe so.
To be extremely aesthetic (depriving yourself of enough food to have energy and health to accomplish the tasks under your delegation) would be succumbing to the appetite for glory in your own self-control. To be extremely indulgent, as we all know is always sinful, would be disqualifying as well. How can we teach about stewardship, dedication, worship, adoration, service, witness, evangelism, family, and the like, only to hand ourselves over to that indulgence which opposes them all? Stewardship of our body/lifespan would definitely be an understood issue. Dedication to anything can be called into question with there is a blatant disregard for our own health. Worshipping a God who we say we love and is sovereign is hardly sincere when the true god of our lives is our bellies. We could keep going, but I thing we get the point.
Paul brought his body “under”, it was brought “into subjection”. In other words, his body was like any other tool given him by God to accomplish the task. An out of control hunger for success, acclaim, or exaltation would be vile by any spiritual standards. No one will question that. No different is the master of the stomach. Paul says, “I take those natural hungers that can easily control me, and control them. I take that would would be my master, and make it my slave for the work of the Kingdom.” appetite included. Rather than giving into those fleshy cravings for McDonald’s, maybe we should bring some appetites into subjection and eat that which is nutritious rather than that which is suitable to our hunger-lusts.
(Note: this is for all my friends who wonder why I am so stringent about physical health and fitness…buffness shouldn’t be our goal, health and fitness – ABSOLUTELY.)
Meditations on Hebrews 4 – a call to "rest"
Scripture never ceases to amaze me. It is almost as if there is a running account somewhere of the things I need in my life, and then God is just inserting those things into His Word daily. The really intimidating thing is that He did, but it was ‘before the foundation of the world’, so to say.
Today I’m reading Hebrews 4. I’ve read this passage plenty of times before. Today, things are striking a new area of my heart, one that is quite tender I must admit. The tense of some of these words are so amazing! Check out the tenses in verse three, “For we which have believed do enter into rest…” In talking about the place of rest God describes in the OT, He says that some didn’t enter because of “unbelief” (4.6). The writer then reminds the reader, although there is still work to be done, there is an ultimate rest coming: “There remaineth therefore a rest” (4.9). But now the crazy part enters into the picture. It’s one of those exchanged life situations that I am still struggling to wrap my mind around. He adds, “For he that is entered into his [God's] rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.”(4.10) Now there’s the jaw dropper of the passage. The writer says the one who is already entered [note the present - past tense combo there, it notes a one time action that is still continuing] has ceased from his own works. This teaching leaves us needing to draw some conclusions.
- First, does the writer mean that one who has entered into the rest of God will not continue to work the works according to their own way and self interests?
- Second, does the writer mean to say the one who is in the rest of God will leave off from working altogether? Does the believer have the comission to sit still and watch others labor?
- Third, [and this is what I believe is the implication he is making] is the writer saying for the believer to cease from earning their salvation because of their works? We should note the comparision just before this passage. What was it that caused the OT saints to miss out ont he rest of God? Unbelief. So, what would be the reasoning behind sharing that just before this teaching about the relationship between our works and rest? Likely, it is to say there is no work that is good enough. There is no path reliable, and no righteousness attainable for the man seeking to come to God. However, God has a way. That way is for us to relax [rest] and let Him do those works [the cross, his Son, the Spirit, regeneration, sanctification, etc.] which bring man to Him.
Oftentimes I get overwhelmed with the responsibilities that I face daily. I am a young man; inexperienced to say the least. Yet I have all this responsibility and seemingly no ongoing training that I am not seeking for myself. So, I get down at times with the reality of what is on my shoulders. It begins to crush me. Some nights I lay in bed and let the tears welt in my eyes just to try and ease out some of the pressure building inside. When those days come, it seems as if it is always just a matter of time before God reminds me of this truth from Heb 4. This is not my load. I am just resting underneath the one who’s load it is. The only thing crushing me are my own nightmares, reality is – no monsters in the closet. Last time I was struggling in this way, God used this verse to speak to me. I pray this will speak to others as well:
“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:” [Col 2.6]
How did we receive him? Faith. Without reservation. Wholly relying. So why do we walk so differently?
moving with a purpose
Why do we move and have no purpose? Would you wake up in the morning three hours earlier than your normal routine requires simply to sit and stare at a wall? Of course you wouldn’t. It makes no more sense to gather as a congregation of Christ-followers and have no clue why, staring at a wall without purpose.
I remember when my wife (then girlfriend) came to visit me at college. There was a concert on campus one night, and this was a big deal for the college where I was. So, she came up to share the experience with me. After the concert, we were hanging at the coffee shop on campus, and had one of those moments. You know the ones I’m talking about. The ones guys try to pretend they don’t remember and ladies never forget. We were staring at each other, kind of rocking back and forth, and looking giddy to any onlookers, I’m sure. When the moment was kind of drawing to a close I said, “tell me what you’re thinking…” to which my wife replied, “I’m trying to tell you.” Now, as your typical 20 year old, I had no clue how to interpret the secret code. So, I asked a friend of mine in the dorms. He said she was telling me to “move with a purpose”. Good advice then, good advice now.
So, as a church, how often do the average visitors to our churches walk away having no clue what the secret code was they just witnessed. Even further, how often do they wonder at the purpose for the movement. Any movement without purpose it utterly dangerous.
